Clijsters defeats top-ranked Wozniacki to win WTA Championships final

Belgium's Kim Clijsters, middle, poses with Sheikha Alayassa Bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, daughter of Emir of Qatar, left, and Nase Al Khulaifi, President of Qatar Tennis Federation after she beat Denmark's Caroline Wozniack in the final match of the Qatar WTA Tennis Championship in Doha, Qatar, Sunday Oct. 31, 2010. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)

DOHA, Qatar - A day after escaping unscathed from a minor car accident, U.S. Open champion Kim Clijsters defeated top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 Sunday to win the WTA Championships.

The 27-year-old Belgian won her third season-ending event and fifth title of the season. Clijsters played her first tournament since winning her third U.S. Open title in September, sidelined because of an infected foot.

"I'm glad I won and it must be disappointing for Caroline," Clijsters said during the presentation of the Billie Jean King trophy and cheque for US$1.4 million. "But I don't know how many more years I'm going to keep doing this."

Clijsters showed no ill effects from a fender-bender Saturday before her semifinal match at the Khalifa Complex. Clijsters said she was not injured, but her manager suffered minor cuts.

Clijsters won her 40th career title after collecting wins in Brisbane, Miami, Cincinnati and at the U.S. Open this year. She became the fifth player in WTA history to win the season-ending tournament three or more times, joining Martina Navratilova (8), Steffi Graf (4) and Monica Seles (3).

The 20-year-old Wozniacki took over the No. 1 ranking from the injured Serena Williams last month, but was unable to back it up with a win in Doha and is still without a Grand Slam title.

Wozniacki has won the most tournaments this year — six — but has yet to win a major tournament. She's still looking for wins against Clijsters, Justine Henin, Venus and Serena Williams.

"I've had a fantastic year," Wozniacki said. "I won six tournaments. I've beaten so many good players. You know, you cannot win every match. I've made the finals of the championships, and I lost one match today.

"I will come back in the off-season and train, but right now I'm proud of my season."

Clijsters said the Dane has shown great promise.

"She will win a Grand Slam. She is too good of a player not to," Clijsters said. "She's young. She's No. 1. She's been doing really good things, and the good things will keep coming."

Clijsters took a 2-0 lead en route to winning the first set, using powerful forehands and well-timed backhands. She closed out the set by breaking Wozniacki for the third time.

Clijsters, who won the season-ending title in 2002 and 2003, went up 4-1 in the second, taking advantage of Wozniacki's weak second serve and lack of forehand winners. But Wozniacki rallied to tie the match at 5-5 and broke to go up 6-5 on her way to winning the set after Clijsters hit long.

"I just went behind the baseline a little bit too far," Clijsters said. "I let her dominate the rallies, and that was something I was doing well leading up to that point.

"I felt after a couple rallies, yeah, felt my legs just a little bit tired. Then you automatically become a little bit too defensive. I think that's something that I realized, luckily, in time."

Wozniacki came out strong in the third set, forcing Clijsters to make four unforced errors in the first game. But Clijsters didn't panic, settling down for a 2-1 lead. That prompted Wozniacki's coach and father, Piotr, to give his daughter a courtside pep talk while she rested a bag of ice on her head in the sweltering heat.

The fourth-ranked Clijsters kept the pressure on, moving Wozniacki around the court and hitting several powerful forehands to go up 5-2. Wozniacki won a game before Clijsters clinched it when Wozniacki hit a return into the net.

"In the third set, you know, it was very close," Wozniacki said. "She played really well, especially in the important moments. Definitely, the experience, you know, mattered a little bit today."

In their only other meeting, Clijsters defeated Wozniacki for the 2009 U.S. Open title. Clijsters won at Flushing Meadows that year in only her third tournament back from a 2 1/2-year retirement after getting married and having a daughter, Jada.

In Doha, Clijsters beat an ailing No. 8 Jelena Jankovic in her opening match, followed by a win over No. 10 Victoria Azarenka. She lost to No. 2 Vera Zvonareva on Friday. Clijsters defeated Samantha Stosur in straight sets after the accident on Saturday, when a truck hit the right front door of her courtesy car.

Source: 680News