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US Open: 2009 - '08 - '07 - '06 - '05 - '04 - '03 - '02 previous other tourney pages next    Flushing Meadows 2009: #9 Caroline Wozniacki 5'10" 128lb RH 2H-BH Flushing Meadows 2009: #NR Kim Clijsters 5'8½" 150lb RH 2H-BH Flushing Meadows 2009: 2nd US Open Title in 5th GS singles final

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  Flushing Meadows, 2009:

On Sunday night at Flushing Meadows, in the rain-postponed final of the 2009 US Open, the 2005 tourney champion, who returned to play this summer after a two-year retirement, 26-year-old unranked (and former #1) Kim Clijsters from Bree, Belgium, won her 2nd US Open title by defeating this year's champ at New Haven, Eastbourne, and Ponte Vedra Beach, 19-year-old 9th-seeded #9 Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark (residence: Monte Carlo, Monaco), 7-5, 6-3 (Caroline & Kim are shown during the match, and Kim with the hardware at Times Square on Monday).     Kim's prize is $1,600,000; Caroline's is $800,000.

    148 points were played: Kim won 82, Caroline, 66. Kim struck 36 winners (3 aces), with 34 unforced errors (2 double faults); Caroline hit 10 winners (no aces), but with 21 errors (3 DFs).

    Kim reached break point against Caroline 8 times, and scored on 5 of those occasions; Caroline held 12 break points against Kim, but converted only 3. match stats - match report - AP story - BBC story

Game-by-Game: BBC: US Open Live Text - Eurosport: Live Comments

    Kim said: "This has been so exciting for me. This was not really our plan. I just wanted to start three tournaments just to get back into the rhythm of playing tennis and get used to the surroundings. So I have to thank the USTA for giving me the wild card to come back here...
    "The support I've received has been crazy. Even from the first round, how warmly everyone welcomed and embraced me. It helped me keep fighting and stay focused...

    "I think against Venus [Williams, in the 4th round] I had a really good feeling that I was capable of coping with the pace that obviously the Williams sisters have and a lot of the top girls have out there.
    "But then again when you play like somebody like Wozniacki today, she's a completely different player. She hits the ball very heavy, but she doesn't miss. Against the Williams sisters, you always have the feeling that if you can just hang in there, they might give you more easy points.
    "[Caroline] didn't do that today. I think I really had to be patient, as well, but also try not to play along with her game. So I didn't have that feeling until, you know, when I had match point. I was like, Okay, maybe I can do this." postmatch interview

    Caroline said: "Kim just played a great match. She really showed that she's playing great tennis, and I'm happy to have her back. But of course I'd like to have taken the next step and have won this match. She played better to me today, and that's why she won...
    "Obviously I don't like losing. I'm a competitor and I love winning. But I think I've had some great weeks here. I mean, I was in the finals of a Grand Slam. I'm only 19 years old... My ranking will go up again, and I'm just happy the way I'm playing and the way I've been progressing so far. I'm playing good tennis." postmatch interview

    Kim and Caroline had never before met on the field of combat. They did play together as a doubles team once, at the Watson's Water Challenge exhibition in Hong Kong in 2006.

    2005 US Open champ Kim, who retired in May, 2007, and returned to play only last month, is now 35-16 in WTA singles finals; she also reached the final at the US Open in 2003 and at Roland Garros in 2003 and 2001. Kim has a 12-2 match record this season. Unranked at the start of the US Open (three tourneys in 52 weeks are required for a ranking, this is her third), Kim's September 14 WTA ranking is #19.

    Caroline is now 6-6 in WTA singles finals; this was her first Grand Slam final. She won the New Haven, Eastbourne and Ponte Vedra Beach titles this year, and reached the finals at Madrid, Charleston, Memphis & Bastad. Caroline has a 62-18 match record this season, the best of her career, and her September 14 WTA ranking is #6, her highest ever.

Men's final: (ppd-Mon) s6 Juan Martin Del Potro ARG d s1 Roger Federer SUI 3-6, 7-6(5), 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-2

    Little MO: Although quarterfinalist Melanie Oudin has been compared to her favorite player, Justine Henin, she might be more similar to the late Maureen Connolly, who at 5' 4" won 9 consecutive Grand Slam singles titles in the early 1950s, scoring most of her points with her forehand drive.

    Several more classic US Open full match and highlight videos have been added to the video player below (and accessible from any page on this site with a video player). The matches include the 1979 US Open final, Tracy Austin d Chris Evert, 6-4, 6-3. First select the category "Sports: WTA Classics" and choose then the match you wish to see. Enjoy.

click for women's singles draw in the video frame   2009 Major Skirmishes, Top Half 4th Round: #9 C Wozniacki d #6 S Kuznetsova 2-6, 7-6(5), 7-6(3) #67 Melanie Oudin d #13 N Petrova 1-6, 7-6(2), 6-3 #51 Kateryna Bondarenko d #40 G Dulko 6-0, 6-0 #53 Yanina Wickmayer d #69 P Kvitova 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 Quarterfinals: #9 Caroline Wozniacki d #67 Melanie Oudin 6-2, 6-2 #53 Yanina Wickmayer d #51 K Bondarenko 7-5, 6-4 Semifinal: #9 Caroline Wozniacki d #53 Y Wickmayer 6-3, 6-3   2009 Major Skirmishes, Bottom Half 4th Round: #2 Serena Williams d #23 D Hantuchova 6-2, 6-0 #NR Kim Clijsters d #3 Venus Williams 6-0, 0-6, 6-4 #10 Flavia Pennetta d #7 V Zvonareva 3-6, 7-6(6), 6-0 #19 Na Li d #27 Francesca Schiavone 6-2, 6-3 Quarterfinals: #2 Serena Williams d #10 Flavia Pennetta 6-4, 6-3 #NR Kim Clijsters d #19 Na Li 6-2, 6-4 Semifinal: #NR Kim Clijsters d #2 Serena Williams 6-4, 7-5 name in italics = arrived by upset of higher ranked player

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WTA SCOREBOARD: The US Open at Flushing Meadows, New York s=seed, #=rank, *=upset, LL=lucky loser ranks are for the previous week How do players get into the "draw"? The US Open  Corona Park, Flushing Meadows, New York   NWS weather radar tourney time:        = GMT -6 hours        = US EDT        = US PDT+3 New York City news Weather Forecast | Weather Maps | Weather Radar   click for broader view USTA Billie Jean King Nat'l Tennis Center at Corona Park in Flushing Meadows - venue map Lat.: 40.749874 Long.: -73.84689 goto link for World Wind     Flushing Meadows: The US Open has 32 seeds, with no 1st-round byes. There are 16 qualifiers and 8 wild cards in the main draw. Qualifying finals are on Friday, August 28th. 2009: On Tuesday, August 25 at Flushing Meadows, 2008 US Open finalist Jelena Jankovic prepared to take the next step... On Wednesday, 1999, 2002 & '08 US Open champ Serena Williams, her sister, 2000 & '01 champ Venus Williams, and this year's champion at Key Biscayne, Victoria Azarenka, were at the DIRECTV ESPN US Open Experience at Bryant Park in Manhattan... row 2: On Sunday, Sept 6, 17-year-old #67 Melanie Oudin posed in NYC's Times Square a day after defeating Maria Sharapova...     On Wednesday, September 9, long-time Japanese #1 Ai Sugiyama announced that she would retire at the end of this season. This was 34-year-old Ai's 16th US Open. She played in 63 Grand Slam tourney singles main draws in her career, and in every Grand Slam singles main draw since Wimbledon in 1994, 62 consecutive, an all-time record. Ai is shown above while defeating Patty Schnyder in the 2nd round in Los Angeles last year, and welcoming the media to the Tokyo Pan Pacific Open in 2007.     On Friday, Sept 11, Ai said: "I have feelings of sadness and loneliness but I also have a feeling of delight as I look forward to the next stage of my life..." Japan Times story     Ai reached a career-high ranking of #8 in WTA singles in 2004; she won 6 singles titles during her career. She reached the #1 ranking in doubles in 2000, and won 38 WTA doubles titles, including the 2000 US Open (w/ Julie Halard-Decugis), the 2003 French Open, and the 2003 Championships at Wimbledon (both w/ Kim Clijsters). Her career prize money totals over eight million dollars. Ai's last tourney will be the 2009 Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, which begins Sept 27. WTA Ai Sugiyama profile     Kim Clijsters said: "Ai told me actually a few weeks ago already that this was going to be her last Grand Slam... She really helped me make my game better, just by at a young age being able to play with someone who had so much experience... She's a girl who will always give 200% even if she's not feeling well or if she has injuries or anything, she'll always give 200%. Some of my best practice sessions have been with her. Over the years, even to my coach now, I still talk about that, how special it was to be able to hit with her when I was 15, 16 and to be able to play doubles with her. And then doing so well in doubles and winning a couple of Grand Slams, you know, was really special... She's going to be missed. I think she always is laughing, as well. That's something that was nice to see on tour with her."

US Open, 1st Rd Mon-Tue Aug 30-31 11am loser's prize: $19,000; points: 5

US Open, 2nd Rd Wed-Thu Sep 1-2 11am loser's prize: $31,000; points: 100

US Open, 3rd Rd Fri-Sat Sep 3-4 11am loser's prize: $48,000; points: 160

US Open, 4th Rd, Sun-Mon Sep 5-6 11am loser's prize: $85,000; points: 280

US Open, QFs, Tues-Wed Sep 7-8 11am loser's prize: $175,000; points: 500

US Open, SFs, Fri Sep 10 CBS-TV 12:30pm loser's prize: $350,000; points: 900

US Open, Final, Sat Sep 11 loser's prize: $800,000; points: 1400 winner's prize: $1,600,000; points: 2000

US Open, Doubles Final, Sun Sep 12 loser's prize: $210,000 winner's prize: $420,000 US Open, Mixed Doubles Final, Thu Sep 9 loser's prize: $70,000 winner's prize: $150,000 US Open, Girls Singles Final, Sun Sep 12 US Open, Girls Doubles Final, Sat Sep 11 US Open, Qualifying Finals Fri Aug 27 11am/b> losers' prizes: q1 $3,000 2pts; q2 $5,625 40pts; q3 $8,000 50pts; qualifier 60 points US Open, Withdrawals/Non-entries

  2010 US Open Series

"The USTA will offer up to an additional $2.6 million in bonus prize money at the US Open to the top three men’s and top three women’s singles finishers in the US Open Series... the six-week summer tennis season linking 10 major ATP and Sony Ericsson WTA Tour tournaments to the US Open." US Open champions will win a $1 million bonus if they won the US Open Series, and thus receive a $2.6 million prize.

2010 US Open interview transcript archive at ASAP Sports

    (Mar 26, 2009) Retired former WTA # 1 Kim Clijsters announced today that she will return to the WTA Tour in August. 2005 US Open champion Kim has requested (and will receive) wild cards for this Summer's hardcourt tourneys in Cincinnati and Toronto, and for the 2009 US Open. Kim had previously scheduled exhibition matches against Steffi Graf (May 17 at Wimbledon) and Michaella Krajicek (June 14 during the Ordina Open), and will also play 2 dates of World Team Tennis. Kim retired two years ago, citing primarily that she was tired of the frequent injuries she incurred on the WTA Tour.

    Kim said: "I have missed playing tournaments most. I am doing it for the challenge. I have been training for 11 or 12 weeks. Training harder than ever before. Then this drive came back...
    "When I started preparing for the Wimbledon game with Steffi Graf I felt this drive. I wanted a new challenge. This is just for fun for now to see if I can do it. I don't need to be number one again. I have done that and I don't need to do it again. I am just going to see how things evolve...
    "I train six days a week, half of which is building up stamina and physique. I am really looking at (my) weak points to prevent injuries." AP story - Reuters story

See also: QuickShop: Sporting Goods - Martina Hingis - Anna Kournikova

Current WTA Results & Tennis News (tennis home page) - 2010 WTA Schedule with links & photos

Link to many postmatch interview & match highlight videos of WTA players at the 2009 WTA Player Videos page.

WTA PhotoRankings: the current top 20 Women's Tennis rankings with player photos, links, and bio info.