Los Angeles, Nov 12: Kim Clijsters cruises to a 6-2, 6-0 win over Amelie Mauresmo in the 2003 WTA Tour Championship final.
Belgium's Kim Clijsters successfully defended her WTA Championships title with a clinical 6-2 6-0 victory over France's Amelie Mauresmo in Los Angeles, California, United States on Monday (November 10). In a remarkable display of powerful, consistent tennis from inside the baseline, top-seeded Clijsters overwhelmed 4th seed Mauresmo, never allowing the Frenchwoman to control the net and moving her around the court. It was the 20-year-old's ninth title of the year and was something of a consolation for losing the number one spot to compatriot Justine Henin-Hardenne. Henin secured the top ranking by reaching the semi-final here, having beaten Clijsters in both the grand slam finals they contested this year at the French and U.S. Opens.


Mauresmo and Clijsters traded breaks to open the match, but after that, the Belgian seized control of the contest, winning most of the rapid-fire points from the baseline and serving with ruthless efficiency.


Clijsters, who won a tough three-setter on Wednesday (November 5) over Mauresmo in the early part of the new round-robin format, broke Mauresmo three times in the first set and won it when she forced her opponent into a backhand error.


Mauresmo looked to be still suffering the after-effects of Sunday's (November 9) three-set semi-final victory over Henin and such was Clijsters dominance in the second set, the Frenchwoman ended up attempting to serve and volley behind questionable first serves.


Clijsters broke in the final game to win the match when Mauresmo committed another backhand error.


Clijsters committed only 10 unforced errors in the match to 18 from Mauresmo, won 75 percent of her first serve points to only 46 from her opponent and cracked 16 winners in the 52-minute romp which earned her 1,000,030USD.


Bureau Report