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11/5/2000
Clijsters Defeats Likhovtseva in Final
Kim Clijsters, a 17-year-old Belgian
ranked No. 420 less than two years ago, took another big step in
her career Sunday by beating Elena Likhovtseva 7-6 (8-6), 4-6, 6-4
to win the Sparkassen Cup.
Clijsters already has won three titles since joining the WTA
tour. She will move to No. 20 in the rankings, the youngest among
the world's top 100 players.
The daughter of well-known Belgian soccer player Leo Clijsters,
Clijsters beat the seventh-seeded Russian after upsetting Anna
Kournikova and Aranta Sanchez-Vicario en route to the final of the
$535,000 tournament.
Clijsters fought off five set points to save the first set. In
the final set, she struggled to hold serve as her play suddenly
grew erratic. But she recovered and ended the match with an
overhead smash amid wild cheers from the crowd.
"I wasn't feeling great today," said Clijsters, who also
reached the doubles final. "My legs felt all the long matches this
week, but I just kept fighting."
Likhovtseva, ranked 25th, had reached the final by upsetting
top-seeded Nathalie Tauziat.
Clijsters came through with her best tennis. At 4-4 she broke
serve, then fought off two break chances in the next game before
closing the match.
She trailed 6-3 in the first-set tiebreaker, then ripped off one
of her powerful crosscourt forehands and charged the net for a rare
volley point, fendingt off three set points.
"I have no idea how I do that," she said. "I just try to stay
calm and make the points happen myself."
She earned $87,000 for this victory. Her second title at Hobart
in Australia in January made her the youngest player to win two of
her first nine events on the tour.
-Associated Press
--From Espn.com
Clijsters Beats Likhovtseva to Win Sparkassen Cup
Kim Clijsters captured her second title of the season with a three-set triumph in today's final of the $535,000 Sparkassen Cup indoor tennis tournament.
Clijsters outlasted seventh seed Elena Likhovtseva of Russia, 7-6 (8-6), 4-6, 6-4, for her third career tournament victory. The unseeded Belgian teen, who knocked off four seeded players this week, earned $87,000.
"I am thrilled to win here in Leipzig, it's the biggest tournament I have won so far in my career after Luxembourg and Hobart," said Clijsters, who saved five set points in the first set. "I really enjoyed myself all week. Today, Elena was playing unbelievable and I had to fight really hard to stay in it."
At No. 31, Clijsters became the lowest ranked winner of a WTA Tour Tier II singles title since Julie Halard-Decugis claimed the 1996 Paris Indoors while ranked 32nd in the world.
With today's win, the 17-year-old Clijsters will climb to a career-best No. 20 when the rankings are released Monday morning. She defeated second seed Aranxta Sanchez-Vicario, eighth-seeded Jelena Dokic, and No. 3 Anna Kournikova this week.
"The match against Jelena Dokic was important for me to come through as I was match point down and then in the semis I played probably the best match in my career against Anna Kournikova," she said.
Clijsters won the ANZ Tasmanian International at Hobart, Australia in January. She reached the final of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix at Filderstadt, Germany last month, losing to world No. 1 Martina Hingis.
"My game has improved a lot in the last few weeks and now I know I can beat the top players," observed Clijsters.
Likhovtseva was hoping to break a title drought of more than three years. She has not won a tournament since coming out on top at the Gold Coast Women's Classic at Australia in January, 1997.
However, the 25-year-old Russian will go from 25 to 22 in next week's rankings.
"I'm a little disappointed but I had a good week and defeated some good players," Likhovtseva said. "I like the surface in Leipzig and here, I didn't have as much pressure as in Moscow (last week) so I could relax and just enjoy playing tennis. Today, I had many break points but Kim played very well and was really going for it.
"This was my last tournament of the year as I'm not going to Philadelphia. I'm going to rest until December, then think of next season. I believe that I can reach the top 10."
-Sports Ticker
--From Sports.Yahoo.com
~Clijsters City
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Clijsters already has won three titles since joining the WTA
tour. She will move to No. 20 in the rankings, the youngest among
the world's top 100 players.
The daughter of well-known Belgian soccer player Leo Clijsters,
Clijsters beat the seventh-seeded Russian after upsetting Anna
Kournikova and Aranta Sanchez-Vicario en route to the final of the
$535,000 tournament.
Clijsters fought off five set points to save the first set. In
the final set, she struggled to hold serve as her play suddenly
grew erratic. But she recovered and ended the match with an
overhead smash amid wild cheers from the crowd.
"I wasn't feeling great today," said Clijsters, who also
reached the doubles final. "My legs felt all the long matches this
week, but I just kept fighting."
Likhovtseva, ranked 25th, had reached the final by upsetting
top-seeded Nathalie Tauziat.
Clijsters came through with her best tennis. At 4-4 she broke
serve, then fought off two break chances in the next game before
closing the match.
She trailed 6-3 in the first-set tiebreaker, then ripped off one
of her powerful crosscourt forehands and charged the net for a rare
volley point, fendingt off three set points.
"I have no idea how I do that," she said. "I just try to stay
calm and make the points happen myself."
She earned $87,000 for this victory. Her second title at Hobart
in Australia in January made her the youngest player to win two of
her first nine events on the tour.
-Associated Press --From Espn.com Clijsters Beats Likhovtseva to Win Sparkassen CupClijsters outlasted seventh seed Elena Likhovtseva of Russia, 7-6 (8-6), 4-6, 6-4, for her third career tournament victory. The unseeded Belgian teen, who knocked off four seeded players this week, earned $87,000. "I am thrilled to win here in Leipzig, it's the biggest tournament I have won so far in my career after Luxembourg and Hobart," said Clijsters, who saved five set points in the first set. "I really enjoyed myself all week. Today, Elena was playing unbelievable and I had to fight really hard to stay in it." At No. 31, Clijsters became the lowest ranked winner of a WTA Tour Tier II singles title since Julie Halard-Decugis claimed the 1996 Paris Indoors while ranked 32nd in the world. With today's win, the 17-year-old Clijsters will climb to a career-best No. 20 when the rankings are released Monday morning. She defeated second seed Aranxta Sanchez-Vicario, eighth-seeded Jelena Dokic, and No. 3 Anna Kournikova this week. "The match against Jelena Dokic was important for me to come through as I was match point down and then in the semis I played probably the best match in my career against Anna Kournikova," she said. Clijsters won the ANZ Tasmanian International at Hobart, Australia in January. She reached the final of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix at Filderstadt, Germany last month, losing to world No. 1 Martina Hingis. "My game has improved a lot in the last few weeks and now I know I can beat the top players," observed Clijsters. Likhovtseva was hoping to break a title drought of more than three years. She has not won a tournament since coming out on top at the Gold Coast Women's Classic at Australia in January, 1997. However, the 25-year-old Russian will go from 25 to 22 in next week's rankings. "I'm a little disappointed but I had a good week and defeated some good players," Likhovtseva said. "I like the surface in Leipzig and here, I didn't have as much pressure as in Moscow (last week) so I could relax and just enjoy playing tennis. Today, I had many break points but Kim played very well and was really going for it. "This was my last tournament of the year as I'm not going to Philadelphia. I'm going to rest until December, then think of next season. I believe that I can reach the top 10."
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