Clijsters ousts Venus at Open
A half-hour after getting past Venus Williams in a three-set tussle at the U.S. Open, Kim Clijsters had her hands full again. Juggling an energy drink, a bottle of water and a snack, Clijsters was trying to keep an eye on her 18-month-old daughter, Jada, as the tyke scurried around the players’ lounge.
NEW YORK (AP) — A half-hour after getting past Venus Williams in a three-set tussle at the U.S. Open, Kim Clijsters had her hands full again.
Juggling an energy drink, a bottle of water and a snack, Clijsters was trying to keep an eye on her 18-month-old daughter, Jada, as the tyke scurried around the players’ lounge.
Better keep the nanny on call: Mommy’s got more work to do at Flushing Meadows.
Playing by far her biggest match since coming back after 2½ years away from tennis, Clijsters knocked off the No. 3-seeded Williams 6-0, 0-6, 6-4 Sunday in a match of wild momentum swings to reach the U.S. Open quarterfinals.
“It’s still kind of hard to believe. But then again, I’m not trying to get carried away with it all,” the 26-year-old Belgian said. “Just trying to focus on what I have to do, because the tournament’s still going. I just want to keep focusing on my tennis.”
“I wasn’t able to play 100 percent,” Williams said.
Still, she went back out on court later Sunday, teaming with her younger sister Serena to win a third-round doubles match. The No. 2-seeded Serena is still defending her title in the singles tournament — hasn’t dropped a set yet, even — after taking the last 10 games of a 6-2, 6-0 victory over No. 22 Daniela Hantuchova.
Serena Williams’ bid for a 12th Grand Slam title will continue with a quarterfinal against No. 10 Flavia Pennetta of Italy, who saved six match points en route to eliminating No. 7 Vera Zvonareva 3-6, 7-6 (6), 6-0 at night.
Williams-Clijsters was the main attraction Sunday, and the biggest piece of news elsewhere came when Rafael Nadal sought treatment from a trainer for a stomach muscle problem.
The third-seeded Nadal, trying to complete a career Grand Slam with a U.S. Open title, refused to talk about his health after beating No. 32 Nicolas Almagro 7-5, 6-4, 6-4.
“I don’t want to talk about injuries,” Nadal said. “Sorry. No, no. I am a little bit tired to talk about injuries.”
His next opponent, No. 13 Gael Monfils, advanced when Jose Acasuso quit because of left knee pain while trailing 6-3, 6-4, 1-0.
No. 24 Juan Carlos Ferrero, the French Open champion and U.S. Open runner-up in 2003, moved on when his foe, No. 9 Gilles Simon, stopped playing because of a right knee injury, while winners included No. 6 Juan Martin del Potro, No. 7 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and No. 11 Fernando Gonzalez.
More from around the web
RSS Feeds