NEW YORK, (Reuters) – Former champion Kim Clijsters stunned third seed Venus Williams 6-0 0-6 6-4 in a dramatic fourth-round clash at the U.S. Open yesterday.
In just her third tournament back after two years away during which time she gave birth to her first child, Clijsters held her nerve to win a topsy-turvy encounter to book her place in the last eight.
“It was unbelievable,” a jubilant Clijsters said in a courtside interview, having enjoyed the bulk of the crowd support. “I don’t really know what to say.
“It was such a weird match. After I lost the second set 6-0 I was just like, okay, just start over and fight for every point.”
The Belgian wildcard, who does not even have a ranking yet, played an almost flawless first set as she romped through it in 27 minutes.
Williams, the winner at Flushing Meadows in 2000 and 2001, again sported heavy strapping around her left knee and was struggling on her serve from the start.
Clijsters came out firing, though, and she crunched a series of flashing winners to race away with the first set.
Just as quickly, though, the match turned and Williams cut out her errors and stepped up the power on her serve.
Clijsters, the 2005 champion, went off the boil and with her forehand misfiring, Williams broke serve three times to force a decider.
The Belgian bounced back at the start of the third set and it was Williams who felt the pressure as a double-fault handed Clijsters the break in the third game.
Games stayed on serve through to 5-4 but the tension was ramped up when three mistakes gave Williams two chances to get back on level terms.
But Clijsters saved both with some courageous play and then snatched victory with a service winner.
Li Na of China will be her opponent in the last eight and Clijsters said she expected a difficult encounter against the 18th seed.
“I’ve had some really tough matches against her in the past,” she said. “She has a good serve and a big forehand and I think it will a tough match physically but I have a day off so hopefully I will be fine.”
