NEW YORK, (Reuters) – Some words of consolation from U.S. Open champion Kim Clijsters made the bitter pill of a second successive grand slam final defeat easier to swallow for Vera Zvonareva.
The Russian burst into tears in front of a packed Arthur Ashe Stadium while Clijsters captured her third career grand slam title in under an hour Saturday.
Clijsters, who lost four grand slam finals from 2001 to 2004 before winning her first of three U.S. Open titles in 2005, told the number seven seed that her time would come in a grand slam final.
“When she told me that I was like, ‘ok, it was just two for me, that’s ok, it’s not too bad,’“ said Zvonareva, who lost in similar fashion to Serena Williams in July’s Wimbledon final.
“Sometimes you can be disappointed and think I had two chances and I didn’t use them. But that’s how it goes. It’s just a great experience for me.”
Zvonareva looked a shadow of the player that knocked number one seed Caroline Wozniacki out of the tournament in straight sets the previous day.
She was sluggish throughout and scored a mere 31 points in a match that proved a damp squib for the expectant crowd, lasting 15 games and just 59 minutes.
Afterwards she blamed the women’s doubles, in which she had partnered Elena Vesnina to the quarter-finals, for her lackluster display.
“I felt like here I had to play every day and it’s tough not only physically but it’s also mentally tiring,” said Zvonareva, who hinted she would quit doubles at grand slams next year in order to focus on her singles career.
“By the time the most important match of the tournament arrived, for me it was very different out there physically.”
Zvonareva, who has showed her emotional frailties before on court, once again struggled to keep her emotions in check.
During the second set, she broke her racquet and received a code violation for smashing it on the ground three times in frustration.
“When I cracked my racquet, I was like ‘come on the ball is just two steps away,’“ she said. “I was able to get to this ball in previous matches and right now I’m just so slow, I cannot move.”
