Clijsters Edges Sharapova In Three

In the rain-interrupted match, Kim Clijsters took advantage of one of the delays to pull herself and her game together. When the rain finally settled, Clijsters asserted herself and made a difficult comeback to claim the title in the Western and Southern Financial Group Women’s Open in Cincinnati.

Maria Sharapova is looking more and more like a top five player and certainly is a top five competitor. In the early going, the former world number one took command of the match by setting her usual deliberate pace. Clijsters is known to play fast and seemed distracted by the Sharapova slow down.

In a blink of an eye, Maria ran through the first set and held a 5-3 lead in the second set when the rain forced a stoppage in play. At the time of the stoppage, Clijsters had already been forced to save three match points.

When the play resumed, Sharapova became aware that a different opponent was across the net. Clijsters was suddenly the hunter and Sharapova was the hunted.

Both players had won two events this season and the winner would become the first player to win three titles this year. Sharapova also had a three-match winning streak against Clijsters and both players have won multiple Grand Slam Tournaments. There was plenty of championship experience on the court and both players were intense throughout the match.

When play resumed, Clijsters took an all or nothing approach and her gambling play paid dividends as she squared the set and forced the tiebreaker. But, Sharapova was not finished as she sprinted to a 3-0 lead. Clijsters won the fourth point and then six of the next seven points to claim the title.

Between sets, Sharapova called for the trainer to work on her injured ankle. Clijsters stayed on course, gaining the early break to take the momentum. Bothered by her ankle, the Russian could not push off on her serve and Clijsters moved inside the baseline to blast returns past Maria.

Sharapova offered little resistance in the final set and Clijsters added Cincinnati to her Brisbane and Miami titles and showed she is ready for the U. S. Open.

For Maria, it was her fifth final of the year. She stands at 2-3 and is very much in the conversation about the top tour players. Her career finals record is a very respectable 22-11 and she is a player to watch in the upcoming weeks.

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