Tribute to Kim Clijsters

by Leolaia 94 Replies latest social physical

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  Leolaia

  Wow, this week Kim has started her second tennis career with the tournament in Cincinnati and she was placed unseeded as a wild card and she has already won the first three matches! Plus Serena and Venus Williams are out, so Kim stands a good chance of winning the tournament; she is playing as if she had never left the sport. I am in Germany right now so I am unable to watch the matches unfortunately, but I can't wait to see Kim on TV again.

  But also this week, Kim has launched her new Youtube channel, with video blogs and clips from her matches.

  http://www.youtube.com/user/ClijstersTube
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  aligot ripounsous

  So, Leolaia, now we know where you got your former avatar from.
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  ninja

  I don't care what you say.....going by that picture..... her giving birth must have been a breeze
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  Leolaia

  Today Kim beat Venus Williams! I am so excited for her! She now goes off to the quarterfinals and if she makes it through she will face Serena Williams in the semis.

  BILL DWYRE

  Kim Clijsters refuses to be simply an appetizer

  

  From New York

  You had your bagel for breakfast. Kim Clijsters and Venus Williams had theirs in a late lunch Sunday afternoon at the U.S. Open tennis tournament.
  
  Once they digested that, it was time for real food, for something sumptuous.
  
  Not only did Clijsters, the comeback kid who is now a 26-year-old mom, upset third-seeded Williams, 29. She did so in one of the stranger and more dramatic women's matches in U.S. Open history.
  
  The strange part was the score.
  
  Clijsters won the first set in 27 minutes at love. Williams returned the favor in 23 minutes. Bagel begot bagel.
  
  Then Clijsters broke the bigger-serving Williams in the third game of the final set and battled, scrapped and served it out at 6-4 to complete the stunner in a final set that took 52 minutes, or eight minutes less than the total of the first two.
  
  Yes, that's right, 6-0, 0-6, 6-4.
  
  That happens at your tennis club and it creates chatter. That doesn't happen when two of the better players in the history of women's tennis hook up.
  
  But it did, and Clijsters' reaction when interviewed on the court immediately afterward was spot on.
  
  "It was such a weird match," she said. "After the second set, I thought, let's just start over and fight for each point."
  
  A tennis match had become a "Rocky" movie. Apollo Creed connects with an uppercut and dominates the first five rounds. Then Rocky Balboa catches him with a left hook and wins the next five. Back and forth, setting up the grand finale. Yo, Adrian.
  
  Clijsters got the crucial third-set break when, incredibly, Williams double-faulted on break point. That was in the 1-1 game that she had begun with 122- and 118-mph service bombs that overwhelmed Clijsters.
  
  But the match was nowhere near over.

  (READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE AT LATIMES.COM)
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  AllTimeJeff

  That was a weird match, although I can't help but think that if Venus knee was normal, the outcome would have been different.

  Big tennis fan here. I recorded the 2 Connors/Agassi QF matches at the US Open in 88 and 89 on VHS, and kept them till the tapes wore out. I loved Connors toward the end, big fan of Agassi. He's proof that some athletes do "get it" after they get a little age to them....

  This is Serena's and Federer's tourney to lose. Nadal is a physical wreck, and Clijsters, if she makes it to the semi's, will have to draw upon the power of the gods to beat Serena. Andy Murray, if he doesn't choke on breakfast next week, will undoubtedly do so in a big match. If he makes it to Federer, he's toast.
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  AK - Jeff

  While I rejoice with Leo, in a way. I am a big Venus fan, but was terribly disappointed at her inablility to take Kim. Her knee was her Achiles heel. Serena has no such issue at this point. I agree with ATJ that this is Serena's Open to lose. I always liked Kim also, but the Williams sisters are on the top of my list. Still, her return has been flawless after two years sitting out. Love to watch a comback.

  Jeff
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  zarco

  Go Kim! Unseeded and a mother of a two-year old. Go Kim!
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  Leolaia

  Going into this tournament, I feared Kim would not make it far but thought that the first significant serious challenge would be Venus. Yesterday my boyfriend and I debated about who would win; he was sure Venus would win, I felt that Kim had it in her to beat Venus. But we both agree that Serena is much more of a brick wall for Kim; Kim needs to improve her serve and become more consistent before she could really take Serena on. I think the only players who could match her aggressive game are Venus, Maria Sharapova, and Kim, and neither Maria and Kim are up to the level they should be yet. Maybe next year she would have more of a chance against Serena. But I would love to be proved wrong.

  AllTimeJeff.....I watched tennis extensively in the 70s and 80s, at least insofar as they were shown on TV. The first match I can remember is the Vilas-Conners US Open final in 1977. My mom was a big Connors fan, and while I liked him, I was more of a McEnroe fan (I like serve and volley and loved his antics on the court). My mom liked Chrissie but she never seemed to win much; I became a huge fan of Steffi Graf when she came on the scene. In high school, I devised some technique of ranking Wimbledon players from their stats and usually never got much past the the first few rounds, but the year Pat Cash won I made it through to the final. I totally lost track of tennis in the 90s, especially in the latter 90s when I didn't own a TV. So I saw the early part of Sampras and Agassi but never saw much past '94 until about 2002 (although I went out in 2000 to watch Venus Williams in person). But since then, I've been a huge Kim Clijsters and Roger Federer fan.
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  AllTimeJeff

  Ah yes. No one realizes how much Nadal plays like Vilas (lefty top spinning clay courter) Obviously, different backhands.... But Vilas goal was to pound you into a pile of dust and sweat.

  That 77 final was the last at Forest Hills, on the green clay. (yuck) Connors was way to stubborn in that match.. (as usual) Connors beat Borg just as he was figuring out how great he was in 76.

  I miss Connors and Mac. That was the golden age... Agassi and Sampras kept it going, but we need personalities again in mens tennis.

  Not a problem with the ladies, thanks to our psuedo JW sistas out there.. :)

  I always wanted Gabriella Absenteenie to win more then she did, but at least she has 1 Wimbledon. She was never Graf's rival. Hardly ever beat her....

  I could go on and on, but I have to clean my basement now..
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  SixofNine

  I could go on and on, but I have to clean my basement now..

  I understand; too much reminiscing about Steffi Graf will do that to you.

  We should have an Apostate-Open tennis tournament.