It was only fitting that Kim Clijsters dethroned Serena Williams for the world number-one ranking in the city where she beat the American for the first (and so far only) time.
Clijsters’s three-set win (6-1, 3-6, 6-1) over Lindsay Davenport in the JP Morgan Chase Open in Los Angeles on Sunday gave her 6 033 points in the latest World Tennis Association (WTA) rankings issued on Monday. Williams dropped to second place with 5 995 points.
Ten months ago Clijsters beat Williams for the Masters title in the same Californian metropolis.
Now the 20-year-old is the 12th number one since the start of the rankings, the first Belgian and the first to do so without a Grand Slam title.
”I will never forget this day. It [the number one] is something that always seems so far away and it is always something you worked for. It makes you more motivated and train harder,” said Clijsters, whose boyfriend, Lleyton Hewitt, topped the men’s rankings in 2001 and 2002.
Clijsters was always tipped to become a top athlete, given the fact that her father, Leo, was a Belgian Footballer of the Year who placed fourth at the 1986 World Cup. Her mother was a gymnast.
Clijsters started playing tennis at the age of six and was the youngest Belgian junior champion five years later.
She joined the WTA tour at the age of 16 and rose to stardom in the 2001 French Open final, which she lost 12-10 to Jennifer Capriati in the third set.
She lost again in the Roland Garros final this year, against compatriot Justine Henin-Hardenne, who at 21 also has the potential to become a number one.
Clijsters will be out to end her Grand Slam jinx later this month at the US Open, where Serena is sidelined with injury.
The Belgian De Standaard daily on Monday made it clear that Clijsters was a deserved number one.
”The rankings don’t lie. Kim Cljsters has been the best player over the past 12 months,” said De Standaard. ”No one has won more tournaments than Clijsters, no one won more prize money than Clijsters, no one plays so much and on such a consistent high level as Clijsters.”
Clijsters has six titles this year and has reached at least the semifinal stage in each of the 14 events she has played in 2003.
One motivation factor for Clijsters was the power tennis of the Williams sisters.
”Others have been intimidated by them. We all had to raise our levels. They are beatable,” said Clijsters in May at the German Open.
Cljsters has beaten Serena only once in nine meetings (the Masters win), even throwing away a 5-1 lead in the final set in this year’s Australian Open semifinals.
A victory there could have sped up the changing of the guard, which could be remembered as ”Belgians take over from the Williams sisters”.
”Clijsters is a world class player. And the first Grand Slam title will come. Just as the world number-one ranking could be Justine Henin’s soon. A Belgian one-two at the US Open? It is almost certain,” said De Standaar. ”And that is only the beginning.” — Sapa-DPA