‘Supermum’ Clijsters completes Fairytale of New York

NEW YORK, (Reuters) – Her daughter Jada cradled in  one arm and a silver trophy tucked under the other, Kim  Clijsters proved motherhood and sporting excellence can go  hand-in-hand when the Belgian won the U.S. Open title on Sunday.

Never before had a curly haired 18-month-old toddler stolen  the show on Arthur Ashe Stadium, but this was no ordinary day at  Flushing Meadows.

It was a day when Belgian wildcard Clijsters beat Danish  teenager Caroline Wozniacki 7-5 6-3 to become the first mother  to win a grand slam title since Evonne Goolagong achieved the  feat almost three decades ago — at Wimbledon in 1980.

“We tried to plan her naptime a little bit later so she  could be here today. It’s the greatest feeling in the world,  being a mother,” a glassy-eyed Clijsters told the cheering crowd  after her heart-tugging comeback win at the hardcourt major.

Wozniacki, who had been bidding to become the first Danish  woman to win a grand slam singles title, said: “She’s such a  great girl. Unfortunately she beat me today. She played a great  match and deserved this trophy.”

A journey that began with the Belgian taking baby steps back  into top flight tennis only last month — following a two-year  sabbatical — came full circle in just 35 days as she claimed  her second U.S. Open prize.

“Amazing. For her to have this incredible run is fantastic.  This is a great story for women’s tennis, that’s for sure,” said  Roger Federer, himself a new father of twins.

Less than 24 hours after Tweeting “The fairytale goes on”  following her semi-final win over Serena Williams, she penned a  happy ending to her story.

Having been denied the chance to savour victory on Saturday  — when the contest against Williams ended bizarrely as the  American was docked a point at match point down — Clijsters  made sure no one would steal Sunday’s moment from her.

The contest was not a classic — with fortunes wildly  fluctuating in a first set that featured seven breaks — but the  tension was still palpable on a windy arena as almost 23,000  fans roared on Clijsters.

Harry Potter fan Wozniacki briefly cast her spell over  Clijsters as she leapt to a 4-2 lead in the first set but she  quickly ran out of tricks and surrendered the advantage with a  double fault in the eighth game.

From them on, it seemed that the 26-year-old Clijsters could  not be denied.

At 5-3 in the second set, a driving a forehand into the  corner brought up championship point.

On the next exchange, Clijsters narrowed her eyes when she  saw a Wozniacki backhand spin high into the air and raised her  right arm to smash it to the other side of the net.

Victory was assured and Clijsters sank to her knees before  leaning on to the cement in a foetal position — struggling to  believe what she had achieved.

When she showed her face to the world again, tears were  streaming down the face of a woman who had completed the  successful defence of her title — having also won the trophy  here on her last visit to New York in 2005.

She quickly clambered up the stands to kiss her husband  Brian, a moment which set Jada into a fit of giggles as she  watched her mum and dad on the big video screen.

“I don’t have words for this. I’m just glad I got to come  back and defend my title from 2005. It’s so exciting for me,”  said Clijsters, who still does not own a ranking as her comeback  is only three-tournaments old.

“I have to thank the USTA for giving me the wildcard to come  back here. Just coming back here meant so much to me and seeing  how warm everybody welcomed me and embraced me just to be back  was a great feeling,” said Clijsters, the first wildcard to win  the Open title.

“It definitely helped me to keep fighting and stay focused  out there. Especially in the last few matches where the  opponents became a lot tougher.”