Kim Clijsters blasted her way to a maiden Australian Open title after a spectacular win over China’s Li Na. The Belgian completed her third Grand Slam win, taking the match 3-6 6-3 6-3. Going into the match Li will have been considered the underdog tennis betting pundits, but she showed her quality and pushed Clijsters throughout the match.
Li made a strong start to the match, taking the first set with an impressive array of strokes, but Clijsters’s experience eventually told as she closed out the second and third sets.
The two-time US Open Champion was made to work for her victory as the Chinese ninth seed looked to beat Clijsters for the second time in 2011. Three quick games in a row gave Li the opening set and Clijsters was left trying to figure out how to deal with her powerful forehand.
However the Belgian was gifted entry back into the match after a double fault from Li gave Clijsters an early break in the second set. The two then exchanged breaks in the next four games as the game started to ebb and flow, but it was Clijsters who eventually came out on top to take the second set.
The world number two carried her momentum through to the third set at won her fifth straight 6-3 game before Li broke back to give herself a chance of winning the deciding set at 2-1. The match was set up for the grand-stand finish it deserved but uncharacteristic error’s crept into Li’s game and it left Clijsters with a chance to claim back to back titles in the majors.
Li, competing in her first ever Grand Slam final will look back on a lost opportunity, but Clijsters opponent was full of praise for the Chinese number 1.
“Li Na was definitely a very tough competitor. She really brought it to me at the start of the rallies. I was on the back foot and leaning back – I don’t like that” Clijsters said.
“The first set, I thought ‘Wow! This is going too fast for me!’ It was tough. I felt in the second set she was getting a bit nervous. I was just happy I was able to pull it off in the end.”
Clijsters will now look back on her decision to come out of retirement in 2009 as the right one and will look to add to her three Grand Slam win at the French Open in May, a tournament those placing tennis bets will likely install her as a favourite for.
