NEW YORK, 8 September 2003 — Justine Henin-Hardenne, uncertain of even playing due to dehydration and fatigue, routed top-ranked Kim Clijsters 7-5, 6-1 here Saturday in the US Open final to capture her second Grand Slam tennis title. Less than 24 hours after taking intravenous fluids following a three-hour semifinal struggle with American Jennifer Capriati, Henin-Hardenne overpowered her Belgian compatriot, winning nine of the last 10 games.
“I’m the happiest woman in the world right now,” Henin-Hardenne said. “I was feeling very tired but when you have to play a Grand Slam final, you cannot be tired. You have to give your best.” Henin-Hardenne ripped 18 winners past Clijsters, who made 40 unforced errors and was not a factor after rallying from 3-0 down to lead 5-4 in the first set.
“It’s very disappointing to have lost here,” Clijsters said. “I felt like Justine was too strong, had an answer for a lot of my shots.” Henin-Hardenne, 21, beat Clijsters, 20, in June’s French Open final for her first Slam crown. Both women were ousted in the fourth round here last year. “I always thought the first win in a Grand Slam would be the most important one, but it’s a great feeling because it’s a very different victory from the French Open,” Henin-Hardenne said. “I never really played well at the US Open.”
Meanwhile, Martina Navratilova was foiled in her bid to become the oldest woman to win a US Open title here yesterday as she and Russian doubles partner Svetlana Kuznetsova were beaten in the women’s doubles final. Spain’s Virginia Ruano-Pascual and Argentina’s Paola Suarez, seeded second, beat Kuznetsova and Navratilova 6-2, 6-3, to capture the Grand Slam title.
Navratilova, 46, would have been the oldest female title winner of the event, breaking the age mark of Margaret Osborne duPont, who was 42 when she won the 1960 mixed doubles crown in a pre-Open era competition. Navratilova was going for her 59th Grand Slam crown. She has won 18 singles, nine mixed doubles and 31 doubles Slam titles
Australia’s Todd Woodbridge captured his 77th pro men’s doubles title here yesterday, teaming with Sweden’s Jonas Bjorkman to win the US Open title and stand one shy of Dutchman Tom Okker’s all-time record. Fourth seeds Woodbridge and Bjorkman rallied to beat second-seeded American brothers Bob and Mike Bryan 5-7, 6-0, 7-5 for the $400,000 top prize.
It was the 15th Grand Slam doubles title for Woodbridge, who matched retired American star John McEnroe for second on the all-time doubles title list. Woodbridge and Bjorkman won their fourth Slam final in as many appearances together, following the 2001 Australian Open and the past two Wimbledon crowns.
“This is quite amazing,” Woodbridge said. “Jonas and I have played well together from the time we got together. We wanted to win majors and this is our fourth one in three years. I couldn’t be happier.”
Woodbridge and his former partner, retired Aussie Mark Woodforde, combined for 61 titles, 11 of them Slams, before the “Woodies” broke up when Woodforde departed in 2000.
Belgium’s Kirsten Flipkens, following the example of Belgian women’s champion Justine Henin-Hardenne, won the US Open girls junior title 6-3, 7-5 yesterday over Dutch second seed Michaela Krajicek. The half-sister of 1996 Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek was no match for fourth seed Flipkens, 17, who has worked with world No. 1 Clijsters in a bid to develop her game for a quick jump to the WTA Tour.
French fifth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga upset top seed Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus 7-6 (7 4), 6-3 for the boys junior crown.
Clijsters remains No. 1, the lone woman ever in the spot without a Slam title. Henin-Hardenne is only 8-8 lifetime against Clijsters but 5-1 in finals against her and the two Slam titles show who is truly best.
Henin-Hardenne took home a one million-dollar top prize, twice what Clijsters won. But the check award ceremony drew laughs when she was greeted with “Congratulations Christine” by bank executive Bill Harrison.
While there was no repeat of the third-set leg cramps that plagued the champion against Capriati, Henin-Hardenne knew she was not 100 percent.
Clijsters was amazed at her rival’s win as well, saying, “That was one of the best matches of the year and maybe of the US Open, the whole history.”
Clijsters, the girlfriend of Australian men’s star Lleyton Hewitt, lost the first three games in seven minutes and blamed nerves. But in the end, her rival was simply too tough. “Justine just played a great match. She was too good,” Clijsters said. “I knew it was going to be very tough. I felt comfortable getting into the match, playing well against all my other opponents. It just wasn’t good enough.”
New world No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero and ATP Champions Race leader Andy Roddick meet for the first time in the US Open final, a showdown that could be the start of something special.
On the same Arthur Ashe Stadium court where Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras played the last match of their epic series in last year’s final, two rising stars seeking a breakthrough Grand Slam triumph will begin a new rivalry.
“If Andy has a great serving day, it’s going to be tough for anybody to beat him,” Agassi said. “But if he’s a little off and Juan Carlos gets into some of the points, Andy is going to feel him.”
Third seed Ferrero, the French Open champion, took the top ranking from Agassi by beating him 6-4, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 here Saturday in the semifinals.
US fourth seed Roddick saved a match point to ignite a comeback that lifted him past Argentina’s 13th-seeded David Nalbandian 6-7 (4 7), 3-6, 7-6 (9 7), 6-1, 6-3 and into his first Grand Slam final.
