PARIS, 16 February 2004 — Top seed Kim Clijsters outclassed local favorite Mary Pierce 6-2, 6-1 to win her first tournament of the season at the Paris Open yesterday.
The Belgian world No. 2 outpaced and overpowered the former Australian and French Open champion in just 58 minutes.
“Mary has played great tennis all week and I knew I had to be at my very best to beat her,” said Clijsters.
The win lifted the Belgian closer to the world number one spot she occupied briefly last season, with her top-ranked compatriot Justine Henin-Hardenne having taken this week off.
“Of course, it’s one of my goals this season. I have fond memories of being number one for a while last year. It was fun,” added Clijsters, who plays at home in Antwerp this week.
Pierce, close to her best after being plagued by injury over the last few seasons, won the Paris title in 1998 but had no answer to Clijsters’ power game yesterday.
“She was just too strong today and I was a little tired. I’ve had a good week but I’ve still got a lot of work to do,” Pierce said.
“My serve was not good enough today and, against a player like Kim, it’s merciless.”
Clijsters took complete control of the match by winning seven games in succession. She bagged the first set in 28 minutes before racing into a 3-0 lead in the second.
The Belgian, beaten by Henin-Hardenne in the Australian Open final last month, never allowed her French opponent to settle in the match.
Frenchman Dupuis Wins Milan Indoor Final
In Milan, France’s Anthony Dupuis claimed his first ATP title yesterday by beating 19-year-old Croatian Mario Ancic 6-4, 6-7, 7-6 in the Milan Indoor event.
Thirty-year-old Dupuis won a grueling final between the two unseeded players after claiming the deciding set tiebreak 7-5.
Dupuis was appearing in his second ATP final, having lost to Czech Jiri Novak in Munich in 2001. Ancic was appearing in his first title match.
The Frenchman had beaten compatriot Gregory Carraz in the semifinal while Ancic defeated Sweden’s Thomas Johansson to reach the final.
The tall right-hander needed 10 match points to win after failing to convert seven in the second tie break, including four successive points at 6-2.
“I had lost after having match points at the Australian Open and the challenger in Wroclaw, so obviously it was in the back of my mind after I wasted the seven match points in the second set,” he said.
Pumped Up Fish Upsets Agassi in San Jose
Third seed Mardy Fish claimed one of the biggest wins of his career on Saturday when he beat an angry Andre Agassi 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 for a place in the final of the San Jose Open.
Fish will meet top seed Andy Roddick, who delivered another big serving display to down fellow American Robert Kendrick 7-6, 6-2.
After winning the first set, Agassi lost control of the game with some wayward serving. The five times champion completely fell apart on the third set and was broken twice as he littered the court with errors.
“It’s one of the biggest wins I’ve had, if not the biggest,” Fish said.
Upset with his serving and some questionable line calls, Agassi appeared to mock Fish’s fist pumping celebrations in the final game of the second set.
When Fish missed a backhand down the line on the second point of the game, Agassi looked toward the 22-year-old and pumped his fist.
