By Matthew Cronin

NEW YORK - Maybe the only person who knew that Kim Clijsters would eventually win a Grand Slam title was the 22-year-old herself.

She’s had the physical talent to so for the past three years, but mentally, was unable to impose her in four previous attempts. That stage of her career ended in a hurry on in New York, when she crushed Mary Pierce 6-3, 6-1 to win her first Grand Slam title at the US Open.

“She was capable of winning one before,” said her coach, Marc Dehous. “ She was No. 1 in singles and doubles. But it’s one thing to say it and another to do it. Everyone wanted her to and hoping it and I knew she was capable of it, she just had to do it.”

Consider it done. After one of the best US hardcourt runs in history where she captured six titles and only dropped one match, Clijsters can now truly be called an elite player.

She took down a standout field to win the Open, including coming back from set and a break down to stun two time US champ Venus 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 in the quarters and fighting off a valiant charge from No. 1 Maria Sharapova 6-2, 6-7 (4), 6-3 in the semis.

Clijsters played relentless defense during the fortnight, served with authority, ripped her forehand and stared down anyone who thought they had a chance to hit through her. Most importantly, in the final, she showed no nerves and steamrolled the erratic Pierce. So now there won’t be any more questions as to why she can’t shine at the sport’s most storied tournaments.

“For everything, there’s a time and a place,” Clijsters said.
“Maybe it wasn’t my time yet in those Grand Slams. But especially losing those Grand Slams and not just the finals but also losing to Serena in Australia, those definitely motivate you to work harder. I got a little frustrated every time I got asked about it and I had the idea that the media was making more of it than it was. I was very motivated and I was working hard to try to do it. So now you don’t have to ask me that anymore.”

Clijsters now believes that not only will she run balls down, but won’t gag the replies. She’s had a gradual build-up of confidence that began last fall, when she broke up her engagement with her fiancée, Lleyton Hewitt, and took control of her life.

She learned a fair amount about life during ‘04 when she was off nursing a wrist injury and returned this spring with an improved attitude, one that couldn’t afford to lollygag around in big matches anymore. But there were more steps to take in her long climb to a Slam title. Two very big wins came before the Open, when she notched victories of two of her nemesis’s, Venus at Stanford and Justine Henin-Hardenne in Toronto. No one else on tour had troubled Clijsters like those two had so when she reached N.Y., her confidence had shot upward. “Those were very important,” Dehous said. “What more can you want in preparation?”

When Dehous saw the draw and saw that Venus and Sharapova would be potential foes, he knew those would be Clijsters’ money matches. Venus had called Clijsters out before the match, saying her loss to her at Stanford was a result of her being exhausted from five straight weeks of play, and not because Clijsters had finally figured out how to beat her. That appeared to be true assessment halfway through the second set of their Open battle, as Clijsters was lacking conviction when it came to closing out points. But she mentally regrouped and upped her defense to ethereal levels, chasing down blast after blast while she slid about the court. Venus simply couldn’t leg points out with her. Clijsters played a better defensive match than the woman who said that her “D” was better than hers was.

“Defending is something that has to be consistent throughout the whole match,” Clijsters said. “She let herself down maybe a little physically-wise. I knew that I could be in long rallies every points and I wouldn’t get tired.”

The ambitious Sharapova discovered much the same. The Belgian held five match points on Sharapova’s serve at 6-5, but the Russian responded brilliantly, caressing a drop shot winner, a backhand winner and three service winners to get herself into a tiebreaker. There, the shrieking Sharapova stepped up her level again, winning the breaker with two huge forehands But after taking a bathroom break, Sharapova came out flat and Clijsters regained the control of her groundstrokes. She forced the 18-year-old Russian to continue swinging from the hips until she didn’t have any body fat left and at the end of the match, looked like a skeleton whose bones were about to crumble. “She’s a great athlete. She moves amazing.,” Sharapova said. “When the points started getting longer and longer, I felt that she had the advantage.”

Any player out-toughed Venus and Sharapova in succession should have been a lock to win the title. But Clijsters couldn’t be called a slam-dunk to win anything until she actually did it. The Belgian has believed for some time that she had the game to stay with anyone and her resume proved that, but she couldn’t convince anyone that she had the steely guts to pull out huge matches when all the chips were on the line. Not when she couldn’t push Jennifer Capriati back at the ‘01 French Open when she was just a kid, or when her countrywoman Justine Henin Hardenne stared her down at ‘03 French and US Open’s and ‘04 Australian Open.

Clijsters could have more trouble against Pierce, who had punched through excellent athletes Justine Henin-Hardenne, Amelie Mauresmo and Elena Dementieva – all who had had winning records against her. But after Dehous saw Clijsters tire Venus and Maria out, he was able to relax in the final, even if the Belgian had never bore up under the pressure before. :All respect to Mary, she’s had a great year, but I knew for Kim that Venus and Sharapova would be more difficult opponents. Kim was mentally very tough.”

Moreover, she was quite sound off the ground, while the error-prone Pierce, was stunned as to what happened to her and why she couldn’t impose her big-babe-style on Clijsters, But then she thought about it and realized that those players do not move with the dexterity of Clijsters and can’t charge into offense like a speedy safety picking off an errant pass and heading for the end zone.

“She’s quicker than all the other girls that I’ve played so far,”’ Pierce said. “She got another ball back every time. And even when I would hit a good shot that usually would either win a point or set up a winner for the next shot against other girls, Kim would hit another ball back and I’d know I’d just made a mistake. There are fast girls out there on the tour as well, but Kim is just solid.”

It’s a Herculean strength and keeps growing. Right now, Clijsters the best defensive to offense player on tour. Physically, she’s an animal, combining the soccer star legs of her father, Leo, with the balance of her former gymnast mother, Els. In order to hit through her, you have to hit a squeaky clean winner and during most points, you have to hit three to four.

Most players cannot do that. Clijsters cried a little after the win and took a risky climb up a metal rail into the Friend’s Box to celebrate with her mother, her sister, Elke, and Dehous. “I proved myself that I can do it and that I’m up there with the best of them,” said Clijsters, who will rise to No.3 in the rankings.

One thing is for sure, on one delicious Saturday night in New York, the so-called angel of women’s tennis ended her affair with the anti-Slam demon. “It’s the best thing that can every happen to her — finally,” said Dehous.