What a comeback for Kim Clijsters in this year's US Open

Some people will consider the run of Kim Clijsters as a sign of weakness in the WTA tour that it could be possible for the Belgian to come back and win a Slam after a two year hiatus. Clijsters did it the hard way too. For all the upsets and surprises of this year's US Open, Clijsters needed to defeat both Williams sisters on her way to the title. The form that she showed over the course of the week was quite superb showing very few signs of a rusty player, of a player that had been away for so long.

Since Clijsters retired, the top of women's tennis has changed significantly and it's tempting to want to compare how Clijsters played here, to the other top players of today. Though I think at times it can be difficult to remember what Ivanovic, Jankovic and Safina were like even at their peak, but the combination of athleticism and controlled aggressive tennis that Clijsters showed, to me seemed more impressive than what we typically see from the previously mentioned players.

The biggest difference is that Clijsters appears to have very few noticeable weaknesses whereas I could name one thing for either one of those players and her movement is exceptional. Only time will tell as to whether Clijsters will begin to show more signs of weakness, of shots breaking down on her when things aren't going her way.

The interesting thing to me is that I never really looked at Clijsters' game with that much enthusiasm back in those days, thinking she was just as much of a one-dimensional player as most of her peers. The only thing I remembered her for was her trademark splits, which she seems to do less of these days, but given the more error-strewn nature of the WTA these days, it was simply refreshing to see someone not pull the trigger on almost every shot and hit wayward groundstrokes everywhere, yet have the ability and firepower to hang with the very best players.

Maybe over the years, the women have become even more accustomed to flattening out on their groundstrokes, because those loopier balls and occasional slices that Clijsters likes to throw in to enhance her defensive game look like shots I haven't seen much of before in the past. I like how well Clijsters gets behind every ball, always prepared so early both in her backswing and footwork, setting herself in the right position to be able to launch herself fully into the shot.

When Serena Williams played against Clijsters in that controversial semi-final, it looked like Serena didn't really know what to do, and at times tried to hit her way out of the match. Whenever she was down in a match, she felt a sudden urgency to bludgeon her way into the match with as many winners as possible. It was almost a cocky way of playing, though in all likelihood it was simply Serena not thinking straight, of thinking that by hitting harder and playing better, she could take Clijsters out of the equation just like that.

But Clijsters was in it for the long haul. She played with freedom and brought a consistent energy on the court, while remaining composed the entire evening. She was patient and had her eye on the bigger picture, which the same could not be said of Serena. It's interesting because the mood swings that were prevalent in this match from Serena, aside from the final game of the match are probably not much different from how she has handled herself in the past. Serena has always been transparent and dramatic with her emotions and on-court antics, it's her way of driving and pushing herself to do better in matches. It's that refusal to be content with her current form in any given match that allows her to raise the bar in crucial situations. She's one of the few players on the women's tour that is capable of using her emotions to her advantage, to find her best tennis when she really needs it. And Serena really needs that extra element to her game, because her effort levels and overall athleticism can vary significantly over the course of a match.

Despite Serena's renowned athleticism and foot speed, she can often be seen sluggish and her footwork nowhere near as precise as it needs to be. She doesn't naturally enjoy chasing for balls in a way that Clijsters does, and for some reason it isn't all that automatic for her. She really needs to send internal messages in her head to be tough and show that extra desire. Though I have a feeling that Serena was sending herself all the wrong messages against Clijsters. Rather than calling on her fighting abilities or looking to increase her energy levels, Serena wanted to do it the easy way. The problem was not only that she tried for too much too soon, but she couldn't sustain it. The lack of purpose in what she was trying to do really cost her. It was a fascinating spectacle though, with every shot selection and rally, a reflection of Serena's current mood, sheer unpredictability on her part as to what she might come up with next.

It was such a stark contrast seeing Clijsters on the other side of the net, so composed and patient. She never let herself get caught up too much on the scoreboard and played every point as if it was the same magnitude. She had a clear plan to lengthen the rallies, and to not give Serena too much pace to work with, or at least not the kind of pace that can be easily returned off the racquet. She used the full width of the court, and moved her shots around nicely, enough to keep Serena consistently moving.

The match-up against Caroline Wozniacki was a different matter however. The match was always in Clijsters' hands, with the outcome depending on whether she could execute her shots the way she needed to. Had this been an earlier round match, there would have been little doubt that Clijsters would have been able to. But the pressure on her was immense, easily the favourite to win the championship.

I noticed straight away that from a technical point of view, there are a lot of similarities between Clijsters and Wozniacki on the groundstrokes, how they both have that solid base that allows them to maintain some sort of consistency when setting up for their groundstrokes. They have the same consistently energetic footwork, where it seems like their feet are consistently moving all the time whether it's to recover from the previous shot, or running explosively to the next. Whereas I'd say for example, that for Serena and Venus, they probably only make that effort to make that explosive movement when they have their eye on a shot to run down, it's not consistent. Other less athletic players have had to work hard on their movement, and it's not automatic for them. You don't really see Clijsters or Wozniacki make a whole lot of errors out of poor footwork, or catching themselves in knots. If anything, it's a problem with their follow-through, backswing or racquet head acceleration.

In the end, there wasn't a whole lot to notice about this match, except that after a slow start, Clijsters got herself together enough to win the match in a convincing fashion. She easily had the better shotmaking ability out of the two, and she made the most of it. Wozniacki surprisingly has a decent all-court game, more of a willingness to come to the net than the majority of players even though technically her volleys are not all that sound. I'm not sure much can be read into Wozniacki's run into the final, aside from the fact that anything can happen in a Slam on the women's side these days, and that Wozniacki has the mental strength and consistency to take advantage of that.