CARSON – She assumed the No. 1 ranking in women's tennis yesterday, and Kim Clijsters might have been exultant. Instead, what she was experiencing, she said, was bewilderment.
"It's a feeling that never has happened to me before," the Belgian woman said after becoming the first player from her country to ascend to the No. 1 ranking on the WTA Tour. "Confusion is a part that comes with it."
If Clijsters is having to reconcile herself to her new eminence, it is because the women's game now has a No. 1 player who doesn't put all that much store in being No. 1, her reward for her 6-1, 3-6, 6-1 conquest of a hampered Lindsay Davenport in yesterday's final of the JPMorgan Chase Open.
Clijsters, 20, has priorities that to her are more meaningful than anything the rankings might reflect. She explained her thinking at Indian Wells last March when she said:
"No. 1 never has been a goal. To get there would be great, but I'm not thinking of rankings at all. Rankings to me really don't matter. They're just something that comes with tennis."
Clijsters confirmed yesterday that she values giving fully of herself more than establishing herself in the rankings. "I think that's where you start," she said. "You have to start in the moment."
It may take her awhile, she acknowledged, to sort out how she feels about moving past Serena Williams in the rankings at a time when Williams was helpless to defend her position. She is recovering after undergoing surgery to repair a muscle injury in her left leg.
Clijsters, then, did not wrest the No. 1 ranking from Williams as much as inherit it. Her victory before 3,651 at The Home Depot Center also was somewhat blighted by Davenport in the third set experiencing a recurrence of a nerve problem in her left foot.
"Yeah, it just comes on," said Davenport. She began being troubled, she said, with Clijsters holding a 3-1 lead in this set. After this, Davenport said she pretty much had to forget about winning.
"I certainly wasn't focusing on a game plan," she said, "but I don't want to put the foot too much into this."
Davenport is aware of what it means to be ranked No. 1; she held this ranking following the 1998 and 2001 seasons.
"It's a huge accomplishment," said Davenport. "She obviously has earned it. But the same people who today are applauding her are one day going to turn around and say, 'When are you going to win a Grand Slam?' "
For all her successes on the WTA Tour – she has been at least a semifinalist this year in all 14 tournaments in which she has competed – Clijsters has not captured a Grand Slam event in her five seasons as a tourist. She has been a finalist just twice in a slam event, both times in the French Open (in 2001, when she lost to Jennifer Capriati, and this year, when she was outplayed by Justine Henin-Hardenne).
Davenport declined to compare Clijsters with other No. 1 players she has engaged. "She only has been No. 1 for about an hour," protested Davenport. "I don't think she has got to her best yet. She hits the ball hard, but you don't look at her as a big power player like Serena and Venus Williams. She plays well defensively as well as offensively, and she has been the most consistent player this year by far."
Clijsters said the possibility of her becoming No. 1 was on her mind at the start yesterday of a match offered in steaming heat – the temperature on the court was measured at 105 degrees – but that it did not influence her game. She swept the match's first five games.
Davenport, a 6-3, 6-3 loser to Clijsters last week in the Acura Classic at the La Costa Resort and Spa, played a splendid second set, taking a 3-0 lead, having Clijsters create a 3-3 tie, then sweeping the next three games. Because of the heat, at that point the players were excused for 10 minutes.
In her dressing quarters, Clijsters said, she stuck her head under some cold water and changed her outfit. "That made me start like I started the first set," she said. "I think I came back as a new player."
Davenport, at 27 seven years Clijsters' senior, also was a different player after the break, but not in a positive sense. Her European opponent, now 7-6 against her, sped into a 3-0 advantage and cruised on, surrendering just nine points in the set.
"I basically gave up the first three games in both the sets I lost," said Davenport, "and you've got to be strong in the beginning, especially against the top girls."
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"It's a feeling that never has happened to me before," the Belgian woman said after becoming the first player from her country to ascend to the No. 1 ranking on the WTA Tour. "Confusion is a part that comes with it."
If Clijsters is having to reconcile herself to her new eminence, it is because the women's game now has a No. 1 player who doesn't put all that much store in being No. 1, her reward for her 6-1, 3-6, 6-1 conquest of a hampered Lindsay Davenport in yesterday's final of the JPMorgan Chase Open.
Clijsters, 20, has priorities that to her are more meaningful than anything the rankings might reflect. She explained her thinking at Indian Wells last March when she said:
"No. 1 never has been a goal. To get there would be great, but I'm not thinking of rankings at all. Rankings to me really don't matter. They're just something that comes with tennis."
Clijsters confirmed yesterday that she values giving fully of herself more than establishing herself in the rankings. "I think that's where you start," she said. "You have to start in the moment."
It may take her awhile, she acknowledged, to sort out how she feels about moving past Serena Williams in the rankings at a time when Williams was helpless to defend her position. She is recovering after undergoing surgery to repair a muscle injury in her left leg.
Clijsters, then, did not wrest the No. 1 ranking from Williams as much as inherit it. Her victory before 3,651 at The Home Depot Center also was somewhat blighted by Davenport in the third set experiencing a recurrence of a nerve problem in her left foot.
"Yeah, it just comes on," said Davenport. She began being troubled, she said, with Clijsters holding a 3-1 lead in this set. After this, Davenport said she pretty much had to forget about winning.
"I certainly wasn't focusing on a game plan," she said, "but I don't want to put the foot too much into this."
Davenport is aware of what it means to be ranked No. 1; she held this ranking following the 1998 and 2001 seasons.
"It's a huge accomplishment," said Davenport. "She obviously has earned it. But the same people who today are applauding her are one day going to turn around and say, 'When are you going to win a Grand Slam?' "
For all her successes on the WTA Tour – she has been at least a semifinalist this year in all 14 tournaments in which she has competed – Clijsters has not captured a Grand Slam event in her five seasons as a tourist. She has been a finalist just twice in a slam event, both times in the French Open (in 2001, when she lost to Jennifer Capriati, and this year, when she was outplayed by Justine Henin-Hardenne).
Davenport declined to compare Clijsters with other No. 1 players she has engaged. "She only has been No. 1 for about an hour," protested Davenport. "I don't think she has got to her best yet. She hits the ball hard, but you don't look at her as a big power player like Serena and Venus Williams. She plays well defensively as well as offensively, and she has been the most consistent player this year by far."
Clijsters said the possibility of her becoming No. 1 was on her mind at the start yesterday of a match offered in steaming heat – the temperature on the court was measured at 105 degrees – but that it did not influence her game. She swept the match's first five games.
Davenport, a 6-3, 6-3 loser to Clijsters last week in the Acura Classic at the La Costa Resort and Spa, played a splendid second set, taking a 3-0 lead, having Clijsters create a 3-3 tie, then sweeping the next three games. Because of the heat, at that point the players were excused for 10 minutes.
In her dressing quarters, Clijsters said, she stuck her head under some cold water and changed her outfit. "That made me start like I started the first set," she said. "I think I came back as a new player."
Davenport, at 27 seven years Clijsters' senior, also was a different player after the break, but not in a positive sense. Her European opponent, now 7-6 against her, sped into a 3-0 advantage and cruised on, surrendering just nine points in the set.
"I basically gave up the first three games in both the sets I lost," said Davenport, "and you've got to be strong in the beginning, especially against the top girls."
http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/20030811-9999_1s11carson.html
