Open win would validate Clijsters' year

NEW YORK

Defending U.S. Open champion Kim Clijsters could never win another title of any size again and still go down as one of the most popular players in history. She's a cheery, naturally gregarious sort who communicates easily and openly. She's rarely said a bad word about anyone, and now in the second stage of her tennis career as a wife and mother, she's internationally viewed as a successful, well-rounded career woman.

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But if Clijsters doesn't win a major this year, 2010 will not end up being a standout season for her. She's playing well enough to win the title, but because she no longer competes week in and week out, she now enters the majors as a bit of a question mark.

How else to explain her stunning 6-0, 6-1 loss to Nadia Petrova at the Australian Open, when she came into the tournament as one of the favorites? She had won the Brisbane title over her arch rival Justine Henin coming into Australia and still couldn't produce her best when it mattered most.

How else to look at a 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 defeat to Vera Zvonareva at Wimbledon when she had beaten Henin again the match before and then she began to spray balls against Zvonareva.

She missed Roland Garros due to a foot injury, so there's no reason to discuss the clay-court season, but there is reason to look at her hard-court summer, which has been very good. She came from match points down to best Maria Sharapova to win Cincinnati, and then won two matches before suffering a small hip injury and wearing down in another three-set loss to Zvonareva in Montreal. Her form is there, it's a question of whether she'll step it up every time she needs to, like last year in New York.

"It's been frustrating that I haven't been able to play the French and, playing that horrible match at the Australian Open to me was frustrating," said Clijsters after her spotty 6-0, 7-5 win over Greta Arn of Hungary on Monday in the first round of the U.S. Open. "But at the time, I was like, 'Okay, it's my second Grand Slam. I just have to get back into it.' And then at Wimbledon, I've never been more disappointed after a loss than that match against Zvonareva."

With 13-time Slam winner Serena Williams and seven-time victor Henin sitting out this U.S. Open, there are only four women in the draw with super impressive resumes at the majors: Clijsters, Maria Sharapova, Venus Williams and Svetlana Kuznetsova. There are a number of talented youngsters in the draw, like top seed Caroline Wozniacki and No. 10 Victoria Azarenka, but second-seeded Clijsters has a very reasonable draw to the semis.

It's a bit difficult with Wimbledon semifinalist Petra Kvitova lurking as a possible third-round opponent, veteran seeds Zheng Jie or Marion Bartoli as potential fourth-round foes and possibly No. 5 Samantha Stosur or former finalist Elena Dementieva in the quarters. But on U.S. hard courts, where Clijsters has reigned supreme in just about every significant tournament, the Belgian and part-time New Jersey resident has more weapons than all those players.

If she can keep her serve under control and deep like she did last year when she took out both the Williams sisters and Wozniacki for the title, return aggressively and turn those sweaty defensive points into searing offense ones in a heart beat, than she'll be the player to beat.

But if Clijsters comes on court in a funk like she did in Australia, or can't manage her inner emotions like at Wimbledon, than she'll be vulnerable. She says that she's excited about the opportunity to win another title and is actually enjoying the pressure. Now all she has to do is play like the avenging angel that we saw last year and a third U.S. Open trophy could be hers. Her year depends on it.

"It all depends on how it happens," said Clijsters, who next meets Australian teenager Sally Peers. "If I don't play good, then I'm probably gonna be more frustrated than if I'm playing a good match and your opponent is better. It all depends on how you go out or how you feel."

U.S. Open notebook

Last year's U.S. Open sensation, Melanie Oudin, was fortunate to draw a qualifier and played well in crushing Olga Savchuk 6-3, 6-0. But she'll be much harder pressed in the second round when she faces No. 29 Alona Bondarenko. ...

Surprise Wimbledon finalist and 32nd seed Tsvetana Pironkova advanced and may have another shot at playing the same woman she upset in London, Venus Williams, in the third round. ...

Daniela Hantuchova ended former world No. 1 Dinara Safina's hopes of becoming relevant again in a 6-3, 6-4 victory. ...

Another Wimbledon finalist, the slumping lefty Petra Kvitova, finally scored a win and will play British hopeful Elena Baltacha. ...

Even though she's done little since winning the French Open, Francesca Schiavone seems to be rounding into form and the Italian destroyed Ayumi Morita 6-1, 6-0. ...

Stosur looked fragile but took down Elena Vesnina 3-6, 7-6 (2), 6-1. ...

Russian teen sensation Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova punched out Kristina Barrios 6-4, 6-1 and will play India's Sania Mirza, who overwhelmed Portugal's Michelle Larcher de Brito 6-3, 6-2. Mirza, a former top 30 player, was forced to qualify for the event. Mirza said she is learning to manage the pain in her frequently injured right wrist and expects to soon return to relevancy. "It was the first qualies of my life and I'm just happy to get four matches under my belt," she said. "When you're out for almost five months, it's not easy but hard courts are my favorite surface and I've always done well at U.S. Open. The fact that I can keep coming back over and over again shows me I still have the ability."