!Kc The third in a series on tennis’ most intriguing storylines of 2010
So much for easing ourselves into the new season—the pros have come out swinging as if it’s already June. It’s hard to imagine a year opening more auspiciously. Over the first weekend alone, we were given a stunning comeback in one men’s final, a bizarre concluding tiebreaker in another, and a women’s match that outshone virtually everything that happened on the WTA tour in 2009. Watching the last of those finals, between Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin, I kept asking myself: When did I start having to pay attention to what happens in Brisbane? Why did the first tournament of the year feel like the fifth Grand Slam?
That might be what Clijsters and Henin were thinking as well. Each was likely a little startled to be facing the other quite so soon, especially Kim, who must have been wishing for the good old days of summer 2009, when she had the comeback road all to herself. Unfortunately for her she made it look so easy, like so much fun, that she inspired her countrywoman, greatest rival, and big-match nemesis to hit that road herself.
As they belted each other into the corners for three rollercoaster sets on Sunday, I also started to ask myself: Who were the players we cared about last year, exactly? Jelena Jankovic, Dinara Safina? And why? This isn’t fair, of course; Dinara and JJ are no slouches in the grand scheme of things. But over the course of a couple of hours in Brisbane, Henin and Clijsters had given the WTA back a significant part of its top tier. There were shanked shots, there was rust, there were nerves, and there was one crucial double-fault in the end. But there were no meltdowns or tears or shrieks or frighteningly wayward services tosses, either. More than the men, the women—from Navratilova and Evert, to Graf and Seles, to Hingis and Williams and Henin—have always had a ruling class of players that dominates at will. They win with confidence and competence in most facets of the game. They win with winners rather than losing with errors. The WTA got the final member of this era’s ruling class, in the form of Henin, back last week. That’s why Brisbane felt so much like Melbourne.
There are 40 more weeks and many bigger events to go, of course. What did Clijsters-Henin Round One tell us about what we can expect on the women’s side for the rest of 2010? I had thought before this event that Clijsters might be the real Belgian to watch this season. Her movement and shot-making had always been a match for anyone’s; it was her head that had gotten in the way when she was younger. She’d struggled to muster her best against Venus and Justine in particular at the Slams. I thought that in her second career she might be looser and not as likely to succumb to nerves. Why I ever would have thought that, I have no idea. If the sport’s history has shown us anything, it’s that nerves are eternal; there’s no way to keep them down, no matter what we tell ourselves about “having nothing to lose.” That's because they’re the flip side of what got us the lead in the first place—to win, we have to care about winning, and caring about winning makes us nervous about not winning. Clijsters’ performance against Henin showed us this dynamic all over again. Up 6-3, 4-1, she suddenly reverted to her pre-retirement form. She rushed to try for winners; she rushed to set up to serve; she rushed to get points over and done with. She rushed herself right out of the second set and almost out of the match.
On the other hand, Clijsters should happy that the final was on her racquet the whole way. She played well, she built a huge lead; she got nervous, she lost the lead; she relaxed, she regained the lead. For much of the match, she overpowered Henin’s famous one-handed backhand, and her swing volley was the most spectacular shot of the night. So while the nerves will continue to be a factor, so will Clijsters’ superior athleticism. She’s now beaten both of the Williams sisters and Henin in her comeback, three things she struggled to do in her first career. Kim may end up being the Belgian to watch after all.
