by Pete Bodo
MIAMI, Fla.—Kim Clijsters can talk about the joys of motherhood all she wants. She can wax philosophical about the hardships of a tennis pro's life until the cows come home. Her opinions about the long-term effects and dangers posed by radioactive fallout in Asia might be of passing interest to some. But if you really want to learn something useful, ask Clijsters what you should do if you hope to advance to the quarterfinals of a big tennis tournament, but find yourself down by 1-5 and love-40 in the third-set. To a former Grand Slam champion and world No. 1.
That was the position in which Clijsters found herself tonight at the Sony Ericsson, as Ana Ivanovic showed flashes of her former, confident self and built the lead cited above—a lead so prohibitive that nobody but Clijsters herself seemed interested in sticking around to see how it all turned out.
Well, what happened is that Ivanovic experienced a decline in that newly tapped confidence and that uncharacteristically sharp, aggressive focus she exhibited early in the match. Not a great amount, mind you, but enough to make Clijsters feel that when she looked up out of that very deep hole, she could see a small patch of blue. Bright blue. Not much, but as much as a seasoned champion needs.
Just how Clijsters extracted herself (fending off five match points) is a complex, some might say convoluted, tale (this is, after all, WTA tennis). And there's little to be gained by parsing the games: And then Clijsters cracked a massive forehand! Ivanovic failed to stick her serve at 30-15 and was forced to pay! Had Clijsters' backhand landed two inches shorter. . .
What does it benefit anyone to know such things, once the last ball is struck? It's a different story when a match is determined by two or three swings of the racket. But this one, like so many others (Clijsters' first two meetings in 2010 with her original rival Justine Henin come to mind), was determined by broader, interior trends and swings of competitive mood. There's a short version, and an ultra short version, the latter of which is the one preferred by Ivanovic. She articulated it shortly after the match, after smashing up a racket and shedding a few tears in the locker room.
"You know, she (Clijsters) really served well and played well on those (match points). On my service games I didn't get any match points, and I do feel like I created chances. But, you know, many times in 30?all or important points, she played really well and, you know, got lucky with a few lines. You know, just really, really tough. I think no matter what the ranking says, I think she's the hottest player at the moment."
Clijsters offered the longer, more nuanced rationale: "I think because I have been on the tour for many years, you realize that you have to keep trying until the last point is played. In tennis, that's sometimes probably the frustrating part about it. But in my situation now, the good thing about it is that it's never over until that last shot is played. And, again, you know, even if it's 5?1, Okay, you start a game 0?0. She has to win four points.
"So you just try to work your way into it. And you do feel when your opponent starts to be a little less aggressive, starts to make a few more easier mistakes. You see her look at the sideline a little bit more. . . those kind of things. I notice that, and I think that's kind of what gave me a little bit of a like. . . Ah, you know, maybe (the sense that) there is a little chance."
It may not be poetry, but that's as fine a description of what it takes to mount the kind of comeback that Clijsters pulled off today. And it capped a miserable day for the two most prominent Serbian women—Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic.
Jankovic was enagaged in a genuine tug-of-war with Andrea Petkovic (more about her tomorrow) and never did get to match point against her Serbian-born, German-raised rival. But she was up a break at 4-3 in the third set and couldn't hang on. Petkovic broke her and survived a harrowing ninth game to go up 5-4. She broke Jankovic again in the 10th game, and will now play a winnable semifinal against either Maria Sharapova or Alexandra Dulgheru.
I saw Jankovic briefly after the match. She was acutely disappointed, and angry with herself for letting the match get away, especially because she felt she was back on track and playing her way into good form. "I had problems with my ankle early in the year, but I felt much better starting in Dubai and Doha (she was in the semis at both). This (game) means a lot to me. If I didn't care, I wouldn't play. I love winning. I want to be in the big tournaments."
I couldn't help but think then of Ivanovic, who was less hard on herself and more inclined to look at the bright side of her loss—a formidable act of creative thinking, all things considered, and in light of Clijsters convincing reprise. Ivanovic said: "You know, it was gonna be a good test for me, and I managed to stay out there with her physically and also to create opportunities and to create lots of match points for myself.
"That's a very positive thing for me to take from here, because, you know, coming into Indian Wells and Miami, honestly I wasn't feeling great physically. So to come all that way and challenge myself against, you know, best player, it's a good thing."
I suppose it's better to be positive than negative, but being realistic about what happened, what it means, and what it demands that you do isn't the worst course either. Whether the frustration and anger of Jankovic is a more productive reaction than the optimism and self-medication of Ivanovic remains to be seen. The one thing we know for sure is that both women are still trying to recapture something they've lost, and having a hard time of it.
It will be interesting to see which one of them finds it first—if either finds it at all.