1st

"when your shots are clicking....snip...you often feel like this is the real you."

I suspect this is plagiarized right out of Websters, next to "Tennis Players The Whole World Round".

A great and absolutely classic description which, as such, is truer than most of us want to admit.

I enjoyed this article more than I did the match last night. The Belgians' match reminded me of the early Williams sisters' matches, as far as the awkwardness of playing the one person who has known you since when..., and having to act as if this is just another opponent, and just another match. These two read each others' games and personal tics more than we'll ever know, but those intangible factors seemed to rule last night.

Having watched Venus and Marion's much better match, I noted how whenever Venus or Marion committed errors (especially Venus' forehand), the commentators were compelled to go into explanations of her technical deficiencies, however, during the Belgians' race to the bottom last night, their 100+ errors were noted, but not attributed to faulty techniques.

It did look like Kim's match to win or lose, as she seemed to be plainly stronger than Justine in all aspects (except mental), but again, the intangibles let Justine back into the match, and almost let her win it.

I didn't watch the entire match, but I agree that Kim is fun to watch, and her backhand is a wonderful stroke. A beautifully executed two-hander is a thing of beauty, too, even if it doesn't have the artistic flow of one like Justine's. I used to enjoy Kim's splits behind the baseline, although I can certainly understand why she discontinued them.

Wow! Andy just beat Rafa! Good job, Andy.

glad it's not just me with the delusions of grandeur, skip.

kim and justine are 12-12 now, is that right? love to see if kim could get herself out of trouble against justine in a slam this year

Great article Steve. I cannot talk about the quality of the match because the stream at tennis tv was far from perfect and the broadcasting was interrupted in my computer in crucial moments, apart from that I did not see the first set. But from what I saw, apart from the double faults, the rallies between them were fun to watch. Like Steve, I think that the overhead justine missed in the tiebreak was crucial as until to that point she had all the momentum in the tiebreak being up 2/0 and having broken Kim minutes before when serving for the match.

Steve - A great analysis of what you so aptly termed a "train wreck" of a match. I was so disgusted with Kim (obviously I was rooting for her) after the second set tie-breaker that I turned the TV off, thinking the verdict was in. What a fool I was. I should have known better after watching every minute of their previous three sets ending in a tie-breaker in Brisbane. With these two, whoever is ahead - that means trouble for that person. Both of them have such poker faces - I guess they figure, I may mess now up but she will probably outdo me on the next point. I certainly agree that Justine has to temper her aggressiveness with a realization that a low percentage shot is called that for a reason. Thanks for the very comprehensive analysis - next time I will try not to give into frustration and will keep the TV on to the bitter end.

steve , i have to admit that your description is more enjoyable than the match itself.
but for me i think that in this match _and the brisbane match as well_ kim was the better player but she_as usual _ couldn't hold her nerves long enough to end the match in 2.
one more thing i was thinking during the match that henin was struggling physically, but she didn't mention that in the press conference , i don't know if anybody else noticed that

"The consensus this morning seemed to be that last night’s match between them was “terrible,” a “trainwreck,” an “all-time choke job,” or some gruesome combination of the three."

This is a hard statement for me to agree with. As a Kim Clijsters fan I was appalled and shouting at my computer screen several times last night watching her, as so many people have noted, having the edge in every department except the the mental, which seems to switch on and off. But I still find it somewhat misogynist that we can talk about a match between two such high quality players as 'a trainwreck' when we ignore that Federer has been littering up the error sheet lately and collapsed in the 5th set of BOTH of his Grand Slam losses last year. I certainly don't think it's anywhere near as bad as Venus and Serena's early matches. Nor is it anywhere near the collapse of someone like Dinara Safina v. Venus at Wimbledon v. Kuznetsova at the French: there we saw a world #1 play like an in over her head junior.

The key is in the patience level of Clijsters in each point. Once she gets Justine on a back and forth run the point is hers to lose. But you could see that while Justine was playing mostly defense in the first half of the match Kim was overeager to end the point once she started her meltdown. She has this bizarre ability to rush herself out of a match. I was watching the highlights of their 2004 AO final and there Justine actually seemed to have the edge in pace and depth of her shots, which is clearly not the case these days. I really feel like Clijsters is a different, and better, player than she was prior to her time off.

That said, while this match followed a virtually identical script to the Brisbane final (right down to 8-6 in the tiebreak where Justine ties it after saving 3-4 match points), this match was much tighter. It seemed like there was cleaner play in Brisbane because both players were never 'on' at the same time - it was Clijsters, then Henin, then back and forth til the end. Here, it was a struggle from 3-3 in the 2nd on.

Whatever the process, the matches are tense and compelling to watch in a way we haven't seen in a few years.

Hey Steve,

Thanks for a very fair, accurate and well thought out interpretation of the match. A far more intelligent and comprehensive analysis of the events than the many people who seem to want to simplistically dismiss the match as a "choke", and nothing else. It was much more than that, as you very thoughtfully describe. Well done.

I thought the match was tremendous fun. Like with Federer's play there were plenty of great shots and rallies to temper the woeful errors, and it was great drama. These things are what makes matches fun to watch, which is what it's all about.
I didn't watch much women's tennis when the Belgians were out. Maybe it will be worth watching more again now they're back.

The real test of both players will be meeting in a Grand Slam. As much as I prefer Kim and think that pound for pound, she's the more capable athlete and player, you have to still give the edge to Justine in the pressure environment of a Grand Slam.

Both players have superior defense, Justine's more contingent on her ability to slice her way out of a bad defensive position, giving Kim a hard ball to play. Neither one of them particularly noteworthy on serve, but I notice Justine's been crushing some returns Serena-style.

GO RODDICK! Up a break on Nadal in the 3rd.

Great piece Steve. I agree: Clijsters doesn't get enough credit for how she exploits the width of the court with her backhand, by using a lot of the left hand in the shot. Wozniacki is similar, but doesn't get as much pace. Feels like Henin's still snatching at too many shots, and basing her game too much around going deep through the middle of the court rather than opening up the angles with all her spin. It's also worth bearing in mind that JH wins by making her opponents worse most of the time. Agree with you about Clijster's physical and mechanical talents too; but being able to close is a talent as well, and the most important one. Looks like Kim's getting there...

Stewart writes:

____But I still find it somewhat misogynist that we can talk about a match between two such high quality players as 'a trainwreck' when we ignore that Federer has been littering up the error sheet lately and collapsed in the 5th set of BOTH of his Grand Slam losses last year.____

You got it. It seems that DFs, UEs and breaks of serve are only affronts to the perfection of tennis if it's women committing these supposed crimes. I guess the men just have a 'bad day at the office' or are 'struggling with the weight of the occasion' or whatever. The knuckle-dragger who writes the other blog at this site predictably had a field day with his criticisms and even, amusingly, compared it unfavorably to the chokefest we saw from Rafa today.

I thought it was a gripping, athletic match and I'm still glad both women are back in action. Thanks for delivering as usual, Steve, not just with your prose but your thoughtfulness.

excellent post Steve.......but how on Earth did Berdych defeat Robin 6-2, 6-2????? I am quite upset, as you can imagine

the match was hugely enjoyable. one of the enjoyable tennis occasions of the year to date. there have been lots of reasons to get down on the WTA of late but it seems like some folk are just enjoying it a bit too much to ever get off. last night was great drama. i'm glad you were man enough to acknowledge that Steve, in this lovely piece of writing.

Steve, a very astute piece of analysis. I like both women's backhands in different ways, Clijsters's shot reminds me of Safin and Henin's of Federer (though Henin's one-hander is a superior shot). If both ladies can serve better, they can produce even better matches. Henin's serve has been a problem since her comeback but Clijsters also served poorly yesterday.

I thought their tennis last night, as far as pure shot making, creating points, absolutely pounding the ball at each other w/ shots routinely clipping the baseline - I thought from a pure tennis point of view it was as enjoyable as any woman's match I've ever seen. We're spoiled by Rafa and Fed into thinking that very many mortals can play flawless tennis for sets on end.

Steve, thank you for this astute analysis! This latest installment of the Clijsters-Henin show was highly entertaining and not just a "bad match" as some have tried to paint it. I would much rather watch the supreme athleticism, shotmaking skill, variety, and court sense of these two players than what I'd get in most other WTA matches. These two players both showed amazing defensive skills coupled with dodgy serving at times so it's not a surprise to see this high error count.

-"I do get the feeling, seeing Clijsters in these moments, that she might be the most gifted of any woman of her generation."
...She IS the most naturally gifted woman of her generation. Her problem is that time and again, especially against Henin, nerves and doubt creep in at inopportune moments, self belief dissipates with each forehand error/double fault, and then nerves take her serve and forehand hostage. Henin has always had that mental edge over Clijsters, who, despite her enormous talent and sizeable leads in matches, seems to crumble emotionally at some point in the match, and is hell bent on rushing play when the going gets tough. It's like she's afraid to take the time to think and would rather just hit through the nerves.
Still, I felt compelled to watch the match for the drama.

"Stubbornness, nerves, speed, pointless errors, good hands, a second-set collapse, a backhand showcase, surprising calmness in the clutch, dumb luck, a smile, a victorious scream, and a double air kiss at the net to end it. You might call it a trainwreck, but who can turn away from one of those?" --This pretty much sums it up perfectly. Call it a trainwreck, but it was hard to stop watching.

As usual, a great match yields a great posting from terrific Steve Tignor. One thing that makes our sport so compelling is the tightrope walked by so many players trying to keep it together in tight matches. Fed the Great often walks that tightrope without the need of a net, which makes his tumbles in Indian Wells and Miami so shocking (though still not as shocking as those fifth sets in Melbourne and Flushing Meadows). And sometimes those falls come so often that managing to stay upright on the tightrope becomes the shocker (see Berdych v. Federer). It all yields great drama. Seeing Clijsters rise and fall through that drama was thrilling, even if some of the shots forced cringes or cries of despair from her fans (like me). It was interesting that we saw the male equivalent earlier in the day, when those noted shaky souls Berdych and Verdasco had the same kind of "who's going to plunge first" showdown. The only thing that made it less compelling was that they don't have nine Grand Slams and 77 tour titles between them. Which means we expect their collapses, while Clijsters and Henin leave us wondering from game to game whether they'll stumble or soar.

Kudos Steve on a fair account of the Kim - Justine match! It's just so appalling to read Peter Bodo's "biased" take on that otherwise thriller match. He contended that Andy vs Rafa was better because of the ratio of winners to errors. I play competitively and know what it takes to even hit a single backhand in crunch times ( I hit mine with much more topspin a la Sabatini ). Similarly, you were also a competitor and have a lot of experience playing Tennis. Perhaps, that's what Peter Bodo lacks. His tennis playing skills are suspect that his opinions on matches aren't at all fair. I just wish Tennis magazine would get rid of his column. His biases (against women's tennis or even Clijsters) are so transparent in his "unfair" assessments of women's matches.

I've already counted four unforced typos and I'm not even half way through.

Nice recollections. It was very cool to observe the backhand to backhand rallies. And the overhead that Justine missed - that was difficult to swallow. I was thinking that she should have hit a second serve-type of overhead and angled into a corner - like Fed would have done - but no such luck. You're right, she just wanted to get it over with. And who can blame her? This match was pure torture in so many ways.

This was a more positive piece than a lot of the other "choke" and "train wreck" pieces I've read about this match, and I appreciate that.

I think you have to play tennis (or at least try), as Steve and many of us do, to remember just how infuriating the sport can be. And you have to keep in perspective the kind of balls-to-the-walls tennis that the Belgians played throughout the match. No mere mortal can avoid letdowns in a match like that. The fact that Henin and Clijsters played less than stellar tennis and the match was still as compelling as any I've seen all year makes it better in my mind. This was a psychological thriller with a lot of amazing shot making to boot. It shouldn't be overshadowed by the fact that there were errors galore.

That is - in actuality - "the real you" for anyone. Unfettered by doubt, over-thinking and all the other habits that we can be so good at letting get in the way.

I wonder why all the guys that make a living in the game .....announcing, writing, coaching are silent on the Agassi/Sampras "train wreck"?

Have they all gone into hiding?

Thank you Steve for this wonderful piece of journalism.

I unfortunately couldn't watch the match (it was 3 o'clock in the morning on a "school night" here in Belgium when they started to play), and I probably couldn't have watched it anyway. I'm a huge Clijsters fan, but so often my heart can't take it to watch her play matches like this (I stopped watching her US Open Quarter Final against Venus last year as well, too much stress).

Especially against Henin. These two, although actually respecting each other quite a lot (contrary to whatever the (Belgian) press may think of it), have a history. They've been coming across each other in tennis matches since they were like 10 years old (Justine once came home having lost a final against a younger player for the first time in a long long time, she was about 11 years old, and it turned out to have been against ... 10 year old Kim) and much of their pre-retirement matches were dreadful (train wrecks if you'd like), with the exception of their Roland Garros semi-final of 2001 maybe, and mostly psychological. At first Kim had the overhand, but than, towards the final years of their "first" career, Justine clearly was the master, would it be different now or just the same, first Kim than Justine?

Personally, although rooting for Kim, I think Justine is the better player, intrinsically, or at least having the least natural talent and physical advantage but the most technical and mental superiority.

Kim is a natural indeed, with a former soccer champion and a gymnastic as parents (the latter explaining her famous split, which she may continue on clay). But the thing about Kim is, she may be a little to nice to be a true champion. She may be missing that killer instinct. The thing that makes Henin such an untouchable player on clay and that makes a Williams never ever truly admitting they met their match (or better) (like Venus said today after her lose: I was having a bad day, Kim wasn't playing superbly, I was being bad), is what Kim's missing: she just wants to have fun out there. Don't get me wrong, she wants to win, but sometimes I wonder whether she really wants it bad enough.

Which would indeed mean that she is truly the most gifted woman of her generation, because she does win matches and tournaments, despite being nice (13th player on the all time list of most titles, 4th for hardcourt). And on the other hand, she's one of the most respected players amongst the players and a very popular one almost everywhere in the world. That should count for something as well.

Just rereading your piece Steve and loving your analysis. Your writing always manages to convey not just the facts but the real atmosphere of what actually went on. Your points about Clijsters' disparity between her accomplishments falling just short of her talent as a player is a good one.

Kim's backhand also seems to have the ability to curl away from the opponent, especially crosscourt. Both Kim and Justine can smack winners down the line on a dime (with Justine it's even more impressive) but yeah the battle of the backhands makes for tense rallying.

What I'm struck by with Justine is just how early she takes the ball on the rise. This is due in part of course to her short stature, which means she has to hit the ball before it bounces above her shoulders, but on both backhand and especially forehand wings, this ability is Agassi like. It was by far the biggest difference maker in Henin's AO match against Dementieva, as Elena always seemed to be hitting the ball a little bit late, being pushed back by Henin always looking to move in behind her shots. I mean, Elena's nigh 6 feet tall and Justine scrapes 5'6" and yet Dementieva is the one losing ground on every shot.

I wonder why I've never heard any technical analysis of Kim Clijsters' forehand, considering what a powerful weapon it is, the shot she uses to dictate points and has used graphically in recent memory to run Serena, Justine, Azarenka and Venus from side to side. She moves so capably from crosscourt to inside out.

Any analysis has to go beyond raw data. To observe a high number of errors racked up without noting the # of ballstrikes during the rally before an 'error' was induced is to ignore the 'enjoyability' of watching such a match.

By comparison, the 'winners' racked up in last year's Federer-Roddick Wimbledon final reached a high that was pretty darn boring to watch; the only compelling feature of the match was 'who would wreck their car first' by choking on their serve. What rallies they had were great because Andy's game rose to Roger's level. Those rallies were few and far between.

Agree with Aldwin a hundred percent. Justine's my fave, and her personality is endearing to watch as it evolves from a more introspective approach to one more worldly and friendly, but Kimmie exemplifies the sapien we should admire and champion. The results may not match her talent (or maybe they do and we have inflated expectations, as she has won many, many tournaments during her career), but the person Kimmie is far outweighs any results and accomplishments on the court.

I agree, Steve, I too really look forward to any Clijsters/Henin match.

A perceptive piece of writing followed by great comments. All considerably more perceptive than Pete Bodo's missing the point on the same subject.

It was an heart-in-throat match, for this Henin fan. At times disgusted by the choking, especially in the third when Henin lost serve @ 2-0 as you just knew she would; at others ecstatic over the shot- making abilities of both. this was just Henin's 4th tournament on tour. She's feeling her way, plus carrying a hip or back injury. Hopefully, we're going to see her hoisting some trophy's this year. Couldn't be more thrilled that the Mighty Mouse is back.

I didn't see the match....but you're making me wish I had.

I'm engrossed by your writing style!