Clijsters wins Cincinnati crown

Associated Press

MASON

As a storm rolled in, Kim Clijsters was worried the rain would halt her momentum.

As it turned out, she had more than enough to outlast the weather and Maria Sharapova.

Clijsters also overcame three match points on the way to her 2-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2 victory Sunday in the $2 million Cincinnati Womens’ Open.

The delay happened late in the second set, shortly after Sharapova failed to close out Clijsters for the third time.

“When the rain started falling, I was like, ’Oh, no,”’ Clijsters said. “I was feeling like I could hold here and get a chance for a break. I didn’t feel like I was really in trouble. Before the break, I thought the match could go either way.”

Clijsters, the defending U.S. Open champion and world’s seventh-ranked player, bounced back from connecting on only 52 percent of her first serves while losing her first set in the tournament.

“When we went inside, I had one positive and one negative,” said Clijsters, who reached the quarterfinals of last year’s tournament, her first since coming out of retirement. “Actually, I felt comfortable playing my groundstrokes. That was good, because my serve was nowhere to be found.

“When we came back out, I knew I had to battle throughout, because you’re not starting 0-0. You have to be ready to go.”