• What the Deuce

Three and easy for comeback queen Clijsters

Kim Clijsters enjoys the moment with her daughter Jada © Getty Images

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It was almost a feeling of déjà-vu as Kim Clijsters celebrated her US Open victory with her young daughter Jada.

Except this time it was even easier. Twelve months ago she capped a fairytale comeback to become the first woman to win a Grand Slam as an unseeded wildcard, beating Caroline Wozniacki in two sets.

While Wozniacki - the top seed at Flushing Meadows this year, but a first-time Grand Slam finalist year ago - put up a bit of a fight, Vera Zvonareva fell to pieces, losing seven games in a row as Clijsters triumphed 6-2 6-1.

Zvonareva's three-game haul was the worst showing in a women's US Open final since Evonne Goolagong lost to Chris Evert in 1976, as the Russian appeared to crumble under the pressure.

After the five-set thriller between Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer lived up to the hype on the so-called 'Super Saturday', the women's final was underwhelming to say the least, but Clijsters won't care.

It is likely to be the easiest win she will enjoy in a Grand Slam final, but as the cliché goes, you can only beat the opponent in front of you, and few can accuse the former world No. 1 of having an easy draw, having negotiated tricky three-setters against Sam Stosur and Venus Williams.

Zvonareva's collapse was reminiscent of her capitulation against world No. 1 Serena Williams at Wimbledon - playing in her first Grand Slam final the Russian looked overwhelmed as she fell in straight sets. But Clijsters will be able to sympathise with Zvonareva's plight.

Once upon a time the tennis shoe was on the other foot - it was Clijsters on the other side of the metaphorical net, having lost all four of her Grand Slam final appearances between 2001 and 2004. Nearly a decade after her first Grand Slam final at the 2001 French Open, Clijsters has finally shed the moniker of the perpetual runner-up, being labelled as 'too nice' to win a Grand Slam.

Kim Clijsters has shed her tag as tennis' perpetual runner-up © Getty Images

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After falling at the final hurdle four times in as many years, she finally got that elusive Slam under her belt at the 2005 US Open, beating Mary Pierce in the final. And she hasn't looked back. Having failed to win a Grand Slam in her first four attempts, she has now won her last three major finals.

The first player to earn the unfortunate record of becoming world No. 1 without having won a Grand Slam, Clijsters once had the reputation of being a choker. At the 2003 Australian Open, Clijsters had match point at 5-2 in the deciding set against Serena Williams in the semi-final, before losing seven straight games to lose 4-6 6-3 7-5.

While Clijsters remains one of the most popular figures on the tour, she has shed her reputation for being a choker and has become a big game player.

Her three other titles this year have come against big players. Victories over Justine Henin, Venus Williams and Maria Sharapova - who between them have 17 Grand Slam titles - have seen her take home the winner's cheques from Brisbane, Miami and Cincinnati respectively.

Now that she has proved that she can win on the big stage - and where bigger to show that than in the Arthur Ashe Stadium at Flushing Meadows? - she will now have one eye on adding some other trophies to her cabinet. A two-time finalist at Roland Garros, and the runner-up in Melbourne, Clijsters knows she will have to adapt her game to the challenge of completing the set.

"They all motivate you in a different way," she said after her win on Saturday. "Tactic-wise you always have to adjust a little bit to each and every single one of them."

The darling of New York, the Belgian received huge support at Flushing Meadows, even in her semi-final victory over home favourite Venus Williams. But if Clijsters' win on Saturday proved once and for all that her fairytale victory last year was no fluke, she now needs to focus on adding to the trophy collection if she is to be remembered as one of the game's greats.

Only a year into her 'second career', Clijsters has already surpassed her first one, at least in terms of Grand Slam wins, and she certainly has no intention of calling it a day anytime soon. And with her sights set on Olympic gold at London 2012, who would bet against her sealing a Golden Slam with victory at the All England Club?

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