Kim Clijsters digs deep to clinch title

REIGNING US Open champion Kim Clijsters beat top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 to win the WTA Championships final in Dogha last night.

The loss for the 20-year-old Dane is likely to raise further doubts about her No 1 ranking, since she was already coming under fire for earning the top spot without having won a Grand Slam. She has won the most tournaments this year - six - but seemed to crumbled in big tournaments and has a dismal career record of 15-24 against top 10 players.

Her shortcomings were on display yesterday when the 27-year-old Clijsters took a 2-0 lead on her way winning the first set, using a powerful forehand, well-timed backhands and her vast experience to overwhelm Wozniacki. She closed out the set by breaking Wozniacki for the third time.

The Belgian mother of one, who won the title in 2002 and 2003, went up 4-1 in the second, feasting on Wozniacki's weak second serve and her inability to hit forehand winners. But Wozniacki fought back to tie the match at 5-5 and broke Clijsters to go up 6-5 on her way to winning the set when Clijsters hit a shot long.

Wozniacki came out strongly in the third set, forcing world No 4 Clijsters to make four unforced errors to win the first game.

However, Clijsters didn't panic, settling down to go up 2-1. That prompted Wozniacki's coach, who also is her father Piotr, came out and give his daughter a courtside pep talk as she rested a bag of ice on her head. It didn't do much good.

Clijsters kept the pressure on, moving Wozniacki around the court and hitting several powerful forehands to go up 5-2. Wozniacki grabbed a game back before Clijsters won it when Wozniacki hit a serve into the net.

"I'm kind of relieved because it seemed like it would never end. It was a tough match," said Clijsters, who also beat the Dane in the US Open final last year. "I'm glad I won and it must be disappointing for Caroline, but she has a great future and I don't know how many more years I'm going to keep doing this."

Wozniacki agreed it was a good match and credited Clijsters with hitting her shots when it mattered.

"Kim got a better start than me, broke me once, and won the set 6-3. The second set, it was just one break, and then I came back," she said. "Four all ... I just started playing more aggressively, took my chances, and took the chances that I had," she said. "In the third set, you know, it was very close. She played really well, especially in the important moments. Definitely, the experience, you know, mattered a little bit today."

Wozniacki dismissed suggestions that her record in Grand Slams or that this loss should somehow undermine her No 1 ranking.

"I can't do anything about that," she said. "I've had a fantastic year. I won six tournaments. I've beaten so many good players

"You cannot win every match.I will come back in the off season and train, but right now I'm proud of my season."