With the current suspension of the ATP and WTA Tours, we are opening up our US Open vault to bring you full match videos of classic encounters through the years in New York.
Watch on YouTube: Kim Clijsters vs. Vera Zvonareva, 2010 US Open women's singles final
One year after coming out of retirement to win the 2009 US Open as an unseeded wild card, Kim Clijsters made it back-to-back in New York with a title defense in 2020. Seeded No. 2, the Belgian cruised to the quarterfinals before grinding through a pair of three-set battles against Sam Stosur (who would go on to win the title one year later) and Venus Williams.
Vera Zvonareva awaited in the final. The seventh-seeded Russian was in dominant form on her way to the title tilt, not dropping a set in six matches, capped with a 6-4, 6-3 dismissal of world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki in the semifinals.
That perfect streak ended abruptly at the hands of Clijsters, then 27, who dropped just three games in the hour-long championship match. After an initial feeling-out period, Clijsters won seven consecutive games from 2-all in the opening set to take charge. The champion controlled the court throughout, punishing her opponent with exquisite ball-placement and measured aggression, and sealed the title with a sweetly struck forehand winner—one of 17 for her on the night, including 13 in the second set.
The title brought Clijsters' US Open win streak up to 21—after winning the 2005 US Open (the first of her four Slam titles), she missed the next three, between injury, maternity leave and retirement, before her repeat effort in 2009 and 2010. She also reached the US Open final in 2003, and was enshrined in the US Open Court of Champions during the 2019 event.
After over seven years in retirement, Clijsters returned to the WTA Tour in 2020 at the age of 36.
The complete Clijsters-Zvonareva match is now available to watch on the US Open YouTube channel. For a coming attraction, watch the highlights below.
