Final cruise for Clijsters
Last Updated: 06/10/16 12:30pm
![Clijsters: third US Open title](https://uatimg.skysports.com/default/default-768x432.gif)
Belgian Kim Clijsters crushed Russia's Vera Zvonareva 6-2 6-1 to retain her US Open title.
Second successive Grand Slam final defeat for Russian
Belgian Kim Clijsters crushed Russia's Vera Zvonareva 6-2 6-1 to retain her US Open title.
Zvonareva had not dropped a set in reaching her second consecutive Grand Slam final - she also lost in the Wimbledon showpiece - but produced an error-strewn display as Clijsters cruised to victory in just 60 minutes of one-sided action.
The 27-year-old Belgian has now won 21 consecutive matches in New York, having triumphed in 2005 and then coming out of retirement last year to win the title again in just the 14th match of her comeback.
The first four games were shared but from there the defending champion took over.
Zvonareva sent a backhand long in the sixth game to hand Clijsters the first break of serve.
Sadly for the Russian it was far from a rare unforced error. By the end of the match she had made 24 and hit only six winners.
Clijsters quickly racked up a seven-game winning streak to all but clinch the victory.
Frustration
Zvonareva's frustration shone through during that run of games when she broke her racquet by slamming it into the court in the opening game of the second set.
The Russian, who had shocked top seed Caroline Wozniacki in the semi-finals, managed to break that seven-game run to give herself some hope and at 1-3 she could have gained some real momentum by winning the following game on Clijsters' serve, but it wasn't to be.
The best game of the match saw Zvonareva fashion her first break point, but Clijsters saved it with what was to be her only ace of the match.
Two points later and the match was all but over for Zvonareva, who had finally found her best tennis but all too late in the day.
Clijsters broke again to open a 5-1 lead and duly served out - saving a second break point as she served for the title before finishing the match off with a forehand winner.