Kim Clijsters refuses to be simply an appetizer

FROM NEW YORK — You had your bagel for breakfast. Kim Clijsters and Venus Williams had theirs in a late lunch Sunday afternoon at the U.S. Open tennis tournament.

Once they digested that, it was time for real food, for something sumptuous.

Not only did Clijsters, the comeback kid who is now a 26-year-old mom, upset third-seeded Williams, 29. She did so in one of the stranger and more dramatic women's matches in U.S. Open history.

The strange part was the score.

Clijsters won the first set in 27 minutes at love. Williams returned the favor in 23 minutes. Bagel begot bagel.

Then Clijsters broke the bigger-serving Williams in the third game of the final set and battled, scrapped and served it out at 6-4 to complete the stunner in a final set that took 52 minutes, or eight minutes less than the total of the first two.

Yes, that's right, 6-0, 0-6, 6-4.

That happens at your tennis club and it creates chatter. That doesn't happen when two of the better players in the history of women's tennis hook up.

But it did, and Clijsters' reaction when interviewed on the court immediately afterward was spot on.

"It was such a weird match," she said. "After the second set, I thought, let's just start over and fight for each point."

A tennis match had become a "Rocky" movie. Apollo Creed connects with an uppercut and dominates the first five rounds. Then Rocky Balboa catches him with a left hook and wins the next five. Back and forth, setting up the grand finale. Yo, Adrian.

Clijsters got the crucial third-set break when, incredibly, Williams double-faulted on break point. That was in the 1-1 game that she had begun with 122- and 118-mph service bombs that overwhelmed Clijsters.

But the match was nowhere near over.

The baseline shots they sent at each other were laser beams -- deep, accurate, penetrating bombs hit successfully only by those who are near-perfect in footwork, fitness and technique.

Williams started the 1-3 game with another double fault, but then held with a huge forehand on game point. She tried to get to break point in the next game by rushing the net, but she netted a backhand volley and Clijsters got a good angle on a 101-mph first serve on game point that Williams hit long. Clijsters led, 4-2.

Williams held for 4-3 with a 113-mph service winner and then got it to 30-all on Clijsters' serve. But Clijsters, who admits to getting nervous and faltering at times like this, won another baseline battle when a backhand by Williams flew long.