Kim Clijsters defeated Li Na this morning 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 to win the Women's Singles Title at this year's Australian Open. Clijsters now has won 4 Grand Slam singles titles, but this was the first time she'd won one other than the U.S. Open which she captured in 2005, 2009 and 2010. Na gave her a run for her money, and was the first player to take a set from her in the entire tournament, but ultimately Clijsters prevailed. Na can old her head high though even in defeat, as she was the first Chinese player to reach a Grand Slam singles final. Clijsters has now won 5 of the 7 meetings between the two women. Here's the path Clijsters took to win her 4th Grand Slam title:
W vs # 75 Dinara Sarfina (Russia) - 6-0, 6-0
W vs #62 Carla Suarez-Navarro (Spain) - 6-1, 6-3
W vs #83 Alize Cornet (France) - 7-6, 6-3
W vs #49 Ekaterina Makarova (Russia) - 7-6, 6-2
W vs #14 Agnieszka Radwanska (Poland) - 6-3, 7-6
W vs #2 Vera Zvonareva (Russia) - 6-3, 6-3
W vs #11 Li Na (China) - 3-6, 6-3, 6-3
ASIAN CUP FINAL
Considering this game featured the two highest scoring teams in the tournament, both with 13 goals in 5 games entering play today, it was a little bit surprising that for 108 minutes in the championship match between Japan and Australia there was no scoring. Finally in the 109th minute, Japanese sub Tadanari Lee was left unmarked in the box and drove home the game winner past Australia's Mark Schwarzer giving Japan their 4th Asian Cup Championship and 3rd in the last 4 years. Japanese goalie Eiji Kawashima was named the man of the match notching his second shutout of the tournament. Lee's goal, was just the 2nd scored against Australia in 6 games.
Meanwhile, South Korea knocked off Uzbekistan in the consolation game yesterday to take home 3rd place. Koo Ja-cheol opened the scoring for the Koreans, and Ji Dong-won tacked on two more to give South Korea a 3-0 advantage. They'd need every bit of it as Uzbekistan rallied behind a pair of goals by Aleksandr Geynrikh. It wouldn't be enough though as the South Koreans would hold on for the 3-2 win. The top 3 finishers in the tournament are all automatically qualified to play in the next Asian Cup in 2015 set to be hosted by the Australians. Koo Ja-cheol led all players in the tournament with 5 goals. Ji Dong-won and Bahrain's Ismail Abullahatif each had 4.
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