Rather than analyze the “Serena Incident” which will be overanalyzed for the next six months, let’s take a quick look at the Women’s Singles Final for the U.S. Open.
On one side we have Caroline Wozniacki who has used her great defensive game and sharp two-handed backhand to wear down harder hitting opponents. What she lacks in power, she makes up for in great movement. Her serve though is a liability.
On the other side, there’s the story of the year now, Kim Clijsters, who after a two and half year layoff is back in her second consecutive U.S. Open final. Clijsters is hitting the ball harder and with more precision. Her serve is a bigger weapon now and she appears to have a lot more clarity on where she places the ball.
If this were say a quarterfinal or semifinal, I would give the immediate edge to Clijsters just for her level of play this whole summer. But since it is the finals, and an unexpected one for both players, nerves will be a factor going in. If Wozniacki is to win, she will somehow have to negate Clijsters’s groundstrokes and keep the rallies going hoping that Clijsters will miss a lot like in the Kuznetsova match. If Clijsters connects for winner after winner and also returns well, especially on Wozniacki’s second serve, it will be a quick match.
Even though Serena lost, the “incident” will still linger on the court, especially for Clijsters, who must find someway to forget it happened and just focus on Wozniacki.
For Clijsters to win the whole thing would be a remarkable achievement simply because she has played at a higher level than anyone on the WTA this summer. If Wozniacki does pull off the “upset”, she will have proven that the hype around her was for real and that many more Grand Slam Finals are around the corner.
Adjusting the Net 
I think that Clijsters is better than ever! If she beat Serena, obviously she’ll beat Wozniacki.
Wozniacki is a pretty good player, but she is not going to win this, that’s for sure…