Williams Wins Power Struggle : U.S. Open: Serena rallies from 5-3 third-set deficit to defeat 16-year-old Clijsters of Belgium.

Kim Clijsters was sprinting--yes, sprinting--to her chair on changeovers and the fans sitting in a packed Louis Armstrong Stadium at the U.S. Open marveled at the exuberance and energy of the 16-year-old Belgian.

Serena Williams, all of 17, responded with power and poise, clenching her fist after firing an ace or a rocket of a ground stroke, once nearly touching the court when she bent low to celebrate.

What started as a quiet little third-round encounter turned into the most riveting women’s match of the tournament Saturday. The seventh-seeded Williams fought back from a 5-3 third-set deficit to defeat the hard-hitting Clijsters, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5.

Even their seasoned colleagues were captivated by the drama. A group of players--Lindsay Davenport and Anke Huber, among others--were huddled around the television set in the women’s locker room.

Kim who?

One person in the room had the answer about the powerful baseliner. “I knew she could play this way,” said Belgian Sabine Appelmans. “In practice, I’ve seen it. Oh, my.”

Dick Enberg couldn’t have said it better.

“I saw her play at Wimbledon,” Williams said. “She played Steffi Graf. I’m glad I saw that match. I knew she was a tough player. She’s young and doing her best. She’s pretty big.”

Williams never faced match point and handled herself with aplomb when Clijsters served for the match at 5-3. Williams broke her at love and promptly smacked two aces in her next service game. In that dominating closing stretch, she won 14 consecutive points and 16 of the final 17 points. “At the moment, I knew I could win, 5-3 up, when I was serving,” said Clijsters, who lost to her idol Graf in the fourth round at Wimbledon as a qualifier.

“I think I was too close to win. I was a little bit scared. It’s also the experience. She has a lot more experience than I have. I learned a new lesson out of this match.”

Williams, though only one year older, is far ahead of Clijsters. This is her seventh Grand Slam event, and Clijsters’ second. On Saturday, Williams simply raised her level dramatically. “I was pretty stoked,” she said.

Clijsters got a little too excited and looked a bit like Graf, impatient between points. “I’m always rushing,” Clijsters said, smiling.

She may look as if she is 12, but Clijsters has been forced to grow up quickly. Her mother, Els, once a gymnast of national caliber, had liver cancer and went through the long ordeal of waiting for a liver transplant earlier this year. Clijsters’ father, Lei, who was a defender on the national soccer team, remains at home in Bilzen, Belgium, taking care of his ailing wife and younger daughter, 14-year-old Elke.

The Williams-Clijsters match wasn’t the only compelling one in the third round. Jennifer Capriati’s comeback continued on an upward curve, as she defeated 11th-seeded Nathalie Tauziat of France, 6-3, 1-6, 6-1. An ecstatic Capriati, 23, celebrated by blowing kisses to the crowd.

This is the first time she has gone past the first round here since 1992, which was one year after her epic semifinal against Monica Seles. The fourth-seeded Seles, who won that match in a third-set tiebreaker, will face Capriati in the fourth round.

That was the last time Capriati reached the semifinal of a Grand Slam event and since then there were many times she thought it was all over.

“There are a few points, of course, that crossed my mind a few times. It really scared the hell out of me,” she said. “I thought, ‘God, what if that is it?’ Then I just thought, ‘How ridiculous.’ I mean, why? Why not? You have the power in you, just do it, if you want.”

Her latest comeback gained credibility when she hired former pro Harold Solomon to coach her this year. Then her own confidence grew after winning a clay-court tournament in Strasbourg, France, just before the French Open.

What changed?

“Just maybe [I got] tired of losing, sick of losing, sick of not reaching my potential,” she said. “Just more determination. Just feeling better about myself.”

*

Davenport, Seles and Serena and Venus Williams were chosen for the U.S. Fed Cup team that will meet Russia in the final Sept.18-19 at Stanford.

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