Venus Williams Eliminated from U.S. Open by Former Rival Kim Clijsters, Who Returns After Two-Year Absence from Professional Tennis

Here's a blast from the past in the U.S. Open -- Kim Clijsters. It turns out that rivalry between Clijsters and Venus Williams manifested itself today at the U.S. Open. Venus was eliminated by Clijsters, a wild card entry, played a shaky match, at best, which ended into a fairy tale victory -- 6-0, 0-6, 6-4 victory. Nonetheless, it was a stunning defeat for Venus Williams and a remarkable feat in the return of Clijsters from a two-year absence from professional tennis. She seems to have recovered from several chronic injuries that led to her retirement at age 24 and saw the birth of her 18-month-old daughter Jada.

The match-up lived up to its wild anticipation, with Clijsters advancing to play Li Na of China in the quarterfinals, and preserving a potential semifinal match-up with Serena Williams, which would be very interesting, since I consider Serena to be a more dominant player than her sister.

Serena Williams was more successful than her sister today. She pounded her way past No. 22 seed Daniela Hantuchova, 6-2, 6-0, with powerful ground strokes and serves, that only Serena Williams can deliver.

Photo credit: Kim Clijsters Getty Images