LOS ANGELES, Nov 12: Kim Clijsters finally came of age while Serena Williams left feeling like an old lady.

Fifth seed Clijsters of Belgium banged out a thrilling 7-5, 6-3 decision over defending champion Williams Monday night to capture the season-ending WTA Championships.

Clijsters admitted that the thrill of winning her first championship hasn’t set in yet.

“It’s definitely my biggest win and it’s feels incredible,” said the 19-year-old Clijsters, who collected a whopping 765,000 dollars for the 85-minute stunner. “At the time I couldn’t believe when she missed at match point.

Williams was riding an 18-match winning streak coming into her final match of the long year. She hadn’t lost a match since August, but the more spry and inspired Clijsters steamrolled the tired two-time U.S. Open champion in her hometown, outrunning the 21-year-old and playing a far more consistent and heady contest.

The loss could have tarnished an otherwise extraordinary year for Williams - who posted a 56-5 mark with eight titles, including the French Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open - but that’s not the case with the world’s No. 1 player. “I had a decent year, but I like that I didn’t win today, because I’m so motivated right now to win the Australian Open,” said Williams, who pocketed 382,000 dollars.

Clijsters didn’t lose a set during the tournament and tied a WTA Championships record by dropping only 14 games during the event.

Completely recovered from the shoulder problems that plagued her earlier in the year, the athletic aggressive baseliner took the match from the start, stretching out the American in end to end rallies, serving with efficiency and drawing her opponent into numerous errors.

Williams, who had played more than two hours in defeating Jennifer Capriati in the semifinal, was slow of foot and breathing heavily most of the night, resulting in 44 unforced errors to only 27 from Clijsters.

Clijsters was 0-6 against Williams going into the match, but showed little fear of the four-time Grand Slam titleholder. The two traded breaks of serve to open the contest, but Williams again jumped on Clijsters in the fifth game, breaking her when Clijsters erred on the forehand.

But the Belgian fought back, breaking Williams to 5-5 when she forced her into a backhand error. Clijsters let out a yell and didn’t look back from there.

With Williams serving at 5-6 and deuce, Clijsters chased down a hard overhead smash and forced Williams into an error. On set point, Williams dumped a forehand into the net.

Clijsters broke Williams at love to go ahead 4-2 in the second set. In the match’s final game with Clijsters serving, the Belgian cracked a service winner and then won the contest with a forehand down the line and smacked a ball into the crowd and beamed in delight.

Williams ended the year ranked No. 1 while Clijsters is projected to finish at No. 4, behind No. 2 Venus Williams, and No. 3 Jennifer Capriati

Clijsters’ fourth WTA Title cemented her as a force to be reckoned with now and in her bright future.— dpa