Belgian Kim Clijsters hammered French 12th seed Mary Pierce 6-3 6-1 to win the US Open on Saturday and claim her first grand slam singles crown.
The fourth seed, who had lost all four of her previous grand slam finals, raced to victory in 65 minutes to end Pierce's hopes of becoming the first Frenchwoman to win the title.
"It's still very hard to believe," said an emotional Clijsters, who missed most of 2004 because of wrist injuries.
"It's an amazing feeling to have and after being out for so long last year, it means so much more."
Clijsters, who has won six other titles in 2005, broke twice to lead 4-1 and though Pierce got one of the breaks back, the Belgian broke again in the ninth game to win the opening set.
The 30-year-old Pierce made 28 unforced errors and Clijsters romped through the second set to win her maiden grand slam.
