EASY MONEY FOR CLIJSTERS BELGIAN BREEZES TO 2ND BIG L.A. PAYDAY; EVENT LIKELY WON'T RETURN.

Byline: Lauren Gustus Staff Writer

As Kim Clijsters raised the winner's trophy above her head, there was neither a hair astray nor a spot of sweat on her clean, white tennis shirt.

It was another year, another million for Clijsters, who defeated Amelie Mauresmo of France 6-2, 6-0 in the final of the WTA Championships at Staples Center on Monday night. Clijsters defeated Serena Williams for the title in 2002.

The 21-year-old Belgian played spectacular tennis - she rattled off 10 consecutive points, and 12 of 13, to take a 3-1 lead in the first set. Mauresmo won one more game the entire match, which lasted just 52 minutes.

``I think I saw the ball like a football tonight,'' Clijsters said. ``It's always a nice feeling knowing you can do whatever you want.''

But perhaps the biggest bomb of the evening came before the first serve, when WTA Tour CEO Larry Scott addressed the media and announced the season-ending event was not likely to return to Los Angeles after next year. Representatives from Anshutz Entertainment Group, uninformed of the decision, listened with their mouths wide open.

``This is news to me,'' said Tim Lieweke, President and CEO of AEG, which owns and operates Staples Center. ``It's his tournament if that's (his) decision then so be it.''

Attendance for the final was 8,925, down more than 1,300 from last year. Overall, the total attendance was lower this year than last, though there were more sessions in 2002.

Billie Jean King said this week that it takes five years to grow a fan base. Scott didn't disagree, but said the event, a crown jewel for the WTA, should be seen by different audiences. He mentioned China and unnamed European cities as potential homes for the event in two years' time.

It was hard to ignore Clijsters' power, despite the stormy atmosphere at Staples Center.

Her victory was the culmination of a long season. She won nine titles and 90 of 102 matches, but no Grand Slams.

Clijsters, who finished the season as the No. 2 player in the world, displayed the consistency Monday that she has all year. She had twice as many winners as Mauresmo (16 to eight), and her first-serve percentage hovered near 90 percent.

Mauresmo, who backed into the semifinals with a losing record in red-group round-robin play, was a different player than the night before. The one-handed backhand she used so effectively against Justine Henin-Hardenne in the semifinals was gone. After the match, she still was trying to figure out what went wrong.

``I am just trying to analyze and try find out what happened''' Mauresmo said. ``I think she played a good game and, obviously, I helped her with so many mistakes.''

Mauresmo thanked her coach in the on-court ceremony after the match, but said he was probably hiding because she had played so poorly. Mauresmo lost to Clijsters in round-robin play this week, but the match wasn't nearly as much a walkover as the final. Clijsters won 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, but had to work for the round-robin victory.

The world's No. 2 player had her own cheering section this year as she did last - a group of nearly 20 Belgians stood cheering and waving the red, black and yellow flags as she accepted the trophy and winner's check. If they were hoping to see another Battle of the Belgians, they were disappointed.

And so was Clijsters.

She said she would have liked to have met her fellow countrywoman, Henin-Hardenne, in the final. Both of Henin-Hardenne's Grand Slam victories (the U.S. and French opens) came at Clijsters' expense.

``Yes, (Henin-Hardenne) definitely deserves to be there,'' Clijsters said. ``We've been the two strongest players throughout this year since Venus and Serena didn't play as much anymore.''

Henin-Hardenne and Clijsters were two of the healthiest players this year - their success came while some of the best players in the world were idle: Serena Williams (knee), Venus Williams (abdomen) and Lindsay Davenport (foot) didn't play large portions of the season.

Clijsters' paycheck - the exact amount was $1,000,030 - was the largest ever for a women's professional sporting event. The U.S. Open champion receives an even million, but the WTA Championships upped the prize by $30 in celebration of the tour's 30th year in existence.

Lauren Gustus, [phone]

Lauren.gustus(at)dailynews.com

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2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Kim Clijsters, right, hugs Amelie Mauresmo after Clijsters won in the final of the WTA Tour Championship at Staples Center.

(2) Kim Clijsters kisses her trophy after winning the WTA Tour Championships on Monday.

Kevork Djansezian/Associated Press