LOS ANGELES -- Perhaps it's best to look at Kim Clijsters' 7-5, 6-3 victory against Serena Williams less as a season-ending triumph for 2002 and more as a hopeful signal for 2003.

	Kim Clijsters might have given others hope in 2003 by defeating Serena Williams in the season finale.

Having come through a three-set tussle with Jennifer Capriati in the semis, all signs pointed to Williams consolidating her reign as the queen of women's tennis. After all, no matter what happened here this week, Williams was by far the best player in the world this year, her three Slam titles the most notable reason for her nearly 1,000-point lead over Venus in the WTA rankings. In baseball terms, Serena hit more than 60 home runs this year, Venus a scant 35.

But while those who rarely pay attention to tennis might think Serena and Venus are as dominant superpowers as the U.S. and U.S.S.R. were in the Cold War era, insiders know there are players with significant weapons to threaten the sisterly rule -- provided they're willing to play the ball and not their opponents' resumes.

"These sisters are motivating everyone to become a better player," said Billie Jean King, who was on hand tonight to present the winner's trophy that bears her name. "That's what the best do. They set the bar and you better rise up to it." And Clijsters certainly ranks in the top tier of contenders. Much like Jennifer Capriati, Clijsters is armed with clean-hitting groundstrokes, the agility you'd expect from the daughter of a former soccer star and, unlike Capriati, a fairly reliable service motion.

"Players like her and Lleyton Hewitt, they've got the jock genes, they know the process, they're dedicated to competing and grubbing," said CBS analyst Mary Carillo.

What Clijsters has lacked is the capacity to continually showcase her "A" game at the later stages of big tournaments. Since Clijsters is still in her teens, it's not quite clear if she's still shedding emotional baby fat. Her 2002 wasn't helped by an upper right arm injury that kept her from playing top tennis for the majority of the year.

Monday evening she played with maturity and tenacity, most notably when Williams served for the first set at 5-4. Ripping backhands, dashing into corners to track down forehands, Clijsters broke back, held and then at 5-6, 30-30 tracked down a Williams overhead to crack a forehand down-the-line winner. A weary Williams netted a forehand at set point.

Williams' fatigue became apparent in the second set. Williams was using her arms more than her feet, occasionally even tamely underspinning forehands and misfiring on both flanks. Clijsters smelled blood, and in short order earned the win of her career and $765,000.

"It's nice for the other players to see that [the Williams sisters] are beatable and I think that will motivate some other players," Clijsters said. "It's still pretty amazing for me to realize all of this and what I have achieved. ... if I'm injury-free and stuff, I think I'm capable of staying in the top five."

And perhaps, just as the Williams' have found themselves motivated and supported by one another, Clijsters draws on strength from her boyfriend, men's No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt. Speaking of Hewitt's wins at the U.S. Open and Wimbledon, Clijsters noted that, "That's what really sort of made me realize how much it means and how much it means for a tennis player to win those big events."

Though Serena would deny that Sunday's arduous three-setter against Capriati had drained her, she also conceded that "I feel like I'm 98 years old. Everything right now is just broke, and I'm ready to go home."

It's an odd thing about this Williams family rule: A year ago when Serena and Venus reached the U.S. Open finals, the pairing was exotic. After all, it had been more than 100 years since two sisters had met in a Slam final (what, you don't recall the Watson sisters?). But now, with the two having played at Roland Garros, Wimbledon and New York again, Clijsters, if not exactly busting the door down, has at least jammed a foot into it.

And what of Serena? A year ago, after winning this event in Munich, she vowed to make a go at the top. Mission accomplished. As all jocks know, staying at the top is a trickier matter. There is a compelling complexity to Serena, a visceral quality that draws her to the limelight far more than her more pensive older sister. Word flies around the tour continually of Serena's pursuit of acting roles and life off the court. But she's also aware that it's her racket that does the most talking for her. "I like that I didn't win today," Williams said, "because I'm so motivated right now to win the Australian Open."

When last we checked, though, it was Clijsters who was making plans for a trip to Australia. Williams was heading to nearby Hollywood for a few auditions. Then again, encouraged as Clijsters and her colleagues might be by her effort this week, all know it's going to take a lot of Oscar-winning performances to displace Serena Williams from the WTA Tour's marquee.

Joel Drucker, technical editor of Tennis for Dummies, is covering the WTA Championships for ESPN.com. E-mail him at JDruck@aol.com.