Kim Clijsters
Encyclopedia
Kim Antonie Lode Clijsters (kɪm ˈklɛistərs; born 8 June 1983) is a Belgian
professional tennis player. As of 7 November 2011, Clijsters is ranked No. 13 in singles. Clijsters is a former World No. 1 in both singles and doubles.
Clijsters has won 41 WTA
singles titles and 11 WTA doubles titles. She has won four Grand Slam singles titles: three at the US Open, in 2005, 2009 and 2010 and one at the Australian Open in 2011. She has also been runner-up in four Grand Slam singles tournaments, and won the WTA Tour Championships
singles title in 2002, 2003 and 2010. In doubles, she won the French Open and Wimbledon
titles in 2003. Clijsters announced her retirement with immediate effect on 6 May 2007, but almost two years later, on 26 March 2009, she publicly declared her intent to return to the WTA tour for the 2009 summer hard court season. In only her third tournament back, she won her second US Open title, becoming the first unseeded player and wildcard to win the tournament, and the first mother to win a major since Evonne Goolagong
in 1980.
In June 2011, TIME
magazine named her one of the "30 Legends of Women's Tennis: Past, Present and Future".
According to Forbes in August 2011, she became the fifth highest-paid female athlete over the past year.
and Svetlana Kuznetsova
, is among the few tennis players on either the Association of Tennis Professionals
or Women's Tennis Association
tours who can slide (or "straddle") on all surfaces. Maria Sharapova
, interviewed after losing to Clijsters in the 2005 Nasdaq-100 Open
, said, "You just have to expect that she's going to get every ball back". Her first serve, while not overwhelming, is placed well and earns aces and unreturnables. Clijsters tends to rush between first and second serves, which may contribute to her occasional matches with high numbers of double faults. A former World No. 1 player in doubles, Clijsters has exceptional volleys; she has no problem switching from baseline to finishing points at the net with a volley or over-head. Her mental fragility was considered her biggest weakness, and at the earlier stages of her career she was considered a "choker", often surrendering big leads in the latter rounds of Grand Slams. Since winning the 2005 US Open, Clijsters has gained more control over her nerves and since her return to the tour in 2009 she has been known, along with Serena Williams
and Maria Sharapova
, as among the toughest players to beat mentally. She is now seen as capable of rising to the occasion and playing her best tennis at the important stages of matches. Clijsters is also considered to be one of the most popular players on the tour, known for her grace on the court and even temper. She has been voted the WTA Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award by her fellow players seven times and the WTA Player Service Award three times.
, Limburg
, in the Flemish Region
of Belgium. She is the daughter of Lei Clijsters
, a former international footballer, and Els Vandecaetsbeek, a former national gymnastics champion. Lei Clijsters died of skin cancer
on 4 January 2009. Clijsters says that she inherited footballer's legs from her father and a gymnast's flexibility from her mother. Kim's younger sister Elke
finished 2002 as the ITF
World Junior Doubles champion and retired in 2004 after back injuries.
In December 2003, Clijsters announced her engagement to Australian Lleyton Hewitt
, but their relationship ended in October 2004. Clijsters is still affectionately nicknamed "Aussie Kim" by Australians. In October 2006, Clijsters announced her engagement to American basketball player Brian Lynch
, who is based in Clijsters' hometown of Bree
. In an interview with Sportweekend (a sports programme on Belgian Flemish television), Clijsters said that she was retiring to start a family. Clijsters and Lynch married privately on 13 July 2007, at 6 am at the Bree city hall. She was married by the mayor, with sister Elke, Lynch's brother Pat Lynch, and both sets of parents present.
Clijsters gave birth to a daughter on 27 February 2008, at 1:35 pm at the Vesalius hospital in Tongeren, Belgium.
junior event, finishing 11th in the year-end singles ranking. In the same year in doubles, Clijsters won the French Open
title with Jelena Dokić
, defeating Elena Dementieva
and Nadia Petrova
in the final, as well as the US Open with Eva Dyrberg
, defeating former partner Dokic in the final. Clijsters ended the season as no. 4 in the International Tennis Federation
junior doubles world ranking.
in the quarterfinal, after failing to convert a match point.
Playing through the qualifying rounds at Roehampton
, she made it to the main draw of Wimbledon
. Clijsters won six matches in a row, while only losing 25 games. She defeated no. 10 Amanda Coetzer
en route to the fourth round, during which Clijsters lost to her childhood idol, Steffi Graf
, in straight sets, in difficult rainy circumstances. Later that summer, Clijsters reached the third round of the US Open, losing to eventual champion Serena Williams
after serving for the match. In the autumn, Clijsters won her first Women's Tennis Association
(WTA) singles title in Luxembourg
. She followed up with her first WTA doubles title in Bratislava
, partnering Laurence Courtois
. At the end of the year, she was granted the WTA Most Impressive Newcomer award, the only Belgian player to have received this trophy.
, losing to Serena Williams
in a match overshadowed by controversy
. Clijsters also reached her first Grand Slam
final at the French Open, where she lost to Jennifer Capriati
, 10-12, in the third set. This two-hour, 21-minute match featured the longest third set in a French Open women's final. Clijsters was four times within two points of winning, before Capriati prevailed. Her next important breakthrough came at the end of 2002, when she won the year-end Home Depot Championships
in Los Angeles, defeating top ranked Serena Williams
in the final. This was only the fifth defeat of the year for Williams and snapped her 18-match winning streak. On her way to the final, Clijsters defeated fourth-ranked Justine Henin and second-ranked Venus Williams
, becoming just the fourth player to beat both of the Williams sisters in the same event. She also equaled the event's record for the fewest games dropped.
in straight sets in the final. Clijsters reached the final after defeating Patty Schnyder
, Chanda Rubin
and Justine Henin. At the Australian Open, Clijsters lost in the semifinal to Serena Williams
4–6, 6–3, 7–5, after leading 5–1 in the final set and holding two match points. On the way to the semis Clijsters lost just fifteen games beating Samantha Reeves
and completing a double bagel (wherein the opposing player fails to win a single game) against Petra Mandula
. She then continued by winning in straight sets against Tatiana Poutchek
, Amanda Coetzer
, and Anastasia Myskina
. At the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California
, she defeated Lindsay Davenport
in the final.
Clijsters reached the final of the WTA German Open, after defeating Jennifer Capriati
6–4 in the final set. In the final, she played Justine Henin and squandered three match points to lose the final set, 5-7. To compound the day, Clijsters also lost the doubles final 4-6 in the final set.
Clijsters’ third title of the year came at the Telecom Italia Masters in Rome, where she defeated Amélie Mauresmo
in the final. Clijsters had defeated Myskina and doubles partner Ai Sugiyama
to make the final.
At the French Open, Clijsters reached the final for the second time in three years, after defeating Nadia Petrova
. In the final, Clijsters lost to Henin 0-6, 4-6, and again at the US open, 5-7, 1-6.
She also lost in the semifinal at Wimbledon to Venus Williams
, after leading by a set and a break.
On 11 August 2003, Clijsters attained the world no. 1 ranking, holding the spot for 12 non-consecutive weeks during the remainder of the year, and was the first player to be top ranked by the WTA without first winning a Grand Slam singles title.
On 18 August 2003, Clijsters also attained the world no. 1 ranking in doubles, joining a very select group of only four players—Martina Navratilova, Arantxa Sánchez Vicario
, Martina Hingis
, and Lindsay Davenport
—having reached the world no. 1 ranking in singles and doubles simultaneously. By 2010, only Serena Williams
had managed to join this group.
The world no. 1 ranking was again at stake in October during the final of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix
in Filderstadt
, Germany. Clijsters rallied from a set down to beat Henin. The match marked only the eighth time that the top two players battled for the top ranking. Even though Clijsters won that match, she finished the year ranked world no. 2, just behind Henin.
. Clijsters was on crutches for a few days and feared she might need surgery. Clijsters pulled out of the Adidas International due to the injury. Clijsters did recover in time to reach her fourth career Grand Slam final at the Australian Open, where she lost once more to Henin. After defeating Marlene Weingärtner
, Maria Elena Camerin
(with a double bagel), Dinara Safina
, Silvia Farina Elia
, Anastasia Myskina
(during the match Clijsters aggravated her ankle injury), and Patty Schnyder
to reach the final. Clijsters then won two consecutive titles in Paris
and Antwerp
. In Paris, Clijsters defeated local favourite Mary Pierce
in the final. To reach the final, Clijsters defeated Maria Sanchez Lorenzo
, Farina Elia, and Safina. While defending her Tier I title at the Pacific Life Open, Clijsters injured her wrist during her win against Angelika Roesch in her first match. Clijsters withdrew before her second match with the injury described as a bruised bone. Clijsters withdrew from the event in Miami the next week Clijsters then appeared six weeks later in her home town of Bree to play in a Fed Cup tie against Croatia, winning both of her rubbers. Clijsters returned to the tour in Berlin and needed three sets to see Marta Marrero
off. Clijsters then pulled out of her second match and then was told to rest for five weeks, causing her to miss the French Open. Clijsters then had surgery to remove a cyst, causing her to miss three months of the tour, including Wimbledon and the US Open. Clijsters also missed the Olympics, but she had already decided not to play the tournament after a dispute about clothing sponsors. Clijsters returned to the Tour at the Gaz de France Stars
. She made the semifinals, defeating Iveta Benešová
and Magdalena Maleeva
, before pulling out in the second set against Elena Bovina
. Clijsters had aggravated the injury and although she did not need surgery, she was out for the rest of the season. She played down fears that the injury might force her retirement from tennis.
in Antwerp. Her first match back was against Jelena Kostanić
, which she won in straight sets, before losing to Venus Williams
in the quarterfinals.
Clijsters completed her comeback in March and April, when she won, as an unseeded player, 17 matches in a row to claim two Tier I titles and regain a top-20 ranking. At the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California
, Clijsters was ranked world no. 133. The Belgian began by beating Nicole Pratt
, Shinobu Asagoe
, Anna Chakvetadze
, and Evgenia Linetskaya
, all without dropping a set. In the semifinals, Clijsters defeated world no. 5 Elena Dementieva
in straight sets and world no. 1 Lindsay Davenport
in the final in three sets. The week after that win, Clijsters defeated four top-6 players in straight sets to win the NASDAQ-100 Open. To win the title, Clijsters defeated Sandra Kloesel, Amy Frazier
, Nathalie Dechy
, Anastasia Myskina
, Elena Dementieva
, Amélie Mauresmo
, and Maria Sharapova
, going the whole tournament without dropping a set.
Turning her attention to clay, Clijsters’ winning streak continued at the J&S Cup. Clijsters defeated Tatiana Perebiynis
, Maria Kirilenko
, and Elena Bovina
. Against Bovina, Clijsters’ picked up a minor shoulder injury. Clijsters’ 17 match winning streak was finally ended by Svetlana Kuznetsova
. Playing next at the WTA German Open Clijsters defeated Yuliana Fedak
and Dinara Safina
in straight sets before, hurting her right knee and retiring against Patty Schnyder
. Clijsters recovered in time to play in the French Open. Playing in the French Open for the first time in two years, Clijsters defeated Meilen Tu
, Cervanová, and Daniela Hantuchová
to advance to the fourth round, where she lost to Davenport 1–6, 7–5, 6–3 after leading 3–1 in the second set.
Clijsters got off to the best possible start for her grass-court season at the Hastings Direct International Championships by winning the tournament. Clijsters defeated Jelena Janković
, Conchita Martínez
, Mashona Washington
, Kuznetsova and Vera Dushevina
to claim her third title of the year. At Wimbledon, Clijsters defeated Katie O'Brien
, Marissa Irvin
, and Roberta Vinci
, before facing Davenport in the round of 16 for the second Grand Slam in a row. The result was the same as the French Open, with the American winning.
After Wimbledon, Clijsters went on an amazing run of form, where she lost just once between July and October. Clijsters’ run began at the Bank of the West Classic
against Ai Sugiyama
, and she defeated Daniela Hantuchová
, Anna-Lena Grönefeld
, and Venus Williams
to win her fourth title of the year. Clijsters’ streak continued in San Diego, as she defeated Marta Domachowska
and Janković, before suffering her only defeat in this run to Shuai Peng.
After the defeat to Peng, Clijsters continued the run, as she won 22 matches in a row, collecting four straight titles along the way, including her maiden Grand Slam title. The 22-match streak started against Karolina Šprem
, with victories over Safina, Nadia Petrova
, and Francesca Schiavone
. Clijsters collected her fifth title of the year. The streak continued in Toronto as Clijsters beat Virginie Razzano
, Ana Ivanović
(via a walkover), Flavia Pennetta
, Anastasia Myskina
and Justine Henin-Hardenne
to win the Rogers Cup. After winning three of her four US Summer Hard court tournaments, Clijsters won the US Open Series, which links all the US summer hard courts together and doubles the winners prize money at the US Open. Giving Clijsters a chance to double the $1.1 million US Open winners prize to $2.2 million.
Clijsters won her first Grand Slam
singles title at the US Open, after having reached four Grand Slam finals previously. Clijsters started by defeating Martina Müller, Fabiola Zuluaga
, Ai Sugiyama
and María Vento-Kabchi
in straight sets to reach the quarter finals. There, Clijsters defeated tenth-seeded Venus Williams in the quarter-finals 4–6, 7–5, 6–1, winning 11 of the last 13 games after being down 6–4, 4–2. Clijsters squandered five match points in the second set of her semi against Sharapova but eventually won 6–2, 6–7(4), 6–3. In her fifth attempt, Clijsters won her first Grand Slam final, defeating Mary Pierce
in straight sets. By winning the US Open Series
Clijsters doubled her US$1.1 million in prize money she received for winning the US Open, to US$2.2 million. The pay check was the largest payday in women's sports history.
On 15 September, a week after her US Open victory, it was announced that Clijsters and her coach, Marc Dehous, had parted company, which was due in part to her paying him only $9,000 of her $2,200,000 US Open winnings.
Clijsters’ hot streak continued as she extended her streak to 21 wins, even without a coach at the Fortis Championships. Clijsters beat Klara Koukalová
, Schiavone, Dechy and Lena Groenefeld all without dropping a set to win her eighth title of the year. The title was Clijsters’ fourth consecutive title. At the Porsche Grand Prix Clijsters defeated Šprem for her twenty second consecutive match win before Dementieva ended the streak.
Clijsters then won her ninth and final tournament of the year at the Gaz de France Stars
, defeating Schiavone in the final, to go the whole tournament without dropping a set. Clijsters defeated Ekaterina Bychkova
, Šprem, Julia Schruff
and Safina to make the final.
At the year-ending Sony Ericsson Championships, Clijsters was eliminated in the group stage. Clijsters lost her first match, a rematch of the US Open final, to Pierce 6–1, 4–6, 7–6 and her second match to Mauresmo 6–3, 7–6. This left the Belgian needing to win and hope that the results in the other matches went her way. Although results did not go her way and Clijsters was eliminated with one match still to play, she finished her season by defeating Dementieva in straight sets. Clijsters ended the year ranked World No. 2.
tournament in Sydney, citing a left hip muscle strain.
At the Australian Open, Clijsters defeated former champion Martina Hingis
in the quarterfinals, 6–3, 2–6, 6–4, before retiring from her semifinal match with Amélie Mauresmo
. Despite the loss, the ranking points she accumulated were enough to regain the world no. 1 ranking, a position she last held on 9 November 2003. She was the first tennis player, male or female, to rise from outside the top 100 (world no. 134) to world no. 1 in less than a year. Clijsters' loss to Mauresmo in the Australian Open semifinal was due to an ankle injury. Although she had been expected to miss at least eight weeks to recover, Clijsters returned two weeks later at the Proximus Diamond Games
in Antwerp. She lost the final of that tournament to Mauresmo in three sets.
Clijsters won her first title of the year at a clay court event in Warsaw, defeating Svetlana Kuznetsova
in the final. At the French Open in May, Clijsters reached the semifinals without losing a set, defeating Martina Hingis
in the quarterfinals, 7–6, 6–1. However, she lost to Justine Henin in the semifinal, 3-6, 2-6, on her 23rd birthday. She was seeded second going into Wimbledon
, but was again eliminated in the semifinal by Henin, also in straight sets, 4-6, 6-7(4).
Clijsters collected her second title of the year as the top seed in Stanford
, defeating Patty Schnyder
in the final. Clijsters then reached the final in San Diego, falling to second-seeded Maria Sharapova
in straight sets. This was her first loss to Sharapova in five career meetings.
On 16 August, after receiving a first-round bye at the Tier I Rogers Cup in Montreal
, Clijsters faced Canadian Stéphanie Dubois
in the second round. Having won the first set 6–1 and trailing 2–3 in the second set, Clijsters slipped and fell on her left wrist and was forced to retire from the match. On 18 August 2006, Clijsters announced on her official website that the condition of her wrist was worse than she had expected and that she would be unable to defend her title at the US Open. She also missed the Fed Cup
final against Italy
, which Italy won 3–2.
Playing in Paris at the Gaz de France Stars
tournament, her first event in more than two months, Clijsters successfully defended her title by beating qualifier Kaia Kanepi
in the final. At the year-end WTA Tour Championships
, Clijsters lost a semifinal to Mauresmo, 2-6, 6-3, 3-6, after defeating Dementieva and Kuznetsova and losing to Sharapova in the round-robin phase of the tournament.
, Patty Schnyder
, and top-ranked Maria Sharapova. Clijsters then won the Medibank International in Sydney, defeating Nicole Pratt
, Shahar Pe'er
, Li Na
, and Jelena Janković
to claim the title, after being match point down in the final.
At the Australian Open
, Clijsters was the fourth seed. The Belgian started by giving a double bagel to Vasilisa Bardina
, before going on to defeat Akiko Morigami
, Alona Bondarenko, and Daniela Hantuchová
in straight sets. Clijsters then defeated sixth seed Martina Hingis
in three sets, before losing to Sharapova in the semifinals.
Clijsters next played in Belgium at the Proximus Diamond Games
, after pulling out of the Open Gaz de France
with a hip injury. While Clijsters said that she was fit, she hinted that she might miss the French Open. Clijsters defeated Olga Poutchkova
, Ana Ivanović
, and Tatiana Golovin
to reach the final without dropping a set, though she lost there to Amélie Mauresmo
.
After this event, Clijsters confirmed that she would miss the French Open and US Open, making Wimbledon her last Grand Slam event. The Belgian also added that her last two tournaments would be in Luxembourg and at the WTA Tour Championships
in Stuttgart.
At the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida
, Clijsters lost in the fourth round to Li Na
in three sets, after beating Akiko Morigami
and Samantha Stosur
. A month later in her first clay tournament of the year in Warsaw, Clijsters failed to defend her title, when she lost to Julia Vakulenko
6-7(3), 3-6.
On 6 May 2007, citing injuries, Clijsters announced on her official website that she was cutting short her season and bringing forward her plans to retire from professional tennis. Clijsters decided to retire immediately from the sport.
, Steffi Graf
, and Andre Agassi
, would play an exhibition event on Wimbledon's
Centre Court
in May, in order to test the new roof.
While preparing for the exhibition at Wimbledon, Clijsters called a press conference on 26 March, and then announced that she was returning to professional tennis. She said that she had been inspired when preparing for the Wimbledon roof event during January 2009. Clijsters stated that she had asked for wildcards for the Cincinnati and Toronto tournaments. Additionally, Clijsters had also asked for a wildcard at the US Open, after which she planned to evaluate the comeback in terms of success and the feasibility of combining it with her family life. Clijsters also stated that she preferred to think of it as a "second career" instead of a comeback, because so many factors (marriage, a baby, the recent death of her father) were different from her first career.
At the Wimbledon exhibition, Clijsters and Henman won 7–6 in a tiebreak against Graf and Agassi. Clijsters also played a singles rubber against Graf, winning 6–4. Clijsters said at the event that she had been practicing for a month and had started to feel good again at the start of February. In July, she won both of her doubles matches with the St. Louis Aces
of World Team Tennis
.
Clijsters started her second career at the Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open
in Cincinnati, following the acceptance of her wildcard. She defeated world no. 13 Marion Bartoli
in the first round, 6–4, 6–3. In her next two matches, she defeated world no. 20 Patty Schnyder
, 6–2, 7–5, and world no. 6 and reigning French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova
, 6–4, 4–6, 6–2. In the quarterfinals, she lost to world no. 1 Dinara Safina
, 2-6, 5-7.
Following Cincinnati, Clijsters played at the Rogers Cup
in Toronto on another wildcard. She defeated British qualifier Elena Baltacha
in the first round. In the second round, she defeated world no. 9 Victoria Azarenka
, 7–5, 4–6, 6–1, but lost to world no. 4 Jelena Janković
in the third round, 6-1, 3-6, 5-7, after serving for the match at 5–3.
She then received a wildcard to play in the main draw of the US Open
. She won her first-round match over Viktoriya Kutuzova
, 6–1, 6–1. She won her second round match, defeating world no. 14 Marion Bartoli
for the second time in three weeks, 5–7, 6–1, 6–2. She then defeated compatriot Kirsten Flipkens
, 6–0, 6–2, in the third round. She went on to upset world no. 3 Venus Williams in the fourth round, 6–0, 0–6, 6–4. This was only Clijsters' 11th competitive match since coming out of retirement. Clijsters beat 18th seed Li Na
in straight sets, 6–2, 6–4, to reach the semifinals, where she faced defending champion and world no. 2 Serena Williams
, winning 6–4, 7–5 after Williams was given a point penalty on match point after a dispute with an official over a foot-fault call. Clijsters became the first unseeded finalist at the US Open since Venus Williams in 1997, and the first wildcard
to ever reach the US Open final. With her victory over Serena, Clijsters became the only player to have beaten both Williams sisters in the same tournament twice. In the final, she defeated ninth seed Caroline Wozniacki
, 7–5, 6–3, to win her second US Open title.
Her US Open victory placed her in the top 20 in the world rankings. She also became the first wildcard champion in US Open history and the first mother to win a Grand Slam title in the Open era since Evonne Goolagong Cawley won Wimbledon in 1980.
Clijsters is popularly known as one of the "comeback queens" of tennis.
Clijsters then received a wildcard to play at the 2009 BGL Luxembourg Open
in Luxembourg as the second seed. She eased through her opening match, 6–2, 6–2, against Meghann Shaughnessy
, but fell to Patty Schnyder
in a close second-round encounter, 4–6, 6–3, 6–7.
Playing an exhibition match in Antwerp, Belgium on 10 December, Clijsters defeated Venus Williams 6–1, 7–5. She finished the year ranked no. 18.
In March 2010, Clijsters won her first Laureus World Sports Award, for her remarkable 2009 US Open
comeback. She also won the WTA Comeback Player of the Year and the Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award for the seventh time.
in Australia as the top seed. She defeated Tathiana Garbin
and Alicia Molik
in the first two rounds, without dropping a set. She then defeated Lucie Šafářová
in three sets to advance to the semifinals, where she defeated Andrea Petkovic
to set up a final with her compatriot Justine Henin. Clijsters led 6–3, 4–1, before Henin won eight consecutive games to take the second set and lead 3–0 in the final set. Clijsters trailed 5–3, saved two match points before breaking back and forcing a final set tie break. During the tiebreak, Clijsters struck a backhand that appeared to land inside the line, sealing the championship. She raised her hands in the air in celebration, before the call was overruled by the umpire, who claimed the ball was out. Despite being rattled by the call, Clijsters was unfazed and remained focused, going on to win the match, 6–3, 4–6, 7–6(6).
Clijsters' next tournament was the 2010 Australian Open
, the first Grand Slam of the season where she was seeded 15th. Clijsters advanced to the third round with straight-sets wins over Valérie Tétreault
and Tamarine Tanasugarn
. In the third round, Clijsters lost to world no. 20 Nadia Petrova
, winning just one game in the worst defeat of her career.
Clijsters did not play competitively again until March at the 2010 BNP Paribas Open
in Indian Wells. She was seeded 14th, but fell to 23rd seed Alisa Kleybanova
in the third round, losing a final-set tiebreak. Clijsters found form at the 2010 Sony Ericsson Open
, as she went on to win the title. As the 14th seed, she only dropped three games while defeating Petra Kvitová
and Shahar Pe'er
. Clijsters then defeated the defending champion Victoria Azarenka
, losing just four games. Next she defeated world no. 10 Samantha Stosur in the quarterfinals and Justine Henin in a final set tiebreak to reach the final. Clijsters went on to beat Venus Williams
in straight sets in the final, ending the American's 15-match unbeaten streak. As a result of winning the title for the second time, Clijsters' ranking rose to world no. 10.
Playing her first clay tennis match in three years at the Andalucia Tennis Experience
as the third seed, Clijsters advanced to the second round after beating Alexandra Dulgheru
in three sets. However in the second round, Clijsters lost to the world no. 258 Beatriz García Vidagany
. Clijsters played in Belgium's Fed Cup tie against Estonia, easily defeating Maret Ani
, 6–4, 6–2, in her opening singles match. However, it was discovered that she had torn a muscle in her left foot, causing her to pull out of her next match against Kaia Kanepi
. Doctors ruled her out for six weeks, but Clijsters hoped to make an early recovery. She later announced in a press conference that she would have to withdraw from the rest of the clay-court season, including the 2010 French Open
.
Clijsters returned to action at the start of the grass-court season in Eastbourne as part of her Wimbledon warm-up, where she was victorious in 2005. Clijsters, as the fifth seed, defeated compatriot Yanina Wickmayer
and Šafářova to reach the quarterfinals, losing just three games, before losing in straight sets to Victoria Azarenka
. Despite this loss, Clijsters’ ranking rose to world no. 8, and she was seeded 8th at her first Wimbledon Championships since 2006. She started well, with a straight-sets wins over Maria Elena Camerin
, Karolina Šprem
, and Maria Kirilenko
to set up a fourth round clash with 17th seed Justine Henin. Clijsters came back from a set down to beat Henin, 2–6, 6–2, 6–3. Clijsters lost in the quarterfinals to 21st seed and eventual finalist Vera Zvonareva
in three sets.
In between Wimbledon and the US hard-court season, Clijsters participated in the record-breaking Best of Belgium, an exhibition extravaganza. Clijsters defeated Serena Williams in straight sets, improving her head-to-head record since her comeback against the Williams sisters to 5–1 (3–1 against Venus who won against Clijsters at the Billie Jean Cup 2010, 2–0 against Serena).
Clijsters played her next event at the 2010 Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open in Cincinnati, where she had made her comeback the previous year. This was her first event of the 2010 US Open Series
. After a first-round bye, Clijsters, as the 4th seed, defeated former world no.1 Dinara Safina
, Christina McHale
, and Flavia Pennetta
in straight sets to reach the semifinals. In the semifinals, Clijsters was leading 2–1 when her opponent, Ana Ivanović
, had to retire due to a foot injury. In the final, Clijsters faced 10th seed Maria Sharapova and after losing the first set, Clijsters found herself down 3-5 in the second set. She managed to save three match points on her own serve, before rain interrupted play. Clijsters came back to take the second set into a tie-break, and despite being down 0–3, she came back to win the tie-break and then claim a 2–6, 7–6(4), 6–2 victory. This win propelled her ranking to world no. 4 with her 38th singles title of her career.
Clijsters played her final event of the US Open Series in Montreal at the 2010 Rogers Cup
, where she was seeded 5th. After coming back from 4-6, 1-4 down in the opening round to defeat Bethanie Mattek-Sands,
Clijsters reached the quarterfinals, before losing to Vera Zvonareva in three sets.
Clijsters then competed in the 2010 US Open
, where she was second seed. Clijsters advanced to the quarterfinals without dropping a set, defeating Gréta Arn
, Sally Peers
, Petra Kvitová
, and Ana Ivanović
. There Clijsters came from a break down in the third set to defeat 5th seed Samantha Stosur, 6–3 in the final set to advance to the semifinals. In the semifinals, Clijsters faced Venus Williams, winning the match in the final set to extend her US Open match winning streak to 20, second only to Chris Evert
's 31-match winning streak from 1975–1979 and tying with Venus and Monica Seles
. In the final, Clijsters faced seventh seed Vera Zvonareva
in a rematch of their Wimbledon quarterfinal meeting. Clijsters won, only dropping three games, to defend her US Open title, winning it for the third time and her second as a mother. The win also extended her US Open winning streak to 21 matches and was her 27th victory of her last 28 matches at the tournament, the only loss came from compatriot and rival Justine Henin in the '03 final
. By winning US$2.2 million, she equalled her own 2005 record of the largest payday in women's sports history. Injury then kept Clijsters out until the WTA Championships.
At the year-end championship, Clijsters advanced to the final, after defeating Janković and Azerenka to qualify for the semifinals. Clijsters lost her final group game to Zvonareva. In the semifinals, Clijsters beat Stosur in straight sets, after surviving a car crash. In the championship match, Clijsters faced world no. 1 Caroline Wozniacki in a rematch of the 2009 US Open final. Clijsters finished the year at world no. 3, after defeating the Dane in three sets to clinch her third WTA Championship and fifth title of the year.
Clijsters final match of 2010 was a repeat of what the Best of Belgium should have been, a match against Justine Henin. The match took place at the Diamond Games in front of a Belgian crowd. Clijsters came out the winner, winning the match tie-breaker 10–5.
For her performance during the season, Clijsters received the WTA Player of the Year award for the second time (first one in 2005), the first player ever to win this award in the year following the win of the Comeback Player of the Year.
in two sets, 6–1, 6–2. She then defeated Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová, Victoria Azarenka
, and Alisa Kleybanova
to advanced to the final, where she was defeated by world no. 11 Li Na
, 6-7(3), 3-6, despite leading 5–0 in the first set.
Clijsters started her strong campaign at the 2011 Australian Open
as the tournament favorite with an emphatic 6–0, 6–0 victory over former world no. 1 Dinara Safina
in the first round. This was the first time in tennis' open era that a former world no. 1 player received a double bagel loss in a Grand Slam tournament. Clijsters then defeated Carla Suárez Navarro
, 6–1, 6–3, and Alizé Cornet
, 7–6(3), 6–3, before winning a fourth-round match against Russia's Ekaterina Makarova
, 7–6(3), 6–2. In the quarterfinals, Clijsters continued her progress without dropping a set by beating the twelfth seed Agnieszka Radwańska
, 6–3, 7–6(4). She defeated world no. 2 Vera Zvonareva, 6–3, 6–3, guaranteeing her accession to world no. 2, her highest ranking since her return to the tour. Clijsters won the 2011 Australian Open singles by beating Li Na, 3–6, 6–3, 6–3. It was her first major win outside the US and her fourth overall. Clearly emotional, Clijsters declared that she finally had earned the title "Aussie Kim."
Clijsters next traveled to play at the indoor tournament in Paris
. After defeating Jelena Dokić
in the quarterfinals, Clijsters returned to the top of the WTA rankings for the first time in almost five years, overtaking Caroline Wozniacki. Clijsters eventually progressed to the final of the competition, but was beaten by third seed Petra Kvitová
in straight sets, 4-6, 3-6.
Up next for Clijsters was the Indian Wells Masters
in California, where she was seeded second. After receiving a bye in the first round, she faced Alla Kudryavtseva
of Russia and defeated her, 6–2, 6–0. In the third round, she beat the Italian Sara Errani
in three sets, 6–3, 2–6, 6–4. Clijsters had to retire in her next match against Marion Bartoli
at 6–3, 1–3 with a shoulder injury.
Clijsters was the defending champion in Miami
and the second seed. After defeating Anastasiya Yakimova
, 6–1, 6–2, and María José Martínez Sánchez
, 6–4, 4–6, 6–3, in the second and third round, respectively, she came back from 1–5 0–40 in the final set against Ana Ivanović
in the fourth round, winning the match, 7–6(4), 3–6, 7–6(5). She eventually lost in the quarterfinals to Victoria Azarenka
in straight sets, 3-6, 3-6.
On 21 April 2011, Clijsters was elected number 16 on the Time Top 100 list of most influential people, the first sports person on the 2011 listing. Her sportsmanship, involvement in charity, success as a mother combined with her anti-diva no-nonsense attitude led to her election.
Clijsters suffered an ankle injury while dancing at a wedding and missed most of the clay-court season before the 2011 French Open
. Clijsters was the second seed in the Roland Garros draw. She was defeated by Arantxa Rus
in the second round, 6-3, 5-7, 1-6, after leading 6–3, 5–2 and having two match points. Clijsters suffered a further ankle injury in the UNICEF Open
, which forced her to withdraw from Wimbledon
.
Clijsters returned to the tour at the 2011 Rogers Cup
. She received a bye into the second round, where she played qualifier Zheng Jie
. She won the first set 6–3, but retired three games into the second due to an abdominal injury. The injury caused her to pull out of the 2011 Western & Southern Open
, and then the 2011 US Open
, where she was the two-time defending champion.
She announced on her blog that she was dropping the rest of the season to fully recover in order to get ready for 2012, the year of the Olympic Games, and that she may come back in December 2011 in Antwerp for the Diamond Games
.
first played each other in 2002. Clijsters leads the series 7–3.
Prior to her first retirement in 2007, Clijsters won all five of her matches with Zvonareva. The women met again during the 2010 season, when Zvonareva won three of their four matches—the lone exception being the US Open final. Zvonareva's first victory against Clijsters came at the 2010 Wimbledon Championships. Their only match of 2011 was won by Clijsters at the Australian Open.
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2009
2010
2011
Belgians
Belgians are people originating from the Kingdom of Belgium, a federal state in Western Europe.-Etymology:Belgians are a relatively "new" people...
professional tennis player. As of 7 November 2011, Clijsters is ranked No. 13 in singles. Clijsters is a former World No. 1 in both singles and doubles.
Clijsters has won 41 WTA
Women's Tennis Association
The Women's Tennis Association , founded in 1973 by Billie Jean King, is the principal organizing body of Women's Professional Tennis. It governs the WTA Tour which is the worldwide professional tennis tour for women. Its counterpart organization in the men's professional game is the Association of...
singles titles and 11 WTA doubles titles. She has won four Grand Slam singles titles: three at the US Open, in 2005, 2009 and 2010 and one at the Australian Open in 2011. She has also been runner-up in four Grand Slam singles tournaments, and won the WTA Tour Championships
WTA Tour Championships
The WTA Tour Championships is a tennis tournament played annually at the end of the season for the top-ranked players on the Women's Tennis Association tour. The month, city and number of players has changed since the first edition in 1972...
singles title in 2002, 2003 and 2010. In doubles, she won the French Open and Wimbledon
The Championships, Wimbledon
The Championships, Wimbledon, or simply Wimbledon , is the oldest tennis tournament in the world, considered by many to be the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London since 1877. It is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, the other three Majors...
titles in 2003. Clijsters announced her retirement with immediate effect on 6 May 2007, but almost two years later, on 26 March 2009, she publicly declared her intent to return to the WTA tour for the 2009 summer hard court season. In only her third tournament back, she won her second US Open title, becoming the first unseeded player and wildcard to win the tournament, and the first mother to win a major since Evonne Goolagong
Evonne Goolagong
Evonne Fay Goolagong Cawley, AO, MBE is a former World No. 1 Australian female tennis player. She was one of the world's leading players in the 1970s and early 1980s, when she won 14 Grand Slam titles: seven in singles , six in women's doubles, and one in mixed doubles.-Early life:Goolagong is the...
in 1980.
In June 2011, TIME
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine named her one of the "30 Legends of Women's Tennis: Past, Present and Future".
According to Forbes in August 2011, she became the fifth highest-paid female athlete over the past year.
Playing style
Clijsters is recognized for her deep, powerful, well-placed groundstrokes. She can hit outright winners off both wings and from any part of the court. Her forehand is one of the best and most powerful the women's game has ever seen, yet occasionally erratic and prone to unforced errors; her backhand is more reliable and consistent, and can be hit with heavy slice as a defensive shot. Clijsters is also recognised for her all-court defence, characterized by speed and athleticism. Clijsters, along with Jelena JankovićJelena Janković
Jelena Janković is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player from Serbia. She reached the final of the 2008 US Open and won the 2007 Wimbledon Mixed Doubles title. Janković is ranked world no...
and Svetlana Kuznetsova
Svetlana Kuznetsova
Svetlana Aleksandrovna Kuznetsova ; born June 27, 1985) is a Russian professional tennis player and as of October 10, 2011 ranked No. 21 in the WTA singles and No. 90 in the doubles ranking. Kuznetsova has appeared in four singles Grand Slam finals, winning two, and has also appeared in six doubles...
, is among the few tennis players on either the Association of Tennis Professionals
Association of Tennis Professionals
The Association of Tennis Professionals or ATP was formed in 1972 by Donald Dell, Jack Kramer, and Cliff Drysdale to protect the interests of male professional tennis players. Since 1990, the association has organized the worldwide tennis tour for men and linked the title of the tour with the...
or Women's Tennis Association
Women's Tennis Association
The Women's Tennis Association , founded in 1973 by Billie Jean King, is the principal organizing body of Women's Professional Tennis. It governs the WTA Tour which is the worldwide professional tennis tour for women. Its counterpart organization in the men's professional game is the Association of...
tours who can slide (or "straddle") on all surfaces. Maria Sharapova
Maria Sharapova
Maria Yuryevna Sharapova ,. is a Russian professional tennis player and a former world no. 1. A US resident since 1994, Sharapova has won 24 WTA singles titles, including three Grand Slam singles titles at the 2004 Wimbledon, 2006 US Open and 2008 Australian Open...
, interviewed after losing to Clijsters in the 2005 Nasdaq-100 Open
2005 Miami Masters
The 2005 Miami Masters was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 21st edition of the this tournament, and was part of the ATP Masters Series of the 2005 ATP Tour, and of the Tier I Series of the 2005 WTA Tour...
, said, "You just have to expect that she's going to get every ball back". Her first serve, while not overwhelming, is placed well and earns aces and unreturnables. Clijsters tends to rush between first and second serves, which may contribute to her occasional matches with high numbers of double faults. A former World No. 1 player in doubles, Clijsters has exceptional volleys; she has no problem switching from baseline to finishing points at the net with a volley or over-head. Her mental fragility was considered her biggest weakness, and at the earlier stages of her career she was considered a "choker", often surrendering big leads in the latter rounds of Grand Slams. Since winning the 2005 US Open, Clijsters has gained more control over her nerves and since her return to the tour in 2009 she has been known, along with Serena Williams
Serena Williams
Serena Jameka Williams is an American professional tennis player and a former world no. 1. The Women's Tennis Association has ranked her world no. 1 in singles on five separate occasions. She became the world no. 1 for the first time on July 8, 2002 and regained this ranking for the fifth time on...
and Maria Sharapova
Maria Sharapova
Maria Yuryevna Sharapova ,. is a Russian professional tennis player and a former world no. 1. A US resident since 1994, Sharapova has won 24 WTA singles titles, including three Grand Slam singles titles at the 2004 Wimbledon, 2006 US Open and 2008 Australian Open...
, as among the toughest players to beat mentally. She is now seen as capable of rising to the occasion and playing her best tennis at the important stages of matches. Clijsters is also considered to be one of the most popular players on the tour, known for her grace on the court and even temper. She has been voted the WTA Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award by her fellow players seven times and the WTA Player Service Award three times.
Personal life
Clijsters was born on 8 June 1983, in BilzenBilzen
Bilzen is a Belgian city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg near Hasselt. On January 1, 2006, Bilzen had a total population of 30,057...
, Limburg
Limburg (Belgium)
Limburg is the easternmost province of modern Flanders, which is one of the three main political and cultural sub-divisions of modern Belgium. It is located west of the river Meuse . It borders on the Dutch provinces of North Brabant and Limburg and the Belgian provinces of Liège, Flemish Brabant...
, in the Flemish Region
Flemish Region
The Flemish Region is one of the three official regions of the Kingdom of Belgium—alongside the Walloon Region and the Brussels-Capital Region. Colloquially, it is usually simply referred to as Flanders, of which it is the institutional iteration within the context of the Belgian political system...
of Belgium. She is the daughter of Lei Clijsters
Lei Clijsters
Leo Albert Jozef "Lei" Clijsters was a Belgian professional footballer, who played as a central defender.Throughout his extensive senior career, the tough stopper was mainly associated with KV Mechelen, with whom he won the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and the UEFA Super Cup...
, a former international footballer, and Els Vandecaetsbeek, a former national gymnastics champion. Lei Clijsters died of skin cancer
Skin cancer
Skin neoplasms are skin growths with differing causes and varying degrees of malignancy. The three most common malignant skin cancers are basal cell cancer, squamous cell cancer, and melanoma, each of which is named after the type of skin cell from which it arises...
on 4 January 2009. Clijsters says that she inherited footballer's legs from her father and a gymnast's flexibility from her mother. Kim's younger sister Elke
Elke Clijsters
Elke Clijsters is a former professional female tennis player from Belgium.Born in Bilzen, Bree, the daughter of Belgian football player Leo Clijsters and sister of former World No. 1 Kim Clijsters . She won the girls' U.S. Open doubles title in 2002 and reached a highest ranking of 389 on 15...
finished 2002 as the ITF
International Tennis Federation
The International Tennis Federation is the governing body of world tennis, made up of 205 national tennis associations.It was established as the International Lawn Tennis Federation by 12 national associations meeting at a conference in Paris, France on 1 March 1913...
World Junior Doubles champion and retired in 2004 after back injuries.
In December 2003, Clijsters announced her engagement to Australian Lleyton Hewitt
Lleyton Hewitt
Lleyton Glynn Hewitt born 24 February 1981) is an Australian professional tennis player and former world no. 1.In 2000, Hewitt had won ATP titles on all three major surfaces and reached one final on carpet. By 2001, he became the youngest male ever to be ranked no. 1 at the age of 20...
, but their relationship ended in October 2004. Clijsters is still affectionately nicknamed "Aussie Kim" by Australians. In October 2006, Clijsters announced her engagement to American basketball player Brian Lynch
Brian Lynch (basketball)
Brian Robert Lynch is a retired American professional basketball player. Lynch was born in Point Pleasant, New Jersey, lived in Belmar, New Jersey and went to high school at Christian Brothers Academy. He played college basketball at Villanova University. After graduating from Villanova in 2000,...
, who is based in Clijsters' hometown of Bree
Bree, Belgium
Bree is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg. On January 1, 2006 Bree had a total population of 14,503. The total area is 64.96 km² which gives it a population density of 223 inhabitants per square km...
. In an interview with Sportweekend (a sports programme on Belgian Flemish television), Clijsters said that she was retiring to start a family. Clijsters and Lynch married privately on 13 July 2007, at 6 am at the Bree city hall. She was married by the mayor, with sister Elke, Lynch's brother Pat Lynch, and both sets of parents present.
Clijsters gave birth to a daughter on 27 February 2008, at 1:35 pm at the Vesalius hospital in Tongeren, Belgium.
Junior career
Clijsters was an accomplished junior player. In singles, she finished as runner-up in the 1998 Wimbledon1998 Wimbledon Championships
The 1998 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on :grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon in London in England...
junior event, finishing 11th in the year-end singles ranking. In the same year in doubles, Clijsters won the French Open
1998 French Open
List of the 1998 French Open champions:-Men's singles: Carlos Moyá def. Àlex Corretja, 6–3, 7–5, 6–3*It was Moyá's 2nd title of the year, and his 5th overall. It was his 1st career Grand Slam title.-Women's singles:...
title with Jelena Dokić
Jelena Dokic
Jelena Dokić is an Australian female professional tennis player.During the height of her career, she played for Serbia and Montenegro and reached a career-high ranking of World No. 4 on 19 August 2002. After several family-related difficulties , she slowly slipped down the rankings in 2006...
, defeating Elena Dementieva
Elena Dementieva
Elena Viatcheslavovna Dementieva is a retired Russian professional tennis player. Dementieva is most notable for winning the singles gold medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. She won 16 WTA singles titles and reached the finals of the 2004 French Open and 2004 US Open. Dementieva achieved a...
and Nadia Petrova
Nadia Petrova
Nadezhda Viktorovna Petrova is a Russian professional tennis player.Overall, she has won 28 WTA Titles, ten in singles and eighteen in doubles. In singles, Petrova has reached a career high ranking of World No. 3 in May 2006 and has reached the semi-finals of the French Open in 2003 and 2005...
in the final, as well as the US Open with Eva Dyrberg
Eva Dyrberg
Eva Dyrberg is a Danish tennis player. As a junior player, she won 1998 Wimbledon Championships with Jelena Kostanić and 1998 US Open with Kim Clijsters. In 1998, Dyrberg was also ranked World No. 1 in junior doubles and was named ITF Junior Girls Doubles World Champion...
, defeating former partner Dokic in the final. Clijsters ended the season as no. 4 in the International Tennis Federation
International Tennis Federation
The International Tennis Federation is the governing body of world tennis, made up of 205 national tennis associations.It was established as the International Lawn Tennis Federation by 12 national associations meeting at a conference in Paris, France on 1 March 1913...
junior doubles world ranking.
1999
In 1999, Clijsters made her breakthrough professionally. At her first WTA tournament in Antwerp, she qualified and lost to the eventual finalist Sarah Pitkowski-MalcorSarah Pitkowski-Malcor
Sarah Pitkowski-Malcor is a former professional female tennis player from France. Her career high singles ranking is World No. 29, which she achieved on 1 November 1999....
in the quarterfinal, after failing to convert a match point.
Playing through the qualifying rounds at Roehampton
Roehampton
Roehampton is a district in south-west London, forming the western end of the London Borough of Wandsworth. It lies between the town of Barnes to the north, Putney to the east and Wimbledon Common to the south. The Richmond Park golf courses are west of the neighbourhood, and just south of these is...
, she made it to the main draw of Wimbledon
The Championships, Wimbledon
The Championships, Wimbledon, or simply Wimbledon , is the oldest tennis tournament in the world, considered by many to be the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London since 1877. It is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, the other three Majors...
. Clijsters won six matches in a row, while only losing 25 games. She defeated no. 10 Amanda Coetzer
Amanda Coetzer
Amanda Coetzer is a former professional tennis player from South Africa.Coetzer turned professional in 1988 and retired in 2004...
en route to the fourth round, during which Clijsters lost to her childhood idol, Steffi Graf
Steffi Graf
Steffi Graf is a former World No. 1 German tennis player.In total, Graf won 22 Grand Slam singles titles, second among male and female players only to Margaret Court's 24...
, in straight sets, in difficult rainy circumstances. Later that summer, Clijsters reached the third round of the US Open, losing to eventual champion Serena Williams
Serena Williams
Serena Jameka Williams is an American professional tennis player and a former world no. 1. The Women's Tennis Association has ranked her world no. 1 in singles on five separate occasions. She became the world no. 1 for the first time on July 8, 2002 and regained this ranking for the fifth time on...
after serving for the match. In the autumn, Clijsters won her first Women's Tennis Association
Women's Tennis Association
The Women's Tennis Association , founded in 1973 by Billie Jean King, is the principal organizing body of Women's Professional Tennis. It governs the WTA Tour which is the worldwide professional tennis tour for women. Its counterpart organization in the men's professional game is the Association of...
(WTA) singles title in Luxembourg
Fortis Championships Luxembourg
The BGL Luxembourg Open is a tennis tournament held in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg. Held since 1991, the tournament was an exhibition event until 1995. After that, it became a WTA Tier III tournament, which it remained until 2004. In 2005, it was promoted to Tier II, marking the first such...
. She followed up with her first WTA doubles title in Bratislava
Bratislava
Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia and, with a population of about 431,000, also the country's largest city. Bratislava is in southwestern Slovakia on both banks of the Danube River. Bordering Austria and Hungary, it is the only national capital that borders two independent countries.Bratislava...
, partnering Laurence Courtois
Laurence Courtois
Laurence Courtois is a former professional female tennis player from Belgium.Courtois won four doubles titles on the WTA Tour during her career.-Singles 2:-Doubles 9 :-References:*...
. At the end of the year, she was granted the WTA Most Impressive Newcomer award, the only Belgian player to have received this trophy.
2000–2002
Clijsters climbed up the rankings over the next couple of years. In 2001, she reached her first Tier I final at the tournament in Indian Wells, CaliforniaIndian Wells Masters
The Indian Wells Masters is an annual tennis tournament held in Indian Wells, California....
, losing to Serena Williams
Serena Williams
Serena Jameka Williams is an American professional tennis player and a former world no. 1. The Women's Tennis Association has ranked her world no. 1 in singles on five separate occasions. She became the world no. 1 for the first time on July 8, 2002 and regained this ranking for the fifth time on...
in a match overshadowed by controversy
Boycott of BNP Paribas Open by Venus and Serena Williams
During the 2001 Tennis Masters Series tournament in Indian Wells, California, controversy erupted when Venus Williams withdrew four minutes prior to her semifinal match with her sister Serena. Serena was subsequently booed during the championship match against Kim Clijsters and during the trophy...
. Clijsters also reached her first Grand Slam
Grand Slam (tennis)
The four Major tennis tournaments, also called the Slams, are the most important tennis events of the year in terms of world tour ranking points, tradition, prize-money awarded, strength and size of player field, and public attention. They are the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and...
final at the French Open, where she lost to Jennifer Capriati
Jennifer Capriati
Jennifer Marie Capriati is a former world number one ranked professional tennis player, and the winner of three women's singles championships in Grand Slam tournaments. Capriati made her professional debut in 1990 at the age of 14 when she reached the finals of the hard court tournament in Boca...
, 10-12, in the third set. This two-hour, 21-minute match featured the longest third set in a French Open women's final. Clijsters was four times within two points of winning, before Capriati prevailed. Her next important breakthrough came at the end of 2002, when she won the year-end Home Depot Championships
2002 WTA Tour Championships
The 2002 Home Depot Championships were held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, United States between November 6 and November 11, 2002.-Singles: Kim Clijsters def. Serena Williams, 7–5, 6–3-Doubles:...
in Los Angeles, defeating top ranked Serena Williams
Serena Williams
Serena Jameka Williams is an American professional tennis player and a former world no. 1. The Women's Tennis Association has ranked her world no. 1 in singles on five separate occasions. She became the world no. 1 for the first time on July 8, 2002 and regained this ranking for the fifth time on...
in the final. This was only the fifth defeat of the year for Williams and snapped her 18-match winning streak. On her way to the final, Clijsters defeated fourth-ranked Justine Henin and second-ranked Venus Williams
Venus Williams
Venus Ebony Starr Williams is an American professional tennis player who is a former World No. 1 and is ranked World No. 101 as of 10 October 2011 in singles and World No. 20 in doubles as of 2011. She has been ranked World No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association on three separate...
, becoming just the fourth player to beat both of the Williams sisters in the same event. She also equaled the event's record for the fewest games dropped.
2003
Clijsters started her season at the Adidas International, where she won her first tournament of the year, defeating Lindsay DavenportLindsay Davenport
Lindsay Ann Davenport is a former World No. 1 American professional tennis player. She has won three Grand Slam singles tournaments and an Olympic gold medal in singles. In 2005, TENNIS Magazine ranked her as the 29th-best player of the preceding forty years...
in straight sets in the final. Clijsters reached the final after defeating Patty Schnyder
Patty Schnyder
Patty Schnyder is a retired Swiss professional tennis player. She played on the WTA tour from 1993 to 2011 and is a former World No. 7. She defeated several World No...
, Chanda Rubin
Chanda Rubin
Chanda Rubin is an American tennis player. Winning seven WTA Tour singles titles, she reached her highest ranking World No. 6 on April 8, 1996, after reaching semifinals at the 1996 Australian Open. Rubin is also former World No...
and Justine Henin. At the Australian Open, Clijsters lost in the semifinal to Serena Williams
Serena Williams
Serena Jameka Williams is an American professional tennis player and a former world no. 1. The Women's Tennis Association has ranked her world no. 1 in singles on five separate occasions. She became the world no. 1 for the first time on July 8, 2002 and regained this ranking for the fifth time on...
4–6, 6–3, 7–5, after leading 5–1 in the final set and holding two match points. On the way to the semis Clijsters lost just fifteen games beating Samantha Reeves
Samantha Reeves
Samantha Reeves is an American tennis player.Reeves's best results in singles have been reaching the quarter-finals at Hawaii , Bahia and Quebec City .-External links:...
and completing a double bagel (wherein the opposing player fails to win a single game) against Petra Mandula
Petra Mandula
Petra Mandula is a Hungarian tennis player, who represented her native country at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. There she was eliminated in the first round by Amanda Coetzer of South Africa...
. She then continued by winning in straight sets against Tatiana Poutchek
Tatiana Poutchek
Tatiana Poutchek is a tennis player from Belarus. Her career high ranking is No. 55 in the world, achieved on July 22, 2002.Many of Poutchek's greatest career results have come in Tashkent reaching 1 singles final and 7 doubles finals winning 5. ....
, Amanda Coetzer
Amanda Coetzer
Amanda Coetzer is a former professional tennis player from South Africa.Coetzer turned professional in 1988 and retired in 2004...
, and Anastasia Myskina
Anastasia Myskina
Anastasiya Andreyevna Myskina is a professional tennis player from Russia. She won the 2004 French Open singles title, becoming the first Russian female tennis player to win a Grand Slam main draw singles title. Subsequent to this victory she rose to number 3 on the WTA ranking, becoming the first...
. At the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California
Indian Wells, California
Indian Wells is a city in Riverside County, California, in the Coachella Valley , in between Palm Desert and La Quinta. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 4,958....
, she defeated Lindsay Davenport
Lindsay Davenport
Lindsay Ann Davenport is a former World No. 1 American professional tennis player. She has won three Grand Slam singles tournaments and an Olympic gold medal in singles. In 2005, TENNIS Magazine ranked her as the 29th-best player of the preceding forty years...
in the final.
Clijsters reached the final of the WTA German Open, after defeating Jennifer Capriati
Jennifer Capriati
Jennifer Marie Capriati is a former world number one ranked professional tennis player, and the winner of three women's singles championships in Grand Slam tournaments. Capriati made her professional debut in 1990 at the age of 14 when she reached the finals of the hard court tournament in Boca...
6–4 in the final set. In the final, she played Justine Henin and squandered three match points to lose the final set, 5-7. To compound the day, Clijsters also lost the doubles final 4-6 in the final set.
Clijsters’ third title of the year came at the Telecom Italia Masters in Rome, where she defeated Amélie Mauresmo
Amélie Mauresmo
Amélie Simone Mauresmo ; is a French former professional tennis player, and a former World No. 1. Mauresmo won two Grand Slam singles titles at the Australian Open and at Wimbledon....
in the final. Clijsters had defeated Myskina and doubles partner Ai Sugiyama
Ai Sugiyama
is a retired Japanese professional tennis player. She reached No. 1 in women's doubles on the WTA Tour. Her career-high singles ranking was No. 8, achieved on February 9, 2004. She turned professional in 1992...
to make the final.
At the French Open, Clijsters reached the final for the second time in three years, after defeating Nadia Petrova
Nadia Petrova
Nadezhda Viktorovna Petrova is a Russian professional tennis player.Overall, she has won 28 WTA Titles, ten in singles and eighteen in doubles. In singles, Petrova has reached a career high ranking of World No. 3 in May 2006 and has reached the semi-finals of the French Open in 2003 and 2005...
. In the final, Clijsters lost to Henin 0-6, 4-6, and again at the US open, 5-7, 1-6.
She also lost in the semifinal at Wimbledon to Venus Williams
Venus Williams
Venus Ebony Starr Williams is an American professional tennis player who is a former World No. 1 and is ranked World No. 101 as of 10 October 2011 in singles and World No. 20 in doubles as of 2011. She has been ranked World No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association on three separate...
, after leading by a set and a break.
On 11 August 2003, Clijsters attained the world no. 1 ranking, holding the spot for 12 non-consecutive weeks during the remainder of the year, and was the first player to be top ranked by the WTA without first winning a Grand Slam singles title.
On 18 August 2003, Clijsters also attained the world no. 1 ranking in doubles, joining a very select group of only four players—Martina Navratilova, Arantxa Sánchez Vicario
Arantxa Sánchez Vicario
Aránzazu 'Arantxa' Isabel Maria Sánchez Vicario is a Spanish former professional tennis player...
, Martina Hingis
Martina Hingis
Martina Hingis is a retired Swiss professional tennis player who spent a total of 209 weeks as World No. 1. She won five Grand Slam singles titles...
, and Lindsay Davenport
Lindsay Davenport
Lindsay Ann Davenport is a former World No. 1 American professional tennis player. She has won three Grand Slam singles tournaments and an Olympic gold medal in singles. In 2005, TENNIS Magazine ranked her as the 29th-best player of the preceding forty years...
—having reached the world no. 1 ranking in singles and doubles simultaneously. By 2010, only Serena Williams
Serena Williams
Serena Jameka Williams is an American professional tennis player and a former world no. 1. The Women's Tennis Association has ranked her world no. 1 in singles on five separate occasions. She became the world no. 1 for the first time on July 8, 2002 and regained this ranking for the fifth time on...
had managed to join this group.
The world no. 1 ranking was again at stake in October during the final of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix
Porsche Tennis Grand Prix
The Porsche Tennis Grand Prix is a tennis tournament held in Stuttgart, Germany . Held since 1978, the tournament is the oldest women's indoor tournament in Europe. Currently it is a Tier II tournament on the WTA Tour. The singles champion also receives a Porsche 911 Carrera sports car in addition...
in Filderstadt
Filderstadt
Filderstadt is a town in the district of Esslingen in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. It is located approximately 13 km south of Stuttgart.Filderstadt is located next to the Stuttgart Airport and the new Trade Fair...
, Germany. Clijsters rallied from a set down to beat Henin. The match marked only the eighth time that the top two players battled for the top ranking. Even though Clijsters won that match, she finished the year ranked world no. 2, just behind Henin.
2004
Clijsters started 2004 by playing in the Hopman Cup. During the tie against Australia, Clijsters injured her ankle against Alicia MolikAlicia Molik
Alicia Molik is a Australian professional female tennis player. She reached a career high singles rank of number 8 and also won a bronze medal for Australia at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Molik also reached a career high doubles ranking of number 6, and won two grand slam doubles titles, at the...
. Clijsters was on crutches for a few days and feared she might need surgery. Clijsters pulled out of the Adidas International due to the injury. Clijsters did recover in time to reach her fourth career Grand Slam final at the Australian Open, where she lost once more to Henin. After defeating Marlene Weingärtner
Marlene Weingärtner
Marlene Weingärtner is a former German professional tennis player. Weingärtner retired in late 2005 after suffering several first round losses due to ongoing physical problems....
, Maria Elena Camerin
Maria Elena Camerin
Maria Elena Camerin is a professional female tennis player from Italy.On 11 October 2004, Camerin reached her career-high singles ranking: World No...
(with a double bagel), Dinara Safina
Dinara Safina
Dinara Mikhailovna Safina , born April 27, 1986 in Moscow, is a Russian professional tennis player of Tatar background. Safina's career high ranking is World No. 1....
, Silvia Farina Elia
Silvia Farina Elia
Silvia Farina Elia is a former female tennis player from Italy. She reached a career high of World No. 11 on 20 May 2002. She won her first ITF title at Caltagirone in 1991 and her first WTA tournament at Strasbourg in 2001...
, Anastasia Myskina
Anastasia Myskina
Anastasiya Andreyevna Myskina is a professional tennis player from Russia. She won the 2004 French Open singles title, becoming the first Russian female tennis player to win a Grand Slam main draw singles title. Subsequent to this victory she rose to number 3 on the WTA ranking, becoming the first...
(during the match Clijsters aggravated her ankle injury), and Patty Schnyder
Patty Schnyder
Patty Schnyder is a retired Swiss professional tennis player. She played on the WTA tour from 1993 to 2011 and is a former World No. 7. She defeated several World No...
to reach the final. Clijsters then won two consecutive titles in Paris
Open Gaz de France
Open GDF Suez, formerly Open Gaz de France, is a Premier level tennis tournament on the WTA Tour held in Paris, France. Held since 1993, the tournament is played on indoor hardcourts....
and Antwerp
Proximus Diamond Games
The Proximus Diamond Games was a professional tennis tournament held in Antwerp, Belgium. Held since 2002, the tournament takes place in the Sportpaleis, and was played at the beginning of February...
. In Paris, Clijsters defeated local favourite Mary Pierce
Mary Pierce
Mary Pierce is a French-American tennis professional playing on the Women's Tennis Association tour. She is a citizen of France, Canada, and the United States but plays for France in team competitions and the Olympics.Pierce has won four Grand Slam titles, two in singles and two in doubles...
in the final. To reach the final, Clijsters defeated Maria Sanchez Lorenzo
María Sánchez Lorenzo
María Antonia Sánchez Lorenzo is a retired Spanish professional tennis player.Her highest WTA ranking has been World No...
, Farina Elia, and Safina. While defending her Tier I title at the Pacific Life Open, Clijsters injured her wrist during her win against Angelika Roesch in her first match. Clijsters withdrew before her second match with the injury described as a bruised bone. Clijsters withdrew from the event in Miami the next week Clijsters then appeared six weeks later in her home town of Bree to play in a Fed Cup tie against Croatia, winning both of her rubbers. Clijsters returned to the tour in Berlin and needed three sets to see Marta Marrero
Marta Marrero
Marta Marrero Marrero is a former professional Spanish tennis player. She reached the quarterfinals of the French Open, won two WTA doubles titles, and also won a total of 12 ITF singles and doubles titles. Her highest singles rank on the WTA Tour was World Number 47, which she reached in 2004...
off. Clijsters then pulled out of her second match and then was told to rest for five weeks, causing her to miss the French Open. Clijsters then had surgery to remove a cyst, causing her to miss three months of the tour, including Wimbledon and the US Open. Clijsters also missed the Olympics, but she had already decided not to play the tournament after a dispute about clothing sponsors. Clijsters returned to the Tour at the Gaz de France Stars
Gaz de France Stars
Gaz de France Stars was a tennis tournament held in Hasselt, Belgium. Held from 2004 till 2006, this WTA Tour event was a Tier III-tournament and was played on indoor hardcourts.- Singles :- Doubles :- External links :*...
. She made the semifinals, defeating Iveta Benešová
Iveta Benešová
Iveta Benešová is a professional tennis player. She began playing tennis at age of 7 and turned professional in 1998 in Prague. She has won two WTA Tour events and one Grand Slam in mixed doubles partnering with Jürgen Melzer at the 2011 Wimbledon Championships.-2006–2008:In the 2006 Australian...
and Magdalena Maleeva
Magdalena Maleeva
Magdalena Maleeva is a Bulgarian former tennis player. She played on the WTA tour competing in singles and doubles, from April 1989 to June 2007. Her best position in the WTA Tour was no. 4 between January 29 to February 4, 1996....
, before pulling out in the second set against Elena Bovina
Elena Bovina
Elena Olegovna Bovina is a Russian professional female tennis player. On April 4, 2005 Bovina reached her career-high singles ranking: World No. 14....
. Clijsters had aggravated the injury and although she did not need surgery, she was out for the rest of the season. She played down fears that the injury might force her retirement from tennis.
2005
Clijsters missed the Australian Open due to injury. In February, after four months out, Clijsters returned to the tour by participating in the Proximus Diamond GamesProximus Diamond Games
The Proximus Diamond Games was a professional tennis tournament held in Antwerp, Belgium. Held since 2002, the tournament takes place in the Sportpaleis, and was played at the beginning of February...
in Antwerp. Her first match back was against Jelena Kostanić
Jelena Kostanic
Jelena Kostanić Tošić is a retired professional female tennis player from Croatia. On July 26, 2004 she reached her career-high singles ranking: World No. 32...
, which she won in straight sets, before losing to Venus Williams
Venus Williams
Venus Ebony Starr Williams is an American professional tennis player who is a former World No. 1 and is ranked World No. 101 as of 10 October 2011 in singles and World No. 20 in doubles as of 2011. She has been ranked World No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association on three separate...
in the quarterfinals.
Clijsters completed her comeback in March and April, when she won, as an unseeded player, 17 matches in a row to claim two Tier I titles and regain a top-20 ranking. At the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California
Indian Wells, California
Indian Wells is a city in Riverside County, California, in the Coachella Valley , in between Palm Desert and La Quinta. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 4,958....
, Clijsters was ranked world no. 133. The Belgian began by beating Nicole Pratt
Nicole Pratt
Nicole Pratt is a retired professional female tennis player from Australia.She is the middle sibling of five children of cane farmers and was taught to play by her father, George, who was a top junior player. She attended school in Calen and received a tennis scholarship to the Australian...
, Shinobu Asagoe
Shinobu Asagoe
Shinobu Asagoe is a Japanese former professional tennis player. She turned professional in 1997, and retired in 2006.-Career:2000 was the first year in which she finished in the WTA top 100 . In the US Open that year, she defeated Patty Schnyder, a top 50 player...
, Anna Chakvetadze
Anna Chakvetadze
Anna Djambulilovna Chakvetadze is a Russian professional tennis player . On September 10, 2007, she reached her career-high professional singles ranking of World No. 5. She has won eight WTA Singles Titles and appeared in the 2007 US Open semifinals. As of July 4, 2011, Chakvetadze is ranked World...
, and Evgenia Linetskaya
Evgenia Linetskaya
Evgenia Simonovna Linetskaya is a Russian-born Israeli 5' 9" right-handed professional tennis player.Through May 2009, her career high in singles was # 35 on July 4, 2005.-Early success:...
, all without dropping a set. In the semifinals, Clijsters defeated world no. 5 Elena Dementieva
Elena Dementieva
Elena Viatcheslavovna Dementieva is a retired Russian professional tennis player. Dementieva is most notable for winning the singles gold medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. She won 16 WTA singles titles and reached the finals of the 2004 French Open and 2004 US Open. Dementieva achieved a...
in straight sets and world no. 1 Lindsay Davenport
Lindsay Davenport
Lindsay Ann Davenport is a former World No. 1 American professional tennis player. She has won three Grand Slam singles tournaments and an Olympic gold medal in singles. In 2005, TENNIS Magazine ranked her as the 29th-best player of the preceding forty years...
in the final in three sets. The week after that win, Clijsters defeated four top-6 players in straight sets to win the NASDAQ-100 Open. To win the title, Clijsters defeated Sandra Kloesel, Amy Frazier
Amy Frazier
Amy Frazier is a now inactive professional female tennis player from the United States.She debuted in 1987 and was active player until the 2006 US Open in which she made her 20th consecutive appearance...
, Nathalie Dechy
Nathalie Dechy
Nathalie Dechy is a French former professional tour tennis player.Dechy is a three-time doubles Grand Slam champion, winning the 2006 US Open women's doubles title with Vera Zvonareva, the 2007 French Open mixed doubles title with Andy Ram, and the 2007 US Open women's doubles title with Dinara...
, Anastasia Myskina
Anastasia Myskina
Anastasiya Andreyevna Myskina is a professional tennis player from Russia. She won the 2004 French Open singles title, becoming the first Russian female tennis player to win a Grand Slam main draw singles title. Subsequent to this victory she rose to number 3 on the WTA ranking, becoming the first...
, Elena Dementieva
Elena Dementieva
Elena Viatcheslavovna Dementieva is a retired Russian professional tennis player. Dementieva is most notable for winning the singles gold medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. She won 16 WTA singles titles and reached the finals of the 2004 French Open and 2004 US Open. Dementieva achieved a...
, Amélie Mauresmo
Amélie Mauresmo
Amélie Simone Mauresmo ; is a French former professional tennis player, and a former World No. 1. Mauresmo won two Grand Slam singles titles at the Australian Open and at Wimbledon....
, and Maria Sharapova
Maria Sharapova
Maria Yuryevna Sharapova ,. is a Russian professional tennis player and a former world no. 1. A US resident since 1994, Sharapova has won 24 WTA singles titles, including three Grand Slam singles titles at the 2004 Wimbledon, 2006 US Open and 2008 Australian Open...
, going the whole tournament without dropping a set.
Turning her attention to clay, Clijsters’ winning streak continued at the J&S Cup. Clijsters defeated Tatiana Perebiynis
Tatiana Perebiynis
Tetyana Yurevna Perebiynis , born on December 15, 1982 is a Top 100 female professional tennis player born in Kharkiv, Ukraine, where she lives. She is an only child. She reached the Wimbledon junior girls' singles final in 2000, and won the Wimbledon juniors doubles final that year...
, Maria Kirilenko
Maria Kirilenko
Maria Yuryevna Kirilenko is a Russian professional tennis player. Kirilenko won her first WTA Tour title in 2005, defeating Anna-Lena Grönefeld in the China Open. Kirilenko reached no. 18, her career-high singles ranking, on the WTA tour in July 2008. She won the junior event at the 2002 Canadian...
, and Elena Bovina
Elena Bovina
Elena Olegovna Bovina is a Russian professional female tennis player. On April 4, 2005 Bovina reached her career-high singles ranking: World No. 14....
. Against Bovina, Clijsters’ picked up a minor shoulder injury. Clijsters’ 17 match winning streak was finally ended by Svetlana Kuznetsova
Svetlana Kuznetsova
Svetlana Aleksandrovna Kuznetsova ; born June 27, 1985) is a Russian professional tennis player and as of October 10, 2011 ranked No. 21 in the WTA singles and No. 90 in the doubles ranking. Kuznetsova has appeared in four singles Grand Slam finals, winning two, and has also appeared in six doubles...
. Playing next at the WTA German Open Clijsters defeated Yuliana Fedak
Yuliana Fedak
Yuliana Leonidivna Fedak is a female tennis player from Ukraine.On September 18, 2006, Fedak reached her highest singles ranking, World No. 63.-WTA Tour Titles :-Performance timeline:-External links:...
and Dinara Safina
Dinara Safina
Dinara Mikhailovna Safina , born April 27, 1986 in Moscow, is a Russian professional tennis player of Tatar background. Safina's career high ranking is World No. 1....
in straight sets before, hurting her right knee and retiring against Patty Schnyder
Patty Schnyder
Patty Schnyder is a retired Swiss professional tennis player. She played on the WTA tour from 1993 to 2011 and is a former World No. 7. She defeated several World No...
. Clijsters recovered in time to play in the French Open. Playing in the French Open for the first time in two years, Clijsters defeated Meilen Tu
Meilen Tu
Meilen Tu is a former American professional female tennis player...
, Cervanová, and Daniela Hantuchová
Daniela Hantuchová
Daniela Hantuchová is a Slovak professional tennis player. She turned professional in 1999 and had her breakthrough year in 2002, when she won her first Tier I tournament and ended the year in the top 10.She is currently coached by Larri Passos...
to advance to the fourth round, where she lost to Davenport 1–6, 7–5, 6–3 after leading 3–1 in the second set.
Clijsters got off to the best possible start for her grass-court season at the Hastings Direct International Championships by winning the tournament. Clijsters defeated Jelena Janković
Jelena Janković
Jelena Janković is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player from Serbia. She reached the final of the 2008 US Open and won the 2007 Wimbledon Mixed Doubles title. Janković is ranked world no...
, Conchita Martínez
Conchita Martínez
Inmaculada Concepción Martínez Bernat is a former professional tennis player from Monzón, Aragón, Spain. She is the only Spanish woman to have won the singles title at Wimbledon, when she beat Martina Navrátilová in the 1994 Women's Singles. She also was the singles runner-up at the 1998...
, Mashona Washington
Mashona Washington
Mashona Washington is a professional tennis player from the United States.Mashona's career high singles ranking is no. 50 which she reached on November 8, 2004, and her career high doubles ranking is no...
, Kuznetsova and Vera Dushevina
Vera Dushevina
Vera Yevgenyevna Dushevina is a Russian professional female tennis player. She was born in Moscow but now resides in Khimki, Russia. In 2006, she privately amended the presentation of her surname so as to be more English language friendly, adopting Dushevina in place of Douchevina which is a...
to claim her third title of the year. At Wimbledon, Clijsters defeated Katie O'Brien
Katie O'Brien
Katie Jill O'Brien is an English former professional tennis player from Beverley, Yorkshire. She was briefly the British No. 1 tennis player...
, Marissa Irvin
Marissa Irvin
Marissa Irvin is an American former tennis player. She reached her highest singles ranking on August 12, 2002, when she became No. 51 in the world. Her best result at a Grand Slam was the third round of the French Open, which she achieved three straight years from 2003 to 2005...
, and Roberta Vinci
Roberta Vinci
Roberta Vinci is an Italian tennis player. As of 29 August 2011, Vinci is ranked World No. 20, on the WTA Tour Rankings. Vinci has won thirteen WTA Tour titles, six in singles and seven in doubles....
, before facing Davenport in the round of 16 for the second Grand Slam in a row. The result was the same as the French Open, with the American winning.
After Wimbledon, Clijsters went on an amazing run of form, where she lost just once between July and October. Clijsters’ run began at the Bank of the West Classic
Bank of the West Classic
The Bank of the West Classic is a week-long tennis tournament on the WTA Tour held on the campus of Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, United States. The 2011 event will be held on July 25th to July 31st. Started in 1971, the tournament is the oldest women's-only tournament in the world...
against Ai Sugiyama
Ai Sugiyama
is a retired Japanese professional tennis player. She reached No. 1 in women's doubles on the WTA Tour. Her career-high singles ranking was No. 8, achieved on February 9, 2004. She turned professional in 1992...
, and she defeated Daniela Hantuchová
Daniela Hantuchová
Daniela Hantuchová is a Slovak professional tennis player. She turned professional in 1999 and had her breakthrough year in 2002, when she won her first Tier I tournament and ended the year in the top 10.She is currently coached by Larri Passos...
, Anna-Lena Grönefeld
Anna-Lena Grönefeld
Anna-Lena Grönefeld is a professional tennis player from Germany. She turned professional in April 2003.As of September 2011, Grönefeld is the No. 12 tennis player from Germany. She was coached and trained by Rafael Font de Mora in Scottsdale, Arizona until 2006...
, and Venus Williams
Venus Williams
Venus Ebony Starr Williams is an American professional tennis player who is a former World No. 1 and is ranked World No. 101 as of 10 October 2011 in singles and World No. 20 in doubles as of 2011. She has been ranked World No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association on three separate...
to win her fourth title of the year. Clijsters’ streak continued in San Diego, as she defeated Marta Domachowska
Marta Domachowska
Marta Domachowska is a Polish professional tennis player. She began playing at age 7. She reached the semi finals of Australian Open Junior Championships in 2003. Her racquet brand is Wilson. She speaks four languages: Polish, English, Spanish and Russian. Other than tennis, she enjoys sports such...
and Janković, before suffering her only defeat in this run to Shuai Peng.
After the defeat to Peng, Clijsters continued the run, as she won 22 matches in a row, collecting four straight titles along the way, including her maiden Grand Slam title. The 22-match streak started against Karolina Šprem
Karolina Šprem
Karolina Šprem was a Croatian tennis player.She has won eight titles all at the ITF level. She has not won any titles on the WTA Tour. Career highlight is a quarterfinal appearance at Wimbledon in 2004 where she defeated two-time champion, four-time finalist and then-world No...
, with victories over Safina, Nadia Petrova
Nadia Petrova
Nadezhda Viktorovna Petrova is a Russian professional tennis player.Overall, she has won 28 WTA Titles, ten in singles and eighteen in doubles. In singles, Petrova has reached a career high ranking of World No. 3 in May 2006 and has reached the semi-finals of the French Open in 2003 and 2005...
, and Francesca Schiavone
Francesca Schiavone
Francesca Schiavone is an Italian tennis player who turned professional in 1998. She won the 2010 French Open singles title, becoming the first Italian woman to win a Grand Slam event in singles. She was also runner-up at the 2011 French Open. As of 24 October 2011, Schiavone's ranking is World...
. Clijsters collected her fifth title of the year. The streak continued in Toronto as Clijsters beat Virginie Razzano
Virginie Razzano
Virginie Razzano , is a French professional tennis player and the current French No. 4. Razzano, who was born in Dijon, has won two WTA singles titles, both in 2007 in Guangzhou and Tokyo. Razzano reached her career high ranking of World No. 16 on September 14, 2009. As of May 2011, she is ranked...
, Ana Ivanović
Ana Ivanovic
Ana Ivanović is a former world no. 1 Serbian tennis player. As of November 7, 2011, she is ranked 22th on the WTA rankings. She beat Dinara Safina to win the 2008 French Open and was the runner-up in singles at the 2007 French Open and the 2008 Australian Open...
(via a walkover), Flavia Pennetta
Flavia Pennetta
Flavia Pennetta is an Italian professional tennis player. She became Italy's first top 10 female singles player on 17 August 2009 and also the first ever Italian Tennis player to be ranked No.1 in Doubles on 28 February 2011. As of 10 October 2011, Pennetta is ranked World No. 18 in singles and...
, Anastasia Myskina
Anastasia Myskina
Anastasiya Andreyevna Myskina is a professional tennis player from Russia. She won the 2004 French Open singles title, becoming the first Russian female tennis player to win a Grand Slam main draw singles title. Subsequent to this victory she rose to number 3 on the WTA ranking, becoming the first...
and Justine Henin-Hardenne
Justine Henin-Hardenne
Justine Henin , formerly known as Justine Henin-Hardenne , is a retired professional Belgian tennis player and former World No. 1....
to win the Rogers Cup. After winning three of her four US Summer Hard court tournaments, Clijsters won the US Open Series, which links all the US summer hard courts together and doubles the winners prize money at the US Open. Giving Clijsters a chance to double the $1.1 million US Open winners prize to $2.2 million.
Clijsters won her first Grand Slam
Grand Slam (tennis)
The four Major tennis tournaments, also called the Slams, are the most important tennis events of the year in terms of world tour ranking points, tradition, prize-money awarded, strength and size of player field, and public attention. They are the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and...
singles title at the US Open, after having reached four Grand Slam finals previously. Clijsters started by defeating Martina Müller, Fabiola Zuluaga
Fabiola Zuluaga
Fabiola Zuluaga was a professional tennis player from Colombia. She retired on 9 September 2005. She reached the Australian Open Semifinals in 2004 and became the first Colombian tennis player to reach a Grand Slam semifinal. She is one of the best tennis player that Colombia has had .- External...
, Ai Sugiyama
Ai Sugiyama
is a retired Japanese professional tennis player. She reached No. 1 in women's doubles on the WTA Tour. Her career-high singles ranking was No. 8, achieved on February 9, 2004. She turned professional in 1992...
and María Vento-Kabchi
Maria Vento-Kabchi
María Alejandra Vento-Kabchi is a professional female tennis player from Venezuela. On July 19, 2004 she reached her career-high singles ranking: World No...
in straight sets to reach the quarter finals. There, Clijsters defeated tenth-seeded Venus Williams in the quarter-finals 4–6, 7–5, 6–1, winning 11 of the last 13 games after being down 6–4, 4–2. Clijsters squandered five match points in the second set of her semi against Sharapova but eventually won 6–2, 6–7(4), 6–3. In her fifth attempt, Clijsters won her first Grand Slam final, defeating Mary Pierce
Mary Pierce
Mary Pierce is a French-American tennis professional playing on the Women's Tennis Association tour. She is a citizen of France, Canada, and the United States but plays for France in team competitions and the Olympics.Pierce has won four Grand Slam titles, two in singles and two in doubles...
in straight sets. By winning the US Open Series
United States Open Series
The US Open Series is the six-week summer tennis season linking 10 ATP World Tour and Sony Ericsson WTA Tour tournaments together. The Series leads to the US Open. It is often referred to as the U.S. or North American hard court season....
Clijsters doubled her US$1.1 million in prize money she received for winning the US Open, to US$2.2 million. The pay check was the largest payday in women's sports history.
On 15 September, a week after her US Open victory, it was announced that Clijsters and her coach, Marc Dehous, had parted company, which was due in part to her paying him only $9,000 of her $2,200,000 US Open winnings.
Clijsters’ hot streak continued as she extended her streak to 21 wins, even without a coach at the Fortis Championships. Clijsters beat Klara Koukalová
Klára Koukalová
Klára Zakopalová is a Czech professional female tennis player. She was born and still lives in Prague, the capital.-Career:In her career, Zakopalová has reached eight singles finals and won two, both in 2005: on grass in Rosmalen and in September in Portorož on hard court.In January 2006, she...
, Schiavone, Dechy and Lena Groenefeld all without dropping a set to win her eighth title of the year. The title was Clijsters’ fourth consecutive title. At the Porsche Grand Prix Clijsters defeated Šprem for her twenty second consecutive match win before Dementieva ended the streak.
Clijsters then won her ninth and final tournament of the year at the Gaz de France Stars
Gaz de France Stars
Gaz de France Stars was a tennis tournament held in Hasselt, Belgium. Held from 2004 till 2006, this WTA Tour event was a Tier III-tournament and was played on indoor hardcourts.- Singles :- Doubles :- External links :*...
, defeating Schiavone in the final, to go the whole tournament without dropping a set. Clijsters defeated Ekaterina Bychkova
Ekaterina Bychkova
Ekaterina Andreevna Bychkova is a professional tennis player. She is most famous for defeating defending champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in the first round of the 2005 US Open. She defeated her by a score of 6–3, 6–2. It was the first time a defending US Open Champion had lost in the first round...
, Šprem, Julia Schruff
Julia Schruff
Julia Schruff is a professional German tennis player.Her career high WTA-ranking was attained on 17 April 2006, when she reached No. 52. Her highest doubles ranking was reached on 2 October 2006, when she reached No...
and Safina to make the final.
At the year-ending Sony Ericsson Championships, Clijsters was eliminated in the group stage. Clijsters lost her first match, a rematch of the US Open final, to Pierce 6–1, 4–6, 7–6 and her second match to Mauresmo 6–3, 7–6. This left the Belgian needing to win and hope that the results in the other matches went her way. Although results did not go her way and Clijsters was eliminated with one match still to play, she finished her season by defeating Dementieva in straight sets. Clijsters ended the year ranked World No. 2.
2006
Clijsters started the year by from her semifinal match at the WTAWomen's Tennis Association
The Women's Tennis Association , founded in 1973 by Billie Jean King, is the principal organizing body of Women's Professional Tennis. It governs the WTA Tour which is the worldwide professional tennis tour for women. Its counterpart organization in the men's professional game is the Association of...
tournament in Sydney, citing a left hip muscle strain.
At the Australian Open, Clijsters defeated former champion Martina Hingis
Martina Hingis
Martina Hingis is a retired Swiss professional tennis player who spent a total of 209 weeks as World No. 1. She won five Grand Slam singles titles...
in the quarterfinals, 6–3, 2–6, 6–4, before retiring from her semifinal match with Amélie Mauresmo
Amélie Mauresmo
Amélie Simone Mauresmo ; is a French former professional tennis player, and a former World No. 1. Mauresmo won two Grand Slam singles titles at the Australian Open and at Wimbledon....
. Despite the loss, the ranking points she accumulated were enough to regain the world no. 1 ranking, a position she last held on 9 November 2003. She was the first tennis player, male or female, to rise from outside the top 100 (world no. 134) to world no. 1 in less than a year. Clijsters' loss to Mauresmo in the Australian Open semifinal was due to an ankle injury. Although she had been expected to miss at least eight weeks to recover, Clijsters returned two weeks later at the Proximus Diamond Games
Proximus Diamond Games
The Proximus Diamond Games was a professional tennis tournament held in Antwerp, Belgium. Held since 2002, the tournament takes place in the Sportpaleis, and was played at the beginning of February...
in Antwerp. She lost the final of that tournament to Mauresmo in three sets.
Clijsters won her first title of the year at a clay court event in Warsaw, defeating Svetlana Kuznetsova
Svetlana Kuznetsova
Svetlana Aleksandrovna Kuznetsova ; born June 27, 1985) is a Russian professional tennis player and as of October 10, 2011 ranked No. 21 in the WTA singles and No. 90 in the doubles ranking. Kuznetsova has appeared in four singles Grand Slam finals, winning two, and has also appeared in six doubles...
in the final. At the French Open in May, Clijsters reached the semifinals without losing a set, defeating Martina Hingis
Martina Hingis
Martina Hingis is a retired Swiss professional tennis player who spent a total of 209 weeks as World No. 1. She won five Grand Slam singles titles...
in the quarterfinals, 7–6, 6–1. However, she lost to Justine Henin in the semifinal, 3-6, 2-6, on her 23rd birthday. She was seeded second going into Wimbledon
The Championships, Wimbledon
The Championships, Wimbledon, or simply Wimbledon , is the oldest tennis tournament in the world, considered by many to be the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London since 1877. It is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, the other three Majors...
, but was again eliminated in the semifinal by Henin, also in straight sets, 4-6, 6-7(4).
Bank of the West Classic
The Bank of the West Classic is a week-long tennis tournament on the WTA Tour held on the campus of Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, United States. The 2011 event will be held on July 25th to July 31st. Started in 1971, the tournament is the oldest women's-only tournament in the world...
, defeating Patty Schnyder
Patty Schnyder
Patty Schnyder is a retired Swiss professional tennis player. She played on the WTA tour from 1993 to 2011 and is a former World No. 7. She defeated several World No...
in the final. Clijsters then reached the final in San Diego, falling to second-seeded Maria Sharapova
Maria Sharapova
Maria Yuryevna Sharapova ,. is a Russian professional tennis player and a former world no. 1. A US resident since 1994, Sharapova has won 24 WTA singles titles, including three Grand Slam singles titles at the 2004 Wimbledon, 2006 US Open and 2008 Australian Open...
in straight sets. This was her first loss to Sharapova in five career meetings.
On 16 August, after receiving a first-round bye at the Tier I Rogers Cup in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Clijsters faced Canadian Stéphanie Dubois
Stéphanie Dubois
Stéphanie Dubois is a Canadian professional tennis player. She turned professional in 2004 and she achieved a career-best ranking of No. 95 in the world on May 26, 2008.-2004–present:...
in the second round. Having won the first set 6–1 and trailing 2–3 in the second set, Clijsters slipped and fell on her left wrist and was forced to retire from the match. On 18 August 2006, Clijsters announced on her official website that the condition of her wrist was worse than she had expected and that she would be unable to defend her title at the US Open. She also missed the Fed Cup
2006 Fed Cup
The 2006 Fed Cup was the 44th edition of the most important competition between national teams in women's tennis. A total of 76 nations participated in the tournament...
final against Italy
Italy Fed Cup team
The Italy Fed Cup team represents Italy in Fed Cup tennis competition and are governed by the Federazione Italiana Tennis. They currently compete in the World Group.-Current Team:* Francesca Schiavone * Flavia Pennetta...
, which Italy won 3–2.
Playing in Paris at the Gaz de France Stars
Gaz de France Stars
Gaz de France Stars was a tennis tournament held in Hasselt, Belgium. Held from 2004 till 2006, this WTA Tour event was a Tier III-tournament and was played on indoor hardcourts.- Singles :- Doubles :- External links :*...
tournament, her first event in more than two months, Clijsters successfully defended her title by beating qualifier Kaia Kanepi
Kaia Kanepi
Kaia Kanepi is an Estonian professional tennis player. Her career-high ranking is world no. 16 reached on 14 February 2011....
in the final. At the year-end WTA Tour Championships
WTA Tour Championships
The WTA Tour Championships is a tennis tournament played annually at the end of the season for the top-ranked players on the Women's Tennis Association tour. The month, city and number of players has changed since the first edition in 1972...
, Clijsters lost a semifinal to Mauresmo, 2-6, 6-3, 3-6, after defeating Dementieva and Kuznetsova and losing to Sharapova in the round-robin phase of the tournament.
2007: Retirement
2007 was to be Clijsters’ final year on tour, as she had planned in 2005 to retire at the end of the 2007 season. Clijsters started the year by winning an exhibition tournament, the Watson Water Challenge, in Hong Kong. On her way to the title, she defeated Zheng JieZheng Jie
Zheng Jie is a Chinese professional tennis player. Her career high ranking is World No. 15 which she achieved on May 18, 2009. As of August 15, 2011, Zheng is ranked World No. 65 in singles and World No. 20 in doubles....
, Patty Schnyder
Patty Schnyder
Patty Schnyder is a retired Swiss professional tennis player. She played on the WTA tour from 1993 to 2011 and is a former World No. 7. She defeated several World No...
, and top-ranked Maria Sharapova. Clijsters then won the Medibank International in Sydney, defeating Nicole Pratt
Nicole Pratt
Nicole Pratt is a retired professional female tennis player from Australia.She is the middle sibling of five children of cane farmers and was taught to play by her father, George, who was a top junior player. She attended school in Calen and received a tennis scholarship to the Australian...
, Shahar Pe'er
Shahar Pe'er
Shahar Pe'er is an Israeli professional tennis player. Her career-high singles ranking is World No. 11, which she achieved on January 31, 2011 ....
, Li Na
Li Na (tennis)
Li Na , goes first before the equivalent of a first name in some other nations. Her name off court in China is Li Na. When listed on the , she is known as Na Li. However, in the match, the commentators call her Li Na, and when her full name is listed in text on court, it is also written as Li Na.;...
, and Jelena Janković
Jelena Janković
Jelena Janković is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player from Serbia. She reached the final of the 2008 US Open and won the 2007 Wimbledon Mixed Doubles title. Janković is ranked world no...
to claim the title, after being match point down in the final.
2007 Australian Open
The 2007 Australian Open was a Grand Slam tennis tournament held in Melbourne, Australia from 15 January until 28 January 2007.The total prize pool was set at exactly A$20 million, with the winners of both the men's and women's singles competition each receiving A$1,281,000. Over 500 players...
, Clijsters was the fourth seed. The Belgian started by giving a double bagel to Vasilisa Bardina
Vasilisa Bardina
Vasilisa Alekseyevna Bardina is a Russian professional tennis player.As of August 10, 2007, her highest ranking was World Number 48, achieved in early 2007...
, before going on to defeat Akiko Morigami
Akiko Morigami
Akiko Morigami is a Japanese female tennis player. She turned professional in 1998. On August 15, 2005, Morigami reached her career-high singles ranking: World No. 41....
, Alona Bondarenko, and Daniela Hantuchová
Daniela Hantuchová
Daniela Hantuchová is a Slovak professional tennis player. She turned professional in 1999 and had her breakthrough year in 2002, when she won her first Tier I tournament and ended the year in the top 10.She is currently coached by Larri Passos...
in straight sets. Clijsters then defeated sixth seed Martina Hingis
Martina Hingis
Martina Hingis is a retired Swiss professional tennis player who spent a total of 209 weeks as World No. 1. She won five Grand Slam singles titles...
in three sets, before losing to Sharapova in the semifinals.
Clijsters next played in Belgium at the Proximus Diamond Games
Proximus Diamond Games
The Proximus Diamond Games was a professional tennis tournament held in Antwerp, Belgium. Held since 2002, the tournament takes place in the Sportpaleis, and was played at the beginning of February...
, after pulling out of the Open Gaz de France
Open Gaz de France
Open GDF Suez, formerly Open Gaz de France, is a Premier level tennis tournament on the WTA Tour held in Paris, France. Held since 1993, the tournament is played on indoor hardcourts....
with a hip injury. While Clijsters said that she was fit, she hinted that she might miss the French Open. Clijsters defeated Olga Poutchkova
Olga Poutchkova
Olga Alekseyevna Puchkova is a Russian professional tennis player and model. As a junior she played for Belarus, and is sometimes listed as Belarusian as a professional....
, Ana Ivanović
Ana Ivanovic
Ana Ivanović is a former world no. 1 Serbian tennis player. As of November 7, 2011, she is ranked 22th on the WTA rankings. She beat Dinara Safina to win the 2008 French Open and was the runner-up in singles at the 2007 French Open and the 2008 Australian Open...
, and Tatiana Golovin
Tatiana Golovin
Tatiana Golovin is an inactive French professional tennis player. She is best known for her explosive forehand, which was said to be one of the best at the time. She notably won the 2004 French Open mixed doubles event with Richard Gasquet, and reached the singles quarterfinal at the 2006 U.S....
to reach the final without dropping a set, though she lost there to Amélie Mauresmo
Amélie Mauresmo
Amélie Simone Mauresmo ; is a French former professional tennis player, and a former World No. 1. Mauresmo won two Grand Slam singles titles at the Australian Open and at Wimbledon....
.
After this event, Clijsters confirmed that she would miss the French Open and US Open, making Wimbledon her last Grand Slam event. The Belgian also added that her last two tournaments would be in Luxembourg and at the WTA Tour Championships
WTA Tour Championships
The WTA Tour Championships is a tennis tournament played annually at the end of the season for the top-ranked players on the Women's Tennis Association tour. The month, city and number of players has changed since the first edition in 1972...
in Stuttgart.
At the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida
Key Biscayne, Florida
Key Biscayne is a village in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States on the island of Key Biscayne. The population was 10,507 at the 2000 census. As of 2004, the population estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau is 10,324....
, Clijsters lost in the fourth round to Li Na
Li Na (tennis)
Li Na , goes first before the equivalent of a first name in some other nations. Her name off court in China is Li Na. When listed on the , she is known as Na Li. However, in the match, the commentators call her Li Na, and when her full name is listed in text on court, it is also written as Li Na.;...
in three sets, after beating Akiko Morigami
Akiko Morigami
Akiko Morigami is a Japanese female tennis player. She turned professional in 1998. On August 15, 2005, Morigami reached her career-high singles ranking: World No. 41....
and Samantha Stosur
Samantha Stosur
Samantha "Sam" Jane Stosur is an Australian professional tennis player. She won the 2011 US Open singles title and was a finalist at the 2010 French Open. Stosur is ranked World No. 6 and her career high in singles is World No. 4, achieved on 21 February 2011. She is a former world No...
. A month later in her first clay tournament of the year in Warsaw, Clijsters failed to defend her title, when she lost to Julia Vakulenko
Julia Vakulenko
Julia Olegovna Vakulenko is a professional Ukraine-born female tennis player. She achieved her career high ranking of No...
6-7(3), 3-6.
On 6 May 2007, citing injuries, Clijsters announced on her official website that she was cutting short her season and bringing forward her plans to retire from professional tennis. Clijsters decided to retire immediately from the sport.
2009: Comeback
Almost two years after her retirement and one year after the birth of her daughter in February 2008, it was announced that Clijsters, along with Tim HenmanTim Henman
Timothy Henry "Tim" Henman OBE is a retired English professional tennis player and former British Number One. Henman played a serve-and-volley style of tennis that suited the grass courts of Wimbledon. He was the first player from the United Kingdom since Roger Taylor in the 1970s to reach the...
, Steffi Graf
Steffi Graf
Steffi Graf is a former World No. 1 German tennis player.In total, Graf won 22 Grand Slam singles titles, second among male and female players only to Margaret Court's 24...
, and Andre Agassi
Andre Agassi
Andre Kirk Agassi is a retired American professional tennis player and former world no. 1. Generally considered by critics and fellow players to be one of the greatest tennis players of all time, Agassi has been called the best service returner in the history of the game...
, would play an exhibition event on Wimbledon's
The Championships, Wimbledon
The Championships, Wimbledon, or simply Wimbledon , is the oldest tennis tournament in the world, considered by many to be the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London since 1877. It is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, the other three Majors...
Centre Court
Centre Court
Centre Court is the main court at the Wimbledon Championship, the 3rd annual Grand Slam event of the tennis calendar. It is situated adjacent to Aorangi Terrace and is home to the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. Its only regular use is for the two weeks a year that the Championships take...
in May, in order to test the new roof.
While preparing for the exhibition at Wimbledon, Clijsters called a press conference on 26 March, and then announced that she was returning to professional tennis. She said that she had been inspired when preparing for the Wimbledon roof event during January 2009. Clijsters stated that she had asked for wildcards for the Cincinnati and Toronto tournaments. Additionally, Clijsters had also asked for a wildcard at the US Open, after which she planned to evaluate the comeback in terms of success and the feasibility of combining it with her family life. Clijsters also stated that she preferred to think of it as a "second career" instead of a comeback, because so many factors (marriage, a baby, the recent death of her father) were different from her first career.
At the Wimbledon exhibition, Clijsters and Henman won 7–6 in a tiebreak against Graf and Agassi. Clijsters also played a singles rubber against Graf, winning 6–4. Clijsters said at the event that she had been practicing for a month and had started to feel good again at the start of February. In July, she won both of her doubles matches with the St. Louis Aces
St. Louis Aces
The St. Louis Aces are a professional tennis team in the city of St. Louis, Missouri. They entered the World TeamTennis League in 1994, and won their only WTT Championship title two years later. The Aces play their home matches at the Dwight Davis Tennis Center in Forest Park...
of World Team Tennis
World Team Tennis
World TeamTennis is a coed professional tennis league played with a unique team format in the United States. Each match consists of five sets. Each set features a different configuration . Coaches, before the match, decide the order in which the sets will be played...
.
Clijsters started her second career at the Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open
2009 Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open - Singles
Nadia Petrova, the defending champion, lost in the first round to Alyona Bondarenko.Jelena Janković won in the final 6–4, 6–2 against Dinara Safina.-Seeds:The top eight seeds receive a bye into the second round.# Dinara Safina ...
in Cincinnati, following the acceptance of her wildcard. She defeated world no. 13 Marion Bartoli
Marion Bartoli
Marion Bartoli is a French professional tennis player and the current French no. 1. She has won seven Women's Tennis Association singles titles and three doubles titles. She was also a runner-up at the 2007 Wimbledon Championships....
in the first round, 6–4, 6–3. In her next two matches, she defeated world no. 20 Patty Schnyder
Patty Schnyder
Patty Schnyder is a retired Swiss professional tennis player. She played on the WTA tour from 1993 to 2011 and is a former World No. 7. She defeated several World No...
, 6–2, 7–5, and world no. 6 and reigning French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova
Svetlana Kuznetsova
Svetlana Aleksandrovna Kuznetsova ; born June 27, 1985) is a Russian professional tennis player and as of October 10, 2011 ranked No. 21 in the WTA singles and No. 90 in the doubles ranking. Kuznetsova has appeared in four singles Grand Slam finals, winning two, and has also appeared in six doubles...
, 6–4, 4–6, 6–2. In the quarterfinals, she lost to world no. 1 Dinara Safina
Dinara Safina
Dinara Mikhailovna Safina , born April 27, 1986 in Moscow, is a Russian professional tennis player of Tatar background. Safina's career high ranking is World No. 1....
, 2-6, 5-7.
Following Cincinnati, Clijsters played at the Rogers Cup
2009 Rogers Cup
The 2009 Canada Masters was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 120th edition of the Canada Masters, and was part of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 of the 2009 ATP World Tour, and of the Premier 5 of the 2009 WTA Tour...
in Toronto on another wildcard. She defeated British qualifier Elena Baltacha
Elena Baltacha
Elena Baltacha is a British professional tennis player of Ukrainian background. Being a four-time winner of the AEGON Award, she is also the long standing British number 1, a position she has held intermittently since 2002. As of 24 November 2011 she holds a current world ranking of No. 50. Her...
in the first round. In the second round, she defeated world no. 9 Victoria Azarenka
Victoria Azarenka
Victoria Azarenka is a Belarusian professional tennis player. Her career high and current ranking is world no. 3, which she first achieved on 12 September 2011. She became the highest-ranked Belarusian player ever, surpassing Natasha Zvereva by two spots....
, 7–5, 4–6, 6–1, but lost to world no. 4 Jelena Janković
Jelena Janković
Jelena Janković is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player from Serbia. She reached the final of the 2008 US Open and won the 2007 Wimbledon Mixed Doubles title. Janković is ranked world no...
in the third round, 6-1, 3-6, 5-7, after serving for the match at 5–3.
She then received a wildcard to play in the main draw of the US Open
2009 US Open (tennis)
The 2009 US Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts, held from August 31 to September 14, 2009 in the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center at Flushing Meadows, New York City, United States. Originally, it was scheduled to end with the mens' singles final match on Sunday,...
. She won her first-round match over Viktoriya Kutuzova
Viktoriya Kutuzova
Viktoriya Kutuzova is a female tennis player from Ukraine.On November 28, 2005, Kutuzova reached her highest singles ranking, World No. 76.Kutuzova remains most notable for her results as a 14 year old...
, 6–1, 6–1. She won her second round match, defeating world no. 14 Marion Bartoli
Marion Bartoli
Marion Bartoli is a French professional tennis player and the current French no. 1. She has won seven Women's Tennis Association singles titles and three doubles titles. She was also a runner-up at the 2007 Wimbledon Championships....
for the second time in three weeks, 5–7, 6–1, 6–2. She then defeated compatriot Kirsten Flipkens
Kirsten Flipkens
Kirsten Flipkens is a professional female Belgian tennis player since 2003. Her career high rank for singles is No. 59 . She won 10 ITF Singles titles, and 1 ITF Doubles title....
, 6–0, 6–2, in the third round. She went on to upset world no. 3 Venus Williams in the fourth round, 6–0, 0–6, 6–4. This was only Clijsters' 11th competitive match since coming out of retirement. Clijsters beat 18th seed Li Na
Li Na (tennis)
Li Na , goes first before the equivalent of a first name in some other nations. Her name off court in China is Li Na. When listed on the , she is known as Na Li. However, in the match, the commentators call her Li Na, and when her full name is listed in text on court, it is also written as Li Na.;...
in straight sets, 6–2, 6–4, to reach the semifinals, where she faced defending champion and world no. 2 Serena Williams
Serena Williams
Serena Jameka Williams is an American professional tennis player and a former world no. 1. The Women's Tennis Association has ranked her world no. 1 in singles on five separate occasions. She became the world no. 1 for the first time on July 8, 2002 and regained this ranking for the fifth time on...
, winning 6–4, 7–5 after Williams was given a point penalty on match point after a dispute with an official over a foot-fault call. Clijsters became the first unseeded finalist at the US Open since Venus Williams in 1997, and the first wildcard
Wild card (sports)
The term wild card refers broadly to a tournament or playoff berth awarded to an individual or team that has not qualified through normal play.-International sports:...
to ever reach the US Open final. With her victory over Serena, Clijsters became the only player to have beaten both Williams sisters in the same tournament twice. In the final, she defeated ninth seed Caroline Wozniacki
Caroline Wozniacki
Caroline Wozniacki is a Danish professional tennis player. She is the current world no. 1 on the WTA Tour. As of 7 November 2011, she has held this position for 56 weeks...
, 7–5, 6–3, to win her second US Open title.
Her US Open victory placed her in the top 20 in the world rankings. She also became the first wildcard champion in US Open history and the first mother to win a Grand Slam title in the Open era since Evonne Goolagong Cawley won Wimbledon in 1980.
Clijsters is popularly known as one of the "comeback queens" of tennis.
Clijsters then received a wildcard to play at the 2009 BGL Luxembourg Open
2009 BGL Luxembourg Open
The 2009 BGL Luxembourg Open was a tennis tournament on indoor hard courts. It was the 14th edition of the Fortis Championships Luxembourg, and was part of the WTA International tournaments of the 2009 WTA Tour...
in Luxembourg as the second seed. She eased through her opening match, 6–2, 6–2, against Meghann Shaughnessy
Meghann Shaughnessy
Meghann Shaughnessy is an American professional tennis player. She achieved a career-high singles ranking of #11 in 2001, and has won six WTA Tour singles titles...
, but fell to Patty Schnyder
Patty Schnyder
Patty Schnyder is a retired Swiss professional tennis player. She played on the WTA tour from 1993 to 2011 and is a former World No. 7. She defeated several World No...
in a close second-round encounter, 4–6, 6–3, 6–7.
Playing an exhibition match in Antwerp, Belgium on 10 December, Clijsters defeated Venus Williams 6–1, 7–5. She finished the year ranked no. 18.
In March 2010, Clijsters won her first Laureus World Sports Award, for her remarkable 2009 US Open
2009 US Open (tennis)
The 2009 US Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts, held from August 31 to September 14, 2009 in the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center at Flushing Meadows, New York City, United States. Originally, it was scheduled to end with the mens' singles final match on Sunday,...
comeback. She also won the WTA Comeback Player of the Year and the Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award for the seventh time.
2010
Clijsters started her 2010 campaign at the Brisbane InternationalBrisbane International
The Brisbane International is a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It is currently part of the ATP World Tour 250 series of the Association of Tennis Professionals World Tour and of the WTA Premier tournaments of the Women's Tennis Association Tour...
in Australia as the top seed. She defeated Tathiana Garbin
Tathiana Garbin
Tathiana Garbin is an Italian tennis player. As of 17 May 2010, she is ranked World No. 56 in singles and No. 38 in doubles. Garbin is probably best known for her shocking defeat of the defending champion and the reigning World No. 1 Justine Henin in the second round of the 2004 French Open...
and Alicia Molik
Alicia Molik
Alicia Molik is a Australian professional female tennis player. She reached a career high singles rank of number 8 and also won a bronze medal for Australia at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Molik also reached a career high doubles ranking of number 6, and won two grand slam doubles titles, at the...
in the first two rounds, without dropping a set. She then defeated Lucie Šafářová
Lucie Šafárová
Lucie Šafářová is a professional Czech tennis player. She was born in Brno.Šafářová has won four WTA tour singles titles and reached the quarterfinals of the 2007 Australian Open, upsetting defending champion Amélie Mauresmo en-route...
in three sets to advance to the semifinals, where she defeated Andrea Petkovic
Andrea Petkovic
Andrea Petkovic is a professional German tennis player of Serbian origin. She is the highest ranked German tennis player. She lives in Griesheim near Darmstadt, Germany....
to set up a final with her compatriot Justine Henin. Clijsters led 6–3, 4–1, before Henin won eight consecutive games to take the second set and lead 3–0 in the final set. Clijsters trailed 5–3, saved two match points before breaking back and forcing a final set tie break. During the tiebreak, Clijsters struck a backhand that appeared to land inside the line, sealing the championship. She raised her hands in the air in celebration, before the call was overruled by the umpire, who claimed the ball was out. Despite being rattled by the call, Clijsters was unfazed and remained focused, going on to win the match, 6–3, 4–6, 7–6(6).
Clijsters' next tournament was the 2010 Australian Open
2010 Australian Open
The 2010 Australian Open was a tennis tournament that took place in Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia, from 18 to 31 January. It was the 98th edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam event of the year....
, the first Grand Slam of the season where she was seeded 15th. Clijsters advanced to the third round with straight-sets wins over Valérie Tétreault
Valérie Tétreault
Valérie Tétreault is a Canadian former professional tennis player. She reached her highest WTA singles ranking of No. 112 on February 22, 2010 and of No...
and Tamarine Tanasugarn
Tamarine Tanasugarn
Tamarine Tanasugarn is a professional Thai tennis player. She was born in Los Angeles, United States, and turned professional in 1994. She has been in the top 20 in both singles and doubles....
. In the third round, Clijsters lost to world no. 20 Nadia Petrova
Nadia Petrova
Nadezhda Viktorovna Petrova is a Russian professional tennis player.Overall, she has won 28 WTA Titles, ten in singles and eighteen in doubles. In singles, Petrova has reached a career high ranking of World No. 3 in May 2006 and has reached the semi-finals of the French Open in 2003 and 2005...
, winning just one game in the worst defeat of her career.
Clijsters did not play competitively again until March at the 2010 BNP Paribas Open
2010 BNP Paribas Open
The 2010 BNP Paribas Open was a tennis tournament played at Indian Wells, California in March 2010. It was the 36th edition of the event, known this year as the BNP Paribas Open, and is classified as an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event on the 2010 ATP World Tour and a Premier Mandatory event on...
in Indian Wells. She was seeded 14th, but fell to 23rd seed Alisa Kleybanova
Alisa Kleybanova
Alisa Mikhaelovna Kleybanova is a Russian professional tennis player. Her highest WTA world ranking to date is No. 20, achieved on February 21, 2010...
in the third round, losing a final-set tiebreak. Clijsters found form at the 2010 Sony Ericsson Open
2010 Sony Ericsson Open
The 2010 Sony Ericsson Open , was a tennis tournament for men and women held from March 22 to April 4, 2010. It was the 26th edition of the Miami Masters event and is played on outdoor hard courts at the Tennis Center at Crandon Park in Key Biscayne, Florida, located near Miami...
, as she went on to win the title. As the 14th seed, she only dropped three games while defeating Petra Kvitová
Petra Kvitová
Petra Kvitová is a Czech professional tennis player. She has won seven WTA singles titles. As of 31 October 2011, she is ranked World No. 2. Kvitová won the 2011 Wimbledon Championships and the 2011 WTA Tour Championships singles titles...
and Shahar Pe'er
Shahar Pe'er
Shahar Pe'er is an Israeli professional tennis player. Her career-high singles ranking is World No. 11, which she achieved on January 31, 2011 ....
. Clijsters then defeated the defending champion Victoria Azarenka
Victoria Azarenka
Victoria Azarenka is a Belarusian professional tennis player. Her career high and current ranking is world no. 3, which she first achieved on 12 September 2011. She became the highest-ranked Belarusian player ever, surpassing Natasha Zvereva by two spots....
, losing just four games. Next she defeated world no. 10 Samantha Stosur in the quarterfinals and Justine Henin in a final set tiebreak to reach the final. Clijsters went on to beat Venus Williams
Venus Williams
Venus Ebony Starr Williams is an American professional tennis player who is a former World No. 1 and is ranked World No. 101 as of 10 October 2011 in singles and World No. 20 in doubles as of 2011. She has been ranked World No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association on three separate...
in straight sets in the final, ending the American's 15-match unbeaten streak. As a result of winning the title for the second time, Clijsters' ranking rose to world no. 10.
Playing her first clay tennis match in three years at the Andalucia Tennis Experience
Andalucia Tennis Experience
The Andalucia Tennis Experience is a professional women's tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. The inaugural edition was in 2009. The event is affiliated with the Women's Tennis Association and is an International tournament on the WTA Tour....
as the third seed, Clijsters advanced to the second round after beating Alexandra Dulgheru
Alexandra Dulgheru
Alexandra Dulgheru is a Romanian professional tennis player. She achieved a singles career high of World No. 26 on April 11, 2011. Her career high in doubles was World No. 47 on March 21, 2011.She is coached by Gabriel Urpi.-Biography:...
in three sets. However in the second round, Clijsters lost to the world no. 258 Beatriz García Vidagany
Beatriz García Vidagany
Beatriz García Vidagany is a Spanish tennis player. She reached a career high ranking of 166 in singles on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour on June 7, 2010.-Singles Activity:2010...
. Clijsters played in Belgium's Fed Cup tie against Estonia, easily defeating Maret Ani
Maret Ani
Maret Ani is an Estonian tennis player. At the start of 2006, she was the top-ranked player in Estonia, before losing that spot to Kaia Kanepi....
, 6–4, 6–2, in her opening singles match. However, it was discovered that she had torn a muscle in her left foot, causing her to pull out of her next match against Kaia Kanepi
Kaia Kanepi
Kaia Kanepi is an Estonian professional tennis player. Her career-high ranking is world no. 16 reached on 14 February 2011....
. Doctors ruled her out for six weeks, but Clijsters hoped to make an early recovery. She later announced in a press conference that she would have to withdraw from the rest of the clay-court season, including the 2010 French Open
2010 French Open
The 2010 French Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 109th edition of the French Open, and the second Grand Slam event of the year...
.
Clijsters returned to action at the start of the grass-court season in Eastbourne as part of her Wimbledon warm-up, where she was victorious in 2005. Clijsters, as the fifth seed, defeated compatriot Yanina Wickmayer
Yanina Wickmayer
Yanina Wickmayer is a Belgian professional tennis player who is currently ranked world no. 22 and is the second-highest ranked female Belgian tennis player. She reached her career-high ranking of world no. 12 on 19 April 2010...
and Šafářova to reach the quarterfinals, losing just three games, before losing in straight sets to Victoria Azarenka
Victoria Azarenka
Victoria Azarenka is a Belarusian professional tennis player. Her career high and current ranking is world no. 3, which she first achieved on 12 September 2011. She became the highest-ranked Belarusian player ever, surpassing Natasha Zvereva by two spots....
. Despite this loss, Clijsters’ ranking rose to world no. 8, and she was seeded 8th at her first Wimbledon Championships since 2006. She started well, with a straight-sets wins over Maria Elena Camerin
Maria Elena Camerin
Maria Elena Camerin is a professional female tennis player from Italy.On 11 October 2004, Camerin reached her career-high singles ranking: World No...
, Karolina Šprem
Karolina Šprem
Karolina Šprem was a Croatian tennis player.She has won eight titles all at the ITF level. She has not won any titles on the WTA Tour. Career highlight is a quarterfinal appearance at Wimbledon in 2004 where she defeated two-time champion, four-time finalist and then-world No...
, and Maria Kirilenko
Maria Kirilenko
Maria Yuryevna Kirilenko is a Russian professional tennis player. Kirilenko won her first WTA Tour title in 2005, defeating Anna-Lena Grönefeld in the China Open. Kirilenko reached no. 18, her career-high singles ranking, on the WTA tour in July 2008. She won the junior event at the 2002 Canadian...
to set up a fourth round clash with 17th seed Justine Henin. Clijsters came back from a set down to beat Henin, 2–6, 6–2, 6–3. Clijsters lost in the quarterfinals to 21st seed and eventual finalist Vera Zvonareva
Vera Zvonareva
Vera Zvonareva is a professional tennis player from Russia. She was introduced to tennis at the age of six and turned professional in 2000. Her career high is World No. 2 by the WTA, and she is currently ranked as the World No. 7. Zvonarёva has won twelve WTA Tour singles titles and reached the...
in three sets.
In between Wimbledon and the US hard-court season, Clijsters participated in the record-breaking Best of Belgium, an exhibition extravaganza. Clijsters defeated Serena Williams in straight sets, improving her head-to-head record since her comeback against the Williams sisters to 5–1 (3–1 against Venus who won against Clijsters at the Billie Jean Cup 2010, 2–0 against Serena).
Clijsters played her next event at the 2010 Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open in Cincinnati, where she had made her comeback the previous year. This was her first event of the 2010 US Open Series
2010 US Open Series
The seventh edition of the US Open Series , includes ten hard court tournaments that started on July 19, 2010 in Atlanta and will end in New Haven, Connecticut on August 29, 2010...
. After a first-round bye, Clijsters, as the 4th seed, defeated former world no.1 Dinara Safina
Dinara Safina
Dinara Mikhailovna Safina , born April 27, 1986 in Moscow, is a Russian professional tennis player of Tatar background. Safina's career high ranking is World No. 1....
, Christina McHale
Christina McHale
Christina McHale is a professional American tennis player. Her highest WTA singles ranking is No. 45, and in doubles it is No. 171. McHale has beaten numerous top WTA tour players, including current world no...
, and Flavia Pennetta
Flavia Pennetta
Flavia Pennetta is an Italian professional tennis player. She became Italy's first top 10 female singles player on 17 August 2009 and also the first ever Italian Tennis player to be ranked No.1 in Doubles on 28 February 2011. As of 10 October 2011, Pennetta is ranked World No. 18 in singles and...
in straight sets to reach the semifinals. In the semifinals, Clijsters was leading 2–1 when her opponent, Ana Ivanović
Ana Ivanovic
Ana Ivanović is a former world no. 1 Serbian tennis player. As of November 7, 2011, she is ranked 22th on the WTA rankings. She beat Dinara Safina to win the 2008 French Open and was the runner-up in singles at the 2007 French Open and the 2008 Australian Open...
, had to retire due to a foot injury. In the final, Clijsters faced 10th seed Maria Sharapova and after losing the first set, Clijsters found herself down 3-5 in the second set. She managed to save three match points on her own serve, before rain interrupted play. Clijsters came back to take the second set into a tie-break, and despite being down 0–3, she came back to win the tie-break and then claim a 2–6, 7–6(4), 6–2 victory. This win propelled her ranking to world no. 4 with her 38th singles title of her career.
Clijsters played her final event of the US Open Series in Montreal at the 2010 Rogers Cup
2010 Rogers Cup
The 2010 Canada Masters was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts in Canada. It was the 121st edition of the Canada Masters, and was part of the ATP Masters Series of the 2010 ATP World Tour, and of the Premier Series of the 2010 WTA Tour...
, where she was seeded 5th. After coming back from 4-6, 1-4 down in the opening round to defeat Bethanie Mattek-Sands,
Clijsters reached the quarterfinals, before losing to Vera Zvonareva in three sets.
Clijsters then competed in the 2010 US Open
2010 US Open (tennis)
The 2010 US Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts, held from August 30 to September 13, 2010 in the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center at Flushing Meadows, Queens, New York City, United States....
, where she was second seed. Clijsters advanced to the quarterfinals without dropping a set, defeating Gréta Arn
Gréta Arn
Gréta Arn is a professional tennis player from Hungary, and the current Hungarian No. 1. Arn turned professional in 1997....
, Sally Peers
Sally Peers
Sally Peers is an Australian professional tennis player. She plays right-handed, with a double-handed backhand. Her career high WTA singles ranking is world no. 153, which she reached on 20 September 2010 & her career high doubles ranking is world no. 89 which she reached on 8 November 2010, while...
, Petra Kvitová
Petra Kvitová
Petra Kvitová is a Czech professional tennis player. She has won seven WTA singles titles. As of 31 October 2011, she is ranked World No. 2. Kvitová won the 2011 Wimbledon Championships and the 2011 WTA Tour Championships singles titles...
, and Ana Ivanović
Ana Ivanovic
Ana Ivanović is a former world no. 1 Serbian tennis player. As of November 7, 2011, she is ranked 22th on the WTA rankings. She beat Dinara Safina to win the 2008 French Open and was the runner-up in singles at the 2007 French Open and the 2008 Australian Open...
. There Clijsters came from a break down in the third set to defeat 5th seed Samantha Stosur, 6–3 in the final set to advance to the semifinals. In the semifinals, Clijsters faced Venus Williams, winning the match in the final set to extend her US Open match winning streak to 20, second only to Chris Evert
Chris Evert
Christine Marie "Chris" Evert is a former world number 1 professional tennis player from the United States. She won 18 Grand Slam singles championships, including a record seven championships at the French Open and a record six championships at the U.S. Open. She was the year-ending World No...
's 31-match winning streak from 1975–1979 and tying with Venus and Monica Seles
Monica Seles
Monica Seles is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player and a member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame. She was born in Novi Sad, Serbia, former Yugoslavia to Hungarian parents. She became a naturalized United States citizen in 1994 and also received Hungarian citizenship in June 2007...
. In the final, Clijsters faced seventh seed Vera Zvonareva
Vera Zvonareva
Vera Zvonareva is a professional tennis player from Russia. She was introduced to tennis at the age of six and turned professional in 2000. Her career high is World No. 2 by the WTA, and she is currently ranked as the World No. 7. Zvonarёva has won twelve WTA Tour singles titles and reached the...
in a rematch of their Wimbledon quarterfinal meeting. Clijsters won, only dropping three games, to defend her US Open title, winning it for the third time and her second as a mother. The win also extended her US Open winning streak to 21 matches and was her 27th victory of her last 28 matches at the tournament, the only loss came from compatriot and rival Justine Henin in the '03 final
2003 US Open - Women's Singles
The women's singles competition at the 2003 US Open started on Monday, August 25, 2003 in New York City. Serena Williams was the champion in 2002; however, she did not participate in 2003 because of injury. Justine Henin-Hardenne was the Champion defeating Kim Clijsters in the final, 7-5, 6-1...
. By winning US$2.2 million, she equalled her own 2005 record of the largest payday in women's sports history. Injury then kept Clijsters out until the WTA Championships.
At the year-end championship, Clijsters advanced to the final, after defeating Janković and Azerenka to qualify for the semifinals. Clijsters lost her final group game to Zvonareva. In the semifinals, Clijsters beat Stosur in straight sets, after surviving a car crash. In the championship match, Clijsters faced world no. 1 Caroline Wozniacki in a rematch of the 2009 US Open final. Clijsters finished the year at world no. 3, after defeating the Dane in three sets to clinch her third WTA Championship and fifth title of the year.
Clijsters final match of 2010 was a repeat of what the Best of Belgium should have been, a match against Justine Henin. The match took place at the Diamond Games in front of a Belgian crowd. Clijsters came out the winner, winning the match tie-breaker 10–5.
For her performance during the season, Clijsters received the WTA Player of the Year award for the second time (first one in 2005), the first player ever to win this award in the year following the win of the Comeback Player of the Year.
2011
Clijsters' first competitive outing of the year was the Medibank International Sydney in Australia. In the first round, Clijsters defeated Alexandra DulgheruAlexandra Dulgheru
Alexandra Dulgheru is a Romanian professional tennis player. She achieved a singles career high of World No. 26 on April 11, 2011. Her career high in doubles was World No. 47 on March 21, 2011.She is coached by Gabriel Urpi.-Biography:...
in two sets, 6–1, 6–2. She then defeated Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová, Victoria Azarenka
Victoria Azarenka
Victoria Azarenka is a Belarusian professional tennis player. Her career high and current ranking is world no. 3, which she first achieved on 12 September 2011. She became the highest-ranked Belarusian player ever, surpassing Natasha Zvereva by two spots....
, and Alisa Kleybanova
Alisa Kleybanova
Alisa Mikhaelovna Kleybanova is a Russian professional tennis player. Her highest WTA world ranking to date is No. 20, achieved on February 21, 2010...
to advanced to the final, where she was defeated by world no. 11 Li Na
Li Na (tennis)
Li Na , goes first before the equivalent of a first name in some other nations. Her name off court in China is Li Na. When listed on the , she is known as Na Li. However, in the match, the commentators call her Li Na, and when her full name is listed in text on court, it is also written as Li Na.;...
, 6-7(3), 3-6, despite leading 5–0 in the first set.
Clijsters started her strong campaign at the 2011 Australian Open
2011 Australian Open
The 2011 Australian Open was a tennis tournament featuring six different competitions, and part of the 2011 ATP World Tour, the 2011 WTA Tour, ITF Junior Tour and the NEC Tour, as tournaments for professional, junior and wheelchair players were held...
as the tournament favorite with an emphatic 6–0, 6–0 victory over former world no. 1 Dinara Safina
Dinara Safina
Dinara Mikhailovna Safina , born April 27, 1986 in Moscow, is a Russian professional tennis player of Tatar background. Safina's career high ranking is World No. 1....
in the first round. This was the first time in tennis' open era that a former world no. 1 player received a double bagel loss in a Grand Slam tournament. Clijsters then defeated Carla Suárez Navarro
Carla Suarez Navarro
Carla Suárez Navarro is a Spanish tennis player. She began playing for Spain in the 2008 Fed Cup. On May 18, 2009, she reached her career high ranking at World No. 22.-2008:...
, 6–1, 6–3, and Alizé Cornet
Alizé Cornet
Alizé Cornet is a French professional tennis player and the current French number three . She was born in Nice, Alpes-Maritimes, and has a career-high ranking of No. 11, achieved on 16 February 2009; as of 4 July 2011 she is ranked World No. 69...
, 7–6(3), 6–3, before winning a fourth-round match against Russia's Ekaterina Makarova
Ekaterina Makarova
Ekaterina Valeryevna Makarova is a professional Russian tennis player. She achieved her career high ranking of number 29 on June 6, 2011.-Career:...
, 7–6(3), 6–2. In the quarterfinals, Clijsters continued her progress without dropping a set by beating the twelfth seed Agnieszka Radwańska
Agnieszka Radwanska
Agnieszka Radwańska is a WTA Tour Polish tennis player.Her career high singles ranking is World No. 8, which she achieved on 22 February 2010. As of 24 October 2011, she is ranked World No. 8. In 2007, Radwańska became the first Polish player in history to claim a WTA Tour singles title when she...
, 6–3, 7–6(4). She defeated world no. 2 Vera Zvonareva, 6–3, 6–3, guaranteeing her accession to world no. 2, her highest ranking since her return to the tour. Clijsters won the 2011 Australian Open singles by beating Li Na, 3–6, 6–3, 6–3. It was her first major win outside the US and her fourth overall. Clearly emotional, Clijsters declared that she finally had earned the title "Aussie Kim."
Clijsters next traveled to play at the indoor tournament in Paris
2011 Open GDF Suez – Singles
Elena Dementieva was the defending champion after beating Lucie Šafářová in the 2010 final, but she retired from the sport at the end of the 2010 season.Petra Kvitová defeated Kim Clijsters, 6–4, 6–3, in the final.-Seeds:...
. After defeating Jelena Dokić
Jelena Dokic
Jelena Dokić is an Australian female professional tennis player.During the height of her career, she played for Serbia and Montenegro and reached a career-high ranking of World No. 4 on 19 August 2002. After several family-related difficulties , she slowly slipped down the rankings in 2006...
in the quarterfinals, Clijsters returned to the top of the WTA rankings for the first time in almost five years, overtaking Caroline Wozniacki. Clijsters eventually progressed to the final of the competition, but was beaten by third seed Petra Kvitová
Petra Kvitová
Petra Kvitová is a Czech professional tennis player. She has won seven WTA singles titles. As of 31 October 2011, she is ranked World No. 2. Kvitová won the 2011 Wimbledon Championships and the 2011 WTA Tour Championships singles titles...
in straight sets, 4-6, 3-6.
Up next for Clijsters was the Indian Wells Masters
Indian Wells Masters
The Indian Wells Masters is an annual tennis tournament held in Indian Wells, California....
in California, where she was seeded second. After receiving a bye in the first round, she faced Alla Kudryavtseva
Alla Kudryavtseva
Alla Alexandrovna Kudryavtseva is a professional tennis player from Russia. She currently lives in Moscow, where she is coached by Nick Rybakov...
of Russia and defeated her, 6–2, 6–0. In the third round, she beat the Italian Sara Errani
Sara Errani
Sara Errani , nicknamed "Poco Gigante", is a professional female tennis player from Italy. On February 23, 2009, she reached a new career high of No. 31 on the Tour rankings...
in three sets, 6–3, 2–6, 6–4. Clijsters had to retire in her next match against Marion Bartoli
Marion Bartoli
Marion Bartoli is a French professional tennis player and the current French no. 1. She has won seven Women's Tennis Association singles titles and three doubles titles. She was also a runner-up at the 2007 Wimbledon Championships....
at 6–3, 1–3 with a shoulder injury.
Clijsters was the defending champion in Miami
2011 Sony Ericsson Open
The 2011 Sony Ericsson Open , a men's and women's tennis tournament, was held from March 21 to April 3, 2011. It was the 27th edition of the Miami Masters event and played on outdoor hard courts at the Tennis Center at Crandon Park in Miami...
and the second seed. After defeating Anastasiya Yakimova
Anastasiya Yakimova
Anastasiya Yakimova is a female tennis player from Belarus. She made it to the third round of the 2007 Australian Open, defeating Ai Sugiyama of Japan, a seeded player, on the way in the second round.-2009:...
, 6–1, 6–2, and María José Martínez Sánchez
María José Martínez Sánchez
María José Martínez Sánchez is a Spanish professional tennis player. In singles, she has won five WTA singles titles, the 2009 Copa Sony Ericsson Colsanitas, the 2009 Swedish Open, the Premier 5 event, 2010 Internazionali BNL d'Italia, the 2011 Gastein Ladies and the 2011 Hansol Korea Open. She...
, 6–4, 4–6, 6–3, in the second and third round, respectively, she came back from 1–5 0–40 in the final set against Ana Ivanović
Ana Ivanovic
Ana Ivanović is a former world no. 1 Serbian tennis player. As of November 7, 2011, she is ranked 22th on the WTA rankings. She beat Dinara Safina to win the 2008 French Open and was the runner-up in singles at the 2007 French Open and the 2008 Australian Open...
in the fourth round, winning the match, 7–6(4), 3–6, 7–6(5). She eventually lost in the quarterfinals to Victoria Azarenka
Victoria Azarenka
Victoria Azarenka is a Belarusian professional tennis player. Her career high and current ranking is world no. 3, which she first achieved on 12 September 2011. She became the highest-ranked Belarusian player ever, surpassing Natasha Zvereva by two spots....
in straight sets, 3-6, 3-6.
On 21 April 2011, Clijsters was elected number 16 on the Time Top 100 list of most influential people, the first sports person on the 2011 listing. Her sportsmanship, involvement in charity, success as a mother combined with her anti-diva no-nonsense attitude led to her election.
Clijsters suffered an ankle injury while dancing at a wedding and missed most of the clay-court season before the 2011 French Open
2011 French Open
The 2011 French Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 110th edition of the French Open, and the second Grand Slam event of the year...
. Clijsters was the second seed in the Roland Garros draw. She was defeated by Arantxa Rus
Arantxa Rus
Arantxa Rus is a Dutch female tennis player. In 2008 she won the Australian Open for juniors, defeating Jessica Moore from Australia. Because of this win she went from 35th to 2nd place on the junior tennis list, but soon she became new junior No.1 player...
in the second round, 6-3, 5-7, 1-6, after leading 6–3, 5–2 and having two match points. Clijsters suffered a further ankle injury in the UNICEF Open
2011 UNICEF Open
The 2011 UNICEF Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor grass courts. It was the 22nd edition of the UNICEF Open, and was part of the 250 Series of the 2011 ATP World Tour, and of the WTA International tournaments of the 2011 WTA Tour...
, which forced her to withdraw from Wimbledon
2011 Wimbledon Championships
The 2011 Wimbledon Championships took place at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, England, from 20 June to 3 July 2011. It was the 125th edition of the championships, and the third Grand Slam tournament of the year. It was played on grass courts and was part of the...
.
Clijsters returned to the tour at the 2011 Rogers Cup
2011 Rogers Cup
The 2011 Canada Masters was a tennis tournament to be played on outdoor hard courts in Canada. It was the 122nd edition of the Canada Masters, and was part of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 of the 2011 ATP World Tour, and of the Premier Series of the 2011 WTA Tour...
. She received a bye into the second round, where she played qualifier Zheng Jie
Zheng Jie
Zheng Jie is a Chinese professional tennis player. Her career high ranking is World No. 15 which she achieved on May 18, 2009. As of August 15, 2011, Zheng is ranked World No. 65 in singles and World No. 20 in doubles....
. She won the first set 6–3, but retired three games into the second due to an abdominal injury. The injury caused her to pull out of the 2011 Western & Southern Open
2011 Western & Southern Open
The 2011 Cincinnati Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, Ohio, near Cincinnati, United States. The tournament was a joint men's and women's event, with six new courts being built for the tournament...
, and then the 2011 US Open
2011 US Open (tennis)
The 2011 US Open was a tennis tournament played on the outdoor hard courts at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows Park, of Queens, New York City, United States...
, where she was the two-time defending champion.
She announced on her blog that she was dropping the rest of the season to fully recover in order to get ready for 2012, the year of the Olympic Games, and that she may come back in December 2011 in Antwerp for the Diamond Games
Proximus Diamond Games
The Proximus Diamond Games was a professional tennis tournament held in Antwerp, Belgium. Held since 2002, the tournament takes place in the Sportpaleis, and was played at the beginning of February...
.
Clijsters vs. Henin
Clijsters and Justine Henin met 25 times over a period of 12 years. Their series ended 13–12 in Clijsters' favor.Clijsters vs. Zvonareva
Clijsters and Vera ZvonarevaVera Zvonareva
Vera Zvonareva is a professional tennis player from Russia. She was introduced to tennis at the age of six and turned professional in 2000. Her career high is World No. 2 by the WTA, and she is currently ranked as the World No. 7. Zvonarёva has won twelve WTA Tour singles titles and reached the...
first played each other in 2002. Clijsters leads the series 7–3.
Prior to her first retirement in 2007, Clijsters won all five of her matches with Zvonareva. The women met again during the 2010 season, when Zvonareva won three of their four matches—the lone exception being the US Open final. Zvonareva's first victory against Clijsters came at the 2010 Wimbledon Championships. Their only match of 2011 was won by Clijsters at the Australian Open.
Coaches
- 1992–1996: Bart Van Kerckhove
- 1996–2002: Carl Maes
- 2002–2005: Marc Dehous
- 2009–2011: Wim Fisette
- 2011: Wim Fisette & Carl Maes
- present: Carl Maes
2001
- Clijsters became the first person from Belgium to reach a Grand Slam singles final in the Open Era.
2003
- Clijsters became not only the first Belgian—man or woman—to be ranked world no. 1, but also did so without winning a Grand SlamGrand Slam (tennis)The four Major tennis tournaments, also called the Slams, are the most important tennis events of the year in terms of world tour ranking points, tradition, prize-money awarded, strength and size of player field, and public attention. They are the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and...
tournament. Clijsters is one of only six women to have been ranked world no. 1 in singles and doubles simultaneously (the others being Martina Navratilova, Martina HingisMartina HingisMartina Hingis is a retired Swiss professional tennis player who spent a total of 209 weeks as World No. 1. She won five Grand Slam singles titles...
, Serena WilliamsSerena WilliamsSerena Jameka Williams is an American professional tennis player and a former world no. 1. The Women's Tennis Association has ranked her world no. 1 in singles on five separate occasions. She became the world no. 1 for the first time on July 8, 2002 and regained this ranking for the fifth time on...
, Arantxa Sánchez VicarioArantxa Sánchez VicarioAránzazu 'Arantxa' Isabel Maria Sánchez Vicario is a Spanish former professional tennis player...
, and Lindsay DavenportLindsay DavenportLindsay Ann Davenport is a former World No. 1 American professional tennis player. She has won three Grand Slam singles tournaments and an Olympic gold medal in singles. In 2005, TENNIS Magazine ranked her as the 29th-best player of the preceding forty years...
). - Clijsters compiled a 90–12 singles record. Her singles win total was the highest single-season total by any woman since Navratilova in 1982. Clijsters was the first woman to play more than 100 singles matches in a year since Chris EvertChris EvertChristine Marie "Chris" Evert is a former world number 1 professional tennis player from the United States. She won 18 Grand Slam singles championships, including a record seven championships at the French Open and a record six championships at the U.S. Open. She was the year-ending World No...
in 1974.
2005
- Following Clijsters's victory in the US Open Series and the subsequent US Open, she collected US$2.2 million in prize money, the largest single purse ever won by a female athlete. To that date, she held a North American hardcourt win-loss record of 36–1.
- Clijsters had a 22-match winning streak from August to October. During the streak, she won tournaments in Los AngelesJPMorgan Chase OpenThe LA Women's Tennis Championships presented by Herbalife is a Premier-level tennis tournament on the WTA Tour held in Carson, California, a suburb of Los Angeles. The tournament is played on outdoor hard courts and is a part of the US Open Series....
, Toronto and LuxembourgFortis Championships LuxembourgThe BGL Luxembourg Open is a tennis tournament held in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg. Held since 1991, the tournament was an exhibition event until 1995. After that, it became a WTA Tier III tournament, which it remained until 2004. In 2005, it was promoted to Tier II, marking the first such...
, and the US Open. - First player ever to win the WTA Player of the Year Award in the same year of winning the WTA Come Back Player of the Year trophy
2006
- In returning to the World No. 1 ranking after the Australian Open in January, Clijsters broke a rankings record. She was ranked as low as World No. 134 in March 2005, so her return to the top spot in a ten-month span was the fastest and biggest leap in women's tennis history.
2009
- Third unseeded and first unranked female champion of a Grand Slam title by winning the 2009 US Open2009 US Open (tennis)The 2009 US Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts, held from August 31 to September 14, 2009 in the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center at Flushing Meadows, New York City, United States. Originally, it was scheduled to end with the mens' singles final match on Sunday,...
. Clijsters also became the first mother to win a major since Evonne Goolagong Cawley won the Wimbledon title in 1980, and the first mother to win the US Open since Margaret Court in 1973. She defeated Danish Caroline WozniackiCaroline WozniackiCaroline Wozniacki is a Danish professional tennis player. She is the current world no. 1 on the WTA Tour. As of 7 November 2011, she has held this position for 56 weeks...
7–5, 6–3 in the US Open final. - Returned to WTA rankings at number 19, equaling the highest debut ever that was set by Andrea JaegerAndrea JaegerAndrea Jaeger is a former World No. 2 professional tennis player from the United States whose brief but highly successful tennis career ended prematurely due to major shoulder injuries. Jaeger reached the singles final of Wimbledon in 1983 and the French Open in 1982...
in 1980. - Won the WTA Come Back Player of the Year trophy despite only playing three months effectively.
2010
- First woman to retain the US Open title since Venus WilliamsVenus WilliamsVenus Ebony Starr Williams is an American professional tennis player who is a former World No. 1 and is ranked World No. 101 as of 10 October 2011 in singles and World No. 20 in doubles as of 2011. She has been ranked World No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association on three separate...
in 2001. - Second woman in the Open Era to win three successive US Opens in which she played (she did not play in the 2006, 2007 and 2008 tournaments). Chris Evert won four U.S. Open Championships in a row:(1975–1978)and two additional titles in 1980 and 1982 for a total of six U.S. Opens. Martina Navratilova reached the final after two successive wins in 1985, but lost the third final to Hana Mandlíková. Steffi Graf reached the finals after two consecutive wins in 1990, but lost the third final to Gabriela Sabatini.
- 21 consecutive US Open match victories, second all-time to Chris Evert's 31 from 1975–1979.
- Third woman to win two Grand Slams as a mother, one shy of the record by Margaret Court.
- Repeated her own 2005 feat of earning a women's sport record paycheck of approximately US$2.2 million by winning the US Open, after ending the US Open Series as second after Caroline Wozniacki.
- Won the Masters (WTA Tour ChampionshipsWTA Tour ChampionshipsThe WTA Tour Championships is a tennis tournament played annually at the end of the season for the top-ranked players on the Women's Tennis Association tour. The month, city and number of players has changed since the first edition in 1972...
) for the third time joining a very select group of players, consisting of Martina Navratilova, Monica SelesMonica SelesMonica Seles is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player and a member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame. She was born in Novi Sad, Serbia, former Yugoslavia to Hungarian parents. She became a naturalized United States citizen in 1994 and also received Hungarian citizenship in June 2007...
, Chris EvertChris EvertChristine Marie "Chris" Evert is a former world number 1 professional tennis player from the United States. She won 18 Grand Slam singles championships, including a record seven championships at the French Open and a record six championships at the U.S. Open. She was the year-ending World No...
and Steffi GrafSteffi GrafSteffi Graf is a former World No. 1 German tennis player.In total, Graf won 22 Grand Slam singles titles, second among male and female players only to Margaret Court's 24...
. - Broke the US$20 million mark in career prize money at the same Masters.
- Became WTA year prize money leader with more than US$5 million in earnings
- First player ever to win the WTA Player of the Year Award in the year following the win of the WTA Come Back Player of the Year trophy (see also 2005) Both Serena Williams (2004–2008) and Amélie Mauresmo (2003–2006) became Player of the Year after having been the Comeback Player of the Year but they did not achieve this feat in consecutive years.
- Became most time winner of the Karen Krantzcke WTA award for fair play (7)
2011
- Inflicted the first time ever double bagel loss at a Grand Slam since the start of the open era on a former World No. 1 player – Dinara SafinaDinara SafinaDinara Mikhailovna Safina , born April 27, 1986 in Moscow, is a Russian professional tennis player of Tatar background. Safina's career high ranking is World No. 1....
– during the first round of the Australian Open. - By becoming Australian Open champion, completed a consecutive winning string of the four most important hardcourt tournaments within a year: Miami Masters ("The Fifth Slam") 2010, US Open 2010, WTA Tour Championships 2010 and the Australian Open 2011. Steffi GrafSteffi GrafSteffi Graf is a former World No. 1 German tennis player.In total, Graf won 22 Grand Slam singles titles, second among male and female players only to Margaret Court's 24...
(November 1987–1988 ) and Monica SelesMonica SelesMonica Seles is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player and a member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame. She was born in Novi Sad, Serbia, former Yugoslavia to Hungarian parents. She became a naturalized United States citizen in 1994 and also received Hungarian citizenship in June 2007...
in 1991 had accomplished this series before. - Equalling the record of Margaret Court of winning three Grand Slams as a mother
- Received for the third time a women's sport record paycheck of approximately US$2.2 million by winning the Australian Open
- Became number 1 in the WTA rankings for the fourth time in her career on 14 February 2011 after the 2011 Open GDF Suez2011 Open GDF SuezThe 2011 Open GDF Suez was a women's professional tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It was the 19th edition of the Open GDF Suez and was a Premier tournament on the 2011 WTA Tour...
in Paris, nearly five years after being at the #1 spot in early 2006. It is also the first time Clijsters is number one in the same calendar year of winning a Grand Slam. - Became the first mother to hold the number 1 ranking since the inception of the computer rankings in 1975.
- Ranked 16 on the Time Top 100 list of most influential people, the first sports person on the 2011 listing.
Awards
1999- Belgian Sportswoman of the Year
- WTA Most Impressive Newcomer
2000
- Belgian Sportswoman of the Year
- Flemish Giant Award
2001
- Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award (for 2000)
- Belgian Sportswoman of the Year
- Flemish Giant Award
2002
- Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award (for 2001)
- Belgian Sportswoman of the Year
2003
- Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award(for 2002)
- Belgian Sports Personality of the YearBelgian Sports Personality of the YearThe Belgian Sports Personality of the Year is an annual sports award given in January by the Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad to the greatest personality in sports. For this award, not only athletes qualify but everyone who's involved in sports A person can only win this award once in his...
(for 2002)
2004
- WTA Player Service Award (for 2003)
- Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award(for 2003)
2005
- ITF World Champion
- WTA Tour Championships Race winner
- US Open Series Winner
- Belgian Sportswoman of the Year
- International Tennis Writers Association (ITWA) Player of the Year
- International Tennis Writers Ambassador for Tennis
- WTA Player of the Year
2006
- WTA Player of the Year (for 2005)
- WTA Comeback Player of the Year (for 2005)
- Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award (for 2005)
- Member of the Belgian Sporting Team of the Year (Fed Cup – Team)
- WTA Humanitarian of the Year
2007
- Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award (for 2006)
2009
- VTV Tennis Performance of the Year
- Belgian Sportswoman of the Year
2010
- Laureus World Comeback of the Year (For 2009)
- WTA Comeback Player of the Year (for 2009)
- Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award (for 2009)
- Best Comeback Athlete ESPY Award (for 2009)
- VTV Tennis Performance of the Year
- Flemish Giant Award
- Belgian Sportswoman of the Year
2011
- WTA Player of the Year (for 2010)
- WTA Player Service Award (for 2010)
Singles
| Tournament | 1997 1997 WTA Tour The WTA Tour is the elite tour for professional women's tennis organised by the Women's Tennis Association . The WTA Tour includes the four Grand Slam tournaments, the WTA Tour Championships and the WTA Tier I, Tier II, Tier III and Tier IV events... | 1998 1998 WTA Tour The WTA Tour is the elite tour for professional women's tennis organised by the Women's Tennis Association . The WTA Tour includes the four Grand Slam tournaments, the WTA Tour Championships and the WTA Tier I, Tier II, Tier III and Tier IV events... | 1999 1999 WTA Tour The WTA Tour is the elite tour for professional women's tennis organised by the Women's Tennis Association . The WTA Tour includes the four Grand Slam tournaments, the WTA Tour Championships and the WTA Tier I, Tier II, Tier III and Tier IV events... | 2000 2000 WTA Tour The 2000 Sanex WTA Tour was the 28th season since the founding of the Women's Tennis Association. It commenced on January 3, 2000, and concluded on November 13, 2000, after 58 events. For this season, a new event was added: the State Farm Classic in Scottsdale, Arizona, U.S... | 2001 2001 WTA Tour The WTA Tour is the elite tour for professional women's tennis organised by the Women's Tennis Association . The WTA Tour includes the four Grand Slam tournaments, the WTA Tour Championships and the WTA Tier I, Tier II, Tier III, Tier IV and Tier V events... | 2002 2002 WTA Tour The 2002 Sanex WTA Tour was the 30th season since the founding of the Women's Tennis Association. It commenced on December 31, 2001, and concluded on November 11, 2002, after 64 events.... | 2003 2003 WTA Tour The WTA Tour is the elite tour for professional women's tennis organised by the Women's Tennis Association . The WTA Tour includes the four Grand Slam tournaments, the WTA Tour Championships and the WTA Tier I, Tier II, Tier III, Tier IV and Tier V events... | 2004 2004 WTA Tour The 2004 WTA Tour was the 32nd season since the founding of the Women's Tennis Association. It commenced on January 5, 2004, and concluded on November 13, 2004, after 60 events.... | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 2007 WTA Tour The 2007 Sony Ericsson WTA Tour was the 35th season since the founding of the Women's Tennis Association. It commenced on January 1, 2007, and concluded on November 11, 2007 after 61 events. Two new events were added to the schedule for the 2007 season: the Barcelona KIA and Gastein Ladies. It also... | 2008 2008 WTA Tour The 2008 Sony Ericsson WTA Tour was the 36th season since the founding of the Women's Tennis Association. It commenced on December 31, 2007, and concluded on November 9, 2008 after 59 events.The season was characterised by its frequent changes in the No... | 2009 2009 WTA Tour The 2009 Sony Ericsson WTA Tour was the 37th season since the founding of the Women's Tennis Association. It commenced on January 5, 2009, and concluded on November 8, 2009 after 56 events.... | 2010 2010 WTA Tour The Women's Tennis Association Tour is the elite professional tennis circuit organized by the WTA. The 2010 WTA Tour calendar comprises the Grand Slam tournaments , the WTA Premier tournaments , the WTA International tournaments, the Fed Cup , and the year-end... | 2011 2011 WTA Tour The WTA Tour is the elite tour for women's professional tennis organized by the Women's Tennis Association . The 2011 WTA Tour includes the Grand Slam tournaments , the WTA Premier tournaments, the WTA International tournaments, the Fed Cup , the Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions, and the WTA... | Career SR | Career W-L |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australian Open Australian Open The Australian Open is the only Grand Slam tennis tournament held in the southern hemisphere. The tournament was held for the first time in 1905 and was last contested on grass in 1987. Since 1972 the Australian Open has been held in Melbourne, Victoria. In 1988, the tournament became a hard court... |
A | A | A | 1R | 4R | SF | SF | F | A | SF | SF | A | A | 3R | W | 1 / 9 | 38–8 |
| French Open | A | A | A | 1R | F | 3R | F | A | 4R | SF | A | A | A | A | 2R | 0 / 7 | 23–7 |
| Wimbledon The Championships, Wimbledon The Championships, Wimbledon, or simply Wimbledon , is the oldest tennis tournament in the world, considered by many to be the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London since 1877. It is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, the other three Majors... |
A | A | 4R | 2R | QF | 2R | SF | A | 4R | SF | A | A | A | QF | A | 0 / 8 | 29–8 |
| US Open | A | A | 3R | 2R | QF | 4R | F | A | W | A | A | A | W | W | A | 3 / 8 | 37–5 |
| Grand Slam W–L | 0–0 | 0–0 | 8–2 | 2–4 | 17–4 | 11–4 | 22–4 | 6–1 | 13–2 | 14–3 | 5–1 | 0–0 | 7–0 | 13–2 | 8–1 | 4 / 32 | 127–28 |
| WTA Tour Championships WTA Tour Championships The WTA Tour Championships is a tennis tournament played annually at the end of the season for the top-ranked players on the Women's Tennis Association tour. The month, city and number of players has changed since the first edition in 1972... |
A | A | A | QF | SF | W | W | A | RR | SF | A | A | A | W | A | 3 / 7 | 19–7 |
See also
- List of female tennis players
- List of Grand Slam women's singles champions
- Clijsters–Henin rivalryClijsters–Henin rivalryJustine Henin and Kim Clijsters are professional tennis players who engaged in a long standing rivalry which spanned twenty-five meetings over a twelve-year period, with eight of those meetings taking place in a Grand Slam tournament...