Kim Clijsters, Belgian Tennis Champ Was Known For Her Deep, Powerful, Well-Placed Groundstrokes

During her professional career, Clijsters won 34 WTA singles titles and 11 WTA doubles titles. She won the U.S. Open singles title in 2005 and the WTA Tour Championships singles title in 2002 and 2003. In doubles, she won the French Open and Wimbledon titles in 2003. Clijsters was twice a singles runner-up at the French Open and a one-time runner-up at the Australian Open, also reaching two Wimbledon singles semifinals. She announced her retirement with immediate effect on May 6, Playing styleClijsters, known as Aussie Kim, Kim Kong, Killing Kim, or Kim Possible to many fans, is recognized for her deep, powerful, well-placed groundstrokes, as well as her court-wide defense, characterized by speed and athleticism. Kim Clijsters, along with Svetlana Kuznetsova, is among the few tennis players on either the ATP or WTA tours who can slide (known as the straddle) on all surfaces. After being defeated by Clijsters in the 2005 Nasdaq-100 Open, Maria Sharapova implied that Clijsters's strength lies in how she always forces her opponent to hit an extra shot, that "you just have to expect that she's going to get every ball back".

Family life

Kim Antonie Lode Clijsters was born on June 8, 1983, in Bilzen, in the Flemish Region of Belgium. She is the daughter of a successful football player, Lei Clijsters, and a national gymnastics champion, Els Vandecaetsbeek. Clijsters claims to have inherited footballer's legs from her father and a gymnast's flexibility from her mother.Clijsters' younger sister Elke finished 2002 as the ITF World Junior Doubles champion and retired in 2004 after back injuries.

In November 2003, Kim Clijsters announced her engagement to Australian tennis player Lleyton Hewitt, but their relationship ended in October 2004.

In October 2006, Clijsters announced her engagement to American basketball player Brian Lynch, who is based in Clijsters's hometown of Bree. In an interview with "Sportweekend," Clijsters stated that she was retiring to start a family. Clijsters and Lynch married secretly on July 13, 2007, at 6:00 in the morning at the Bree city hall. She was married by the mayor, with sister Elke Clijsters, Lynch's brother Pat Lynch, and both families' parents present.

Kim Clijsters gave birth to a daughter on February 27, 2008, at 1:35 PM at the Vesaliushospital in Tongeren, Belgium. The girl, Jada Ellie, weighed 3.035 kg and measured 51 cm. Clijsters's mother gave birth to a son, Zeth, after Jada Ellie was born.

Tennis career

Kim Clijsters was an accomplished junior player. In singles, she finished as runner-up in the 1998 Wimbledon junior event, placing 11th in the year-end singles ranking. In the same year in doubles, Clijsters won the French Open title with Jelena Dokic, and the U.S. Open with Eva Dyrberg, ending the season as number four in the International Tennis Federation junior doubles world ranking.

In 1999, Kim Clijsters made her breakthrough professionally. Playing through the qualifying rounds, she made it through the main draw of Wimbledon, wherein she defeated tenth ranked Amanda Coetzer en route to the fourth round, where Clijsters lost to her childhood idol Steffi Graf. Later that summer, Clijsters reached the third round of the U.S. 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 at Luxembourg. She followed up with her first WTA doubles title at Bratislava, partnering Laurence Courtois.

Kim Clijsters climbed up the rankings over the next couple of years. In 2001, she reached her first Grand Slam final at the French Open, where she lost to Jennifer Capriati 12–10 in the third set. Her next important breakthrough came at the end of 2002, when she won the year-end WTA Tour Championship in Los Angeles, defeating top ranked Serena Williams in the final, 7–5 6–3. During that time, Serena was considered to be the most dominant player, and being defeated in straight sets by an 18-year old was an incredible shock. On her way to the final, she also beat fourth ranked Justine Henin-Hardenne and second ranked Venus Williams (when Williams retired).

Kim Clijsters had her career-best season in 2003. She won nine singles tournaments and seven doubles titles that year, including the French Open and Wimbledon. She successfully defended her WTA Tour Championships title and reached two Grand Slam finals (French Open and U.S. Open), losing both to Henin-Hardenne. She reached the semis at the Australian Open and Wimbledon, showing incredible consistency. With the exception of her losses in the final, one memory that will be remembered is her loss to Serena Williams at the 03 Aussie Open semis. Serena had won her last 26 Grand Slam matches (as well as winning the last three Grand Slams), and after stunning her in straight sets at the Year-End Championships, she seemed well on her way for another upset victory as she lead 6–4, 3–6, 5–1. However, an incredibly resilient Williams fought off two match points, and ran off six straight games to secure a spot in the final, and ending up achieving the "Serena Slam".

On August 11, 2003, Kim Clijsters attained the top ranking, holding the spot for 12 non-consecutive weeks before losing it later in the year to Henin. She is the first woman to be ranked number one on the computer rankings without winning a Grand Slam title.

Clijsters started 2004 by reaching her fourth career Grand Slam final at the Australian Open, where she lost once more to Henin-Hardenne. She then won two consecutive titles in Paris and Antwerp. While defending her Tier I title at Indian Wells, however, Clijsters began to have problems with her wrist, eventually requiring surgery and forcing her to withdraw from most tournaments. She attempted a comeback towards the end of the season, winning several matches, before reaggravating the injury.

2005

In February 2005, after almost a year of inactivity caused by injuries, she made her return to the WTA tour by participating in her home country tournament at Antwerp, losing to Venus Williams in a quarterfinal. She then completed her comeback to the top echelon of women's tennis when she won, as an unseeded entry, 14 straight matches to claim two Tier I titles (Indian Wells and Miami) in March. During that run, Kim Clijsters defeated five of the world's top six players.

Clijsters finally won a Grand Slam singles title at the U.S. Open. It was her first victory after reaching four Grand Slam finals previously. In the tournament, Clijsters defeated Mary Pierce 6–3, 6–1 in the final. Along the way, she defeated 10th seeded Venus Williams and top seeded Maria Sharapova. By winning the U.S. Open Series—a string of tournaments leading to the Grand Slam—Clijsters received a 100 percent bonus to the U.S. $1.1 million in prize money at the U.S. Open. Her U.S. $2.2 million paycheck was the largest payday in women's sports history.

On September 15, within days after her U.S. Open victory, it was announced that the cooperation between Kim Clijsters and her coach, Marc Dehous, would come to an end. Dehous thought that it was time to do something else.

At the 2005 WTA Tour Championships, Clijsters was eliminated after only two matches. She lost her first match to Mary Pierce, 6–1, 4–6, 7–6. Amelie Mauresmo defeated her in the second match, 6–3, 7–6. Clijsters said in interviews that her defeats were due to fatigue and maybe jet lag, having had a relatively short time to adjust and acclimatize before the tournament began. Although she won her third match in the round-robin tournament against Elena Dementieva, 6–2 6–3, it was considered a dead rubber.

Overall, she won nine singles events in 2005, her last one being at the Gaz de France Stars in Hasselt. She ended the year ranked No. 2.

Kim Clijsters started her 2006 season by winning an exhibition tournament, the Watson Water Challenge, in Hong Kong. On her way to the title she defeated Jie Zheng, Elena Dementieva, and top ranked Lindsay Davenport.

Clijsters then withdrew from her semifinal match at the WTA tournament in Sydney, citing a left hip muscle strain.

At the 2006 Australian Open, Kim Clijsters defeated former champion Martina Hingis, 6–3, 2–6, 6–4 in a quarterfinal, before retiring from a semifinal match with Amélie Mauresmo. Despite the loss, the ranking points she accumulated were enough to regain the world number one spot, a position she last held on November 9, 2003. She was the first tennis player, male or female, to rise from outside the Top 100 (No. 134) to No. 1 in less than year.

Clijsters' loss to Mauresmo in the Australian Open semifinals 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.

Kim Clijsters won her first title of the year at a clay court event in Warsaw, defeating Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final 7–5, 6–2.

In May, Clijsters competed at the French Open. She did not lose a set on her way to the semifinals. In a quarterfinal, she once again defeated Hingis, 7–6, 6–1. However, she lost to Justine Henin-Hardenne in a semifinal 6–3, 6–2, on her 23rd birthday.

She was seeded second going into Wimbledon but was again eliminated in the semifinals by Henin-Hardenne.

Kim Clijsters collected her second title of the year as the top seed in Stanford, defeating Patty Schnyder in the final 6–4, 6–2. Clijsters then reached the final in San Diego, falling to second-seeded Maria Sharapova 7–5, 7–5. This was her first loss to Sharapova in five career meetings.

On August 16, after receiving a first round bye at the 2006 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 August 18, 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 compete in the 2006 U.S. Open to defend her title. She also missed the Fed Cup final against Italy, which Italy won 3–2.

At the Gaz de France Stars, her first tournament in more than two months, Clijsters successfully defended her title by beating qualifier Kaia Kanepi 6–3, 3–6, 6–4 in the final. En route to the final, Kim Clijsters defeated Anne Kremer (6–3, 6–2), Martina Müller (6–3, 6–2), Sandra Klösel (6–1, 6–0) and Vera Zvonareva (6–4, 3–6, 6–4).

At the year-ending WTA Tour Championships, Clijsters lost a semifinal to Amélie Mauresmo 6–2, 3–6, 6–3, after defeating Dementieva and Kuznetsova and losing to Sharapova in the round robin phase of the tournament.

2007

Kim Clijsters started her final season on the tour by winning an exhibition tournament, the Watson Water Challenge, in Hong Kong. On her way to the title, she defeated Jie Zheng, Patty Schnyder, and top ranked Maria Sharapova.

Kim Clijsters then won the Medibank International tournament in Sydney, Australia, defeating Jelena Jankovic in the final 4–6, 7–6(1), 6–4 after being down a match point.

At the 2007 Australian Open, the fourth seeded Clijsters defeated sixth seeded Martina Hingis in a quarterfinal match. However, she lost to Sharapova in a semifinal 6–4, 6–2.

She played her last tournament in Belgium at the Proximus Diamond Games in Antwerp, where she lost to Amelie Mauresmo in the final 6–4, 7–6(4). At the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, Clijsters lost in the fourth round to Li Na 4–6, 6–4, 6–2.

Retirement

In May, Clijsters failed to defend her title in Warsaw, losing in the second round to Julia Vakulenko 7–6(3), 6–3. This was Clijsters's last professional match until 2009. On 6 May 2007, citing injuries, Clijsters announced on her official website that she was retiring from professional tennis immediately.

2009: Comeback

Two years later, Kim Clijsters, along with Tim Henman, Steffi Graf and Andre Agassi, played an exhibition event on Wimbledon's Centre Court in May, an event that she and Henman won 7–6 in a tiebreak. She also played a singles rubber against Graf, winning 6–4. In July, she won both of her singles matches with the St. Louis Aces of World Team Tennis.

She officially announced during a press conference on 26 March 2009, that she was returning to professional tennis. She said that she had been inspired when preparing for the Wimbledon roof event. Kim said that she had asked for wildcards for the Cincinnati and Toronto tournaments. Additionally, she asked for a wildcard to the US Open, after which she plans to evaluate the comeback in terms of success and the feasibility of combining it with her family life. Kim 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 compared to her first career.

Starting her second career at the Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open in Cincinnati, following the acceptance of her wildcard. Clijsters 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 quarter-finals, she lost to World No. 1 Dinara Safina 6–2, 7–5.

Following Cincinnati Kim 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 Jankovic in the third round 1–6, 6–3, 7–5, after serving for the match at 5–3.

She then received a wildcard to play in the main draw of the US Open. She easily 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 Na Li in straight sets 6–2, 6–4 to reach the semi-finals 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. Kim 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 Wild Card champion in US Open history and the first mother to win a Grand Slam title in the Open era since Evonne Goolagong won Wimbledon in 1980.

Kim Clijsters then receives 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 December 10, , Clijsters defeated rival Venus Williams 6–1, 7–5. She finished the year ranked 18th.

2010

Clijsters started her 2010 campaign at the Brisbane International in Australia as the top seed. Clijsters defeated Tathiana Garbin in the first round 6–2, 6–1 and Alicia Molik in the second round 6–0, 6–3. She defeated Lucie Safarova 6–1, 0–6, 6–4 in a very sloppy match to advance to the semifinals where she defeated Andrea Petkovic to set up a final with her former rival and compatriot Justine Henin, who was playing her first tournament after a 20-month break from tennis. Clijsters was easily leading 6–3, 4–1 only for Henin to win eight consecutive games to take the second set and lead 3–0 in the final set. Kim Clijsters trailed 5–3 and saved two match points while down 15–40, only for her to come back and force a final set tie-break. She eventually won the match 6–3, 4–6, 7–6(6). This was Clijsters' 36th career title.

Clijsters' next tournament was the 2010 Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the season. In the first round, she defeated Valerie Tetreault 6–0, 6–4 in under an hour. In the second round, she defeated Tamarine Tanasugarn 6–3, 6–3. However, Kim Clijsters was then stunned by World No. 20 Nadia Petrova in a 52-minute third-round match, 6–0, 6–1. This was the most lopsided defeat of Clijsters' career, eclipsing a 6–0, 6–2 defeat at the hands of Serena Williams in 2001, and ending her nine-match winning streak in a major.

At the Billie Jean King Cup, an exhibition tournament, she beat Ana Ivanovic in a one set tie-break, then she fell to Venus Williams in three sets 6-4, 3-6, 7-5.

In March, 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.

Kim Clijsters next played the Premier Mandatory tournament in Indian Wells, the 2010 BNP Paribas Open. Clijsters was seeded 14th but she fell to the 23rd seed Alisa Kleybanova in the third round 6-4, 1-6, 7-6(4). However, she rebounded well at the 2010 Sony Ericsson Open in Miami. As the 14th seed, she only dropped three games while defeating Petra Kvitova and Shahar Pe'er and then scored a big win over the defending champion and 4th seed Victoria Azarenka 6-4, 6-0. Clijsters defeated the World No. 10 Samantha Stosur 6-3, 7-5 in the quarter-finals and then outlasted Justine Henin in a two and a half hour semifinal, 6-2, 6-7(3), 7-6(6). Kim Clijsters went on to beat the 3rd seed and world no. 5 Venus Williams 6-2, 6-1 in 58 minutes in the final. Clijsters' ranking rose to World No.10.

Playing her first clay tennis match in three years at the Andalucia Tennis Experience in Marbella, she advanced to the second round after beating Alexandra Dulgheru in three sets. She suffered a huge upset however in the second round, losing to the World No. 258 Beatriz Garcia Vidagany, 7–5, 4–6, 6–4.

Unfortunately, due to a foot injury she sustained during Belgium's Fed Cup tie against Estonia, Kim has been forced to withdraw from the 2010 French Open, a tournament where she has had great success - reaching the final in both 2001 and 2003.

Records

2003

• Kim Clijsters became not only the first Belgian—man or woman—to be ranked number one, but also did it without winning a Grand Slam tournament. Clijsters also is one of the few women to be both world number one in singles and doubles.
• Clijsters compiled a 90–12 singles record. Her singles win total was the highest single-season total by any woman since 1982. Clijsters was the first woman to play more than 100 singles matches in a year since 1974.

2005

• By winning in Indian Wells, Clijsters became the lowest ranked (No. 133) player ever to win a Tier I event. In the final, she beat top ranked Lindsay Davenport 6–4, 4–6, 6–2. She is the lowest ranked player to defeat a reigning world number one since 1975.
• In Miami, Kim Clijsters became only the second player (the first being Steffi Graf in 1995 and 1996) to win the Indian Wells-Miami double. En route to victory, she beat the sixth (Anastasia Myskina), fifth Elena Dementieva, second Amelie Mauresmo, and third Maria Sharapovaseeds in consecutive matches. She was the first unseeded winner of the tournament and did not lose a set in the tournament.
• Following Clijsters' victory in the US Open Series and the subsequent U.S. Open, she collected U.S. $2.2 million in prize money, the largest paycheck in women's sports history. To that date, she held a North American hardcourt win-loss record of 36–1, the most matches ever won on that surface during a season.
• Kim Clijsters had a 22-match winning streak from August to October. During the streak, she won tournaments in Los Angeles, Toronto, and Luxembourg and the U.S. Open.

2006

• In returning to the world number one spot in the rankings after the Australian Open in January, Clijsters broke a rankings record. She was ranked as low as 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 Open. Clijsters also became the first mother to win a major since Evonne Goolagong Cawley won the Wimbledon title in 1980. She defeated Danish Caroline Wozniacki 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 Jaeger in 1980.
  
  

  
  
  

  Awards

  Kim Clijsters is considered by her peers as one of the most likeable players on tour. This, combined with her accomplishments on court, has earned her numerous citations:

  • 2000 WTA Newcomer of the Year (for 1999).
  • 2001 Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award (for 2000).
  • 2002 Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award (for 2001).
  • 2003 Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award (for 2002).

  2004

  • WTA Player Service Award (for 2003).
  • Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award (for 2003).

  2005

  • ITF World Champion.
  • WTA Tour Championships Race winner.
  • Belgian Sportswoman of the Year.
  • International Tennis Writers Association (ITWA) Player of the Year.
  • International Tennis Writers Ambassador for Tennis.

  2006

  • WTA Player of the Year (for 2005).
  • WTA Comeback Player of the Year (for 2005).
  • Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award (for 2005).

  2007

  • Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award (for 2006).
  
  
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  Source of this article: Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia
  
  

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