Former world No.1 Kim Clijsters announced her return to the WTA Tour seven years after her retirement from professional tennis at the age of 36. It will be a third playing career for the Belgian, who earlier retired in 2007 and 2012. Clijsters, who is a mother of three children will make her comeback in the 2020 season.
Kim Clijsters was the world No.1 in both singles and doubles and has conquered six Grand Slam titles combined in her topsy-turvy career - four in singles, two in doubles.
Let's take a look at the two phases of Kim Clijsters' career -
First Phase
The Belgian star began her career in 1997 as she had to participate in the tournament through qualifying rounds only as the WTA's rules did not allow a player of her age to receive a wild card into the main draw of the event. In 1999, Clijsters was awarded the Newcomer of the year as she climbed up the ranking from No.200 to No.47 on the WTA rankings.
At the age of 18, Kim Clijsters made it to her maiden Grand Slam finals at the 2000 French Open as she became the first Belgian to contest a major final. With three titles in the same year, Kim finished the season at No.5 on the WTA rankings. A shoulder injury in the next season did not ponder her rankings. Her continuous success on the tour led her to the world No.1 in both singles and doubles in 2003. The Belgian also claimed the doubles title at the French Open and Wimbledon in the same year. However, the year was ultimately marred with injuries.
In 2004, despite having injury issues, Clijsters made it to the Australian Open finals but failed to cross the finishing line. She couldn't make her mark in the 2004 season as injuries hampered her participation in tournaments throughout the year. However, after struggling with injuries for over a year, Clijsters won her maiden Grand Slam title at the 2005 US Open. She ended the year as world No.2, having won nine titles.
The injuries continued to hamper her as she could manage to play only 14 tournaments in the 2006 season. She entered 2007 intending to retire at the end of the season but only ended up playing in five events due to injuries. The Belgian shocked the world after announcing her retirement at the age of 23 in 2007.
Second Phase
After giving birth to a daughter in 2008, Clijsters hit the court for the first time in two years when she was called up.to play an exhibition match with Tim Henman against Steffi Graf and Andre Agassi to test the new retractable roof on Centre Court at Wimbledon. She then hinted to make a comeback on the tour. The Belgian started her second career at the 2009 US Open series.
To everyone's surprise, Kim Clijsters defeated three top 20 players to announce her comeback on the WTA Tour. Kim was back to business in her third tournament of the season at the US Open, where she went on to win her second title at Flushing Meadows. She became the first unseeded woman to win the title at the event, and the first mother to win a Grand Slam singles title.
In 2010, Clijsters decided to have a limited schedule in order to prevent injuries and give some time to her family. After her US Open success, she was one of the favorites to win the titles in the 2010 season. However, she could not leave her mark in the first half of the season. She also struggles with injuries throughout the season. Nonetheless, Clijsters recovered to defend her title at the US Open. She also conquered her third WTA Tour Championships in 2010 and was named WTA Player of the Year for the second time.
By the start of 2011, the former world No.1 had already decided to retire from professional tennis for the second time in 2012. She cited the reason for her retirement that she did not want to be on the tour while her daughter is going to the school. However, this decision could not stop Clijsters to succeed on the tour.
She went on to win the fourth Grand Slam of her career at the Australian Open 2011 and her first outside the US Open. Clijsters entered the US Open having not lost a match there since 2003 final. She recorded her last WTA singles match win against Victoria Duval in the first round before falling out in the second round. She then hung up her racquet in September 2012.
Kim Clijsters two sons Jack (born 2013) and Blake (born 2016) posted a video on Instagram on September 12, 2019, announcing her final comeback at the WTA circuit. Kim, who is also the mother of three children knows what she will be facing when she returns in January 2020 and certainly knows that she has the chance to once again succeed at the tour.
