BREE, Belgium
- She was one of the most successful and popular players in women's
professional tennis history, and on Thursday, March 26, 2009, after
nearly two years of retirement, Kim Clijsters announced she will return
to the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour for three tournaments this August, as
well as a series of exhibitions.
Clijsters will play her first
three Tour events back at the Western & Southern Financial Group
Women's Open in Cincinnati, the Rogers Cup in Toronto and the US Open
in New York, following several exhibition events in the months
surrounding those. The Belgian, 25, began training at the start of 2009
with the initial aim of playing just the exhibitions, most notably "A
Centre Court Celebration" at Wimbledon in May, which will see her share
the court with the likes of Steffi Graf, Andre Agassi, Tim Henman and
the new Centre Court roof. But her hunger for competition and hard work
on the practice court proved much greater than originally thought.
"It
all started with preparing for the gala match at Wimbledon. It was all
pretty laid back. But I liked it so much I was onto my training
schedule from my pro days, and then the hunger for more came
automatically," Clijsters said. "I look at this as a second career, not
as a comeback, as I am now in a situation where not everything revolves
around tennis 24 hours a day. We'll see how I, Jada and the others in
my environment can handle this."
Between turning pro in August
1997 and then retiring in May 2007, Clijsters put together an historic
Tour resumé. Her 34 singles titles included one Grand Slam - the 2005
US Open, while her 11 doubles titles included two Grand Slams - the
French Open and Wimbledon in 2003, both with Japan's Ai Sugiyama. She
made it all the way to No.1 in the world on the rankings in both of
those disciplines as well, even holding both top rankings at the same
time for three weeks.
Clijsters cited frustrations with injury
and the desire to begin a family as reasons she retired in 2007. Now,
after time to heal from the many injuries that plagued her throughout
her first decade on the Tour, plus her own family made up of husband
and pro basketball player Brian Lynch and daughter Jada Ellie, born on
February 27, 2008, she is ready to embark on the second phase of her
career.
Clijsters' schedule
May 17 - A Centre Court Celebration (Wimbledon)
(exhibition
singles match against Steffi Graf, then exhibition mixed doubles match
partnering Tim Henman against Steffi Graf and Andre Agassi)
June 14 - Ordina Open ('s-Hertogenbosch)
(exhibition singles match against Michaella Krajicek)
July 21-22 - WorldTeamTennis (with St. Louis Aces)
August 10 - Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open (Cincinnati)
August 17 - Rogers Cup (Toronto)
August 31 - US Open (New York)
December 10-13 - Diamond Games, Antwerp (exhibition)