Kim Clijsters
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| Country |  Belgium |
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| Residence | Bree, Belgium | |
| Date of birth | June 08, 1983 (age 23) | |
| Place of birth | Bilzen, Belgium | |
| Height | 1.74 m (5 ft 8 1/2 in) | |
| Weight | 68 kg (150 lb) | |
| Turned Pro | 1999 | |
| Retired | Active | |
| Plays | Right; Two-handed backhand | |
| Career Prize Money | US$14,350,137 | |
| Singles | ||
| Career record: | 406-98 | |
| Career titles: | 33 (12th in overall rankings) | |
| Highest ranking: | No. 1 (August 11, 2003) | |
| Grand Slam results | ||
| Australian Open | F (2004) | |
| French Open | F (2001, 2003) | |
| Wimbledon | SF (2003, 2006) | |
| U.S. Open | W (2005) | |
| Doubles | ||
| Career record: | 129-49 | |
| Career titles: | 11 | |
| Highest ranking: | No. 1 (August 4, 2003) | |
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Infobox last updated on: November 5, 2006. |
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Kim Clijsters IPA /kɪm klɛistərs/ listen , (born June 8, 1983 in Bilzen, Belgium) currently is the fifth ranked female tennis player in the world, a former number one player, the 2005 U.S. Open champion, and the winner of the 2002 and 2003 WTA Tour Championships.
[edit] Playing Style
Clijsters, known as 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, including the use of splits in returning some shots. [1] After being defeated by Clijsters in the U.S. Open, Maria Sharapova commented that Clijsters' strength lies in how she always forces her opponent to "hit that extra shot."
[edit] Trademark move
Clijsters sometimes hacks downward on the racket with an open face, creating a vicious underspin to neutralize the power behind a ball, then does a split. This dissipates her momentum, allowing a quick recovery and preventing her opponent from gaining an opening.
[edit] Family life
Clijsters is the daughter of a successful footballer, Lei Clijsters, and a national gymnastics champion, Els Vandecaetsbeek. Clijsters claims to have inherited a footballer's legs from her father and a gymnast's flexibility from her mother.[2]
Clijsters' younger sister Elke finished 2002 as the ITF World Junior Doubles champion and retired in 2004 after back injuries.
In November 2003, Clijsters announced her engagement to Australian tennis player Lleyton Hewitt, but their relationship ended in October 2004. As of October 2006, she is engaged to 27-year-old American basketball player Brian Lynch, who is based in Clijsters' hometown of Bree. In an interview with "Sportweekend," Clijsters said that she and Lynch will marry soon after Wimbledon in 2007 and that she will retire to become a housewife, look after her husband, and support him in his career.
[edit] Tennis career
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, 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.
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 Championships in Los Angeles, defeating top ranked Serena Williams in the final, 7-5 6-3. On her way to the final, she beat fourth ranked Justine Henin-Hardenne and second ranked Venus Williams (when Williams retired).
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.
On August 11, 2003, Clijsters attained the top ranking, holding the spot for 12 non-consecutive weeks before losing it later in the year to Henin-Hardenne. She is the first woman to achieve become the top ranked player 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.
[edit] 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, 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 Clijsters and her coach, Marc Dehous, would come to an end. De Hous 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. Amélie 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 number two.
[edit] 2006
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, Clijsters defeated former champion Martina Hingis, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 in a quarterfinal, before retiring from a semifinal match with Amelie 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 thournament 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 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.
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 Montréal, 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.[3]
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, Clijsters defeated Anne Kremer (6-3, 6-2), Martina Müller (6-3, 6-2), Sandra Kloesel (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.
[edit] Coaches
- 1992-1996: Bart Van Kerckhove—he saw Clijsters as an 11 year old and was certain she would make it as a top 10 player in the world.
- 1996-2002: Carl Maes
- 2002-2005: Marc Dehous
[edit] Possible Retirement
Recently, Clijsters has given indications that she will retire from tennis soon. "I think I will stop at the end of 2007. My body is already giving me a lot of problems," Clijsters said, mirroring a current trend in men's and women's tennis of prevailing injuries. Clijsters herself has had a career marred by several injuries including a career-threatening wrist injury. [4]
Clijsters said in an interview with "Sportweekend" that she has been offered the directorship of the Gaz de France Stars tournament in Hasselt after her retirement.
[edit] Records
- Clijsters' tour-best nine titles for the season is the most since Martina Hingis won 12 titles in 1997.
- 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 (to be duplicated later by Amélie Mauresmo). 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 most by any woman since 1982. Clijsters was the first woman to play more than 100 matches in a year since 1974.
- 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, Clijsters became only the second player (the first was Steffi Graf in 1994-1996) 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 Sharapova seeds in consecutive matches. She was the first unseeded winner of the tournament and did not lose a set in the tournament.
- Clijsters' victory in the U.S. Open allowed her to win the U.S. Open Series. Her total prize money for winning the tournament and the series was U.S. $2.2 million, 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.
- 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.
- 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.
[edit] Awards
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:
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2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
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2005
2006
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[edit] Grand Slam singles finals
[edit] Wins (1)
| Year | Championship | Opponent in Final | Score in Final |
| 2005 | U.S. Open |  Mary Pierce |
6-3, 6-1 |
[edit] Runner-up (4)
| Year | Championship | Opponent in Final | Score in Final |
| 2001 | French Open |  Jennifer Capriati |
1-6, 6-4, 12-10 |
| 2003 | French Open | Justine Henin-Hardenne |
6-0, 6-4 |
| 2003 | U.S. Open | Justine Henin-Hardenne |
7-5, 6-1 |
| 2004 | Australian Open | Justine Henin-Hardenne |
6-3, 4-6, 6-3 |
[edit] WTA Tour Championships singles finals
[edit] Wins (2)
| Year | Venue | Opponent in Final | Score in Final |
| 2002 | Los Angeles | Serena Williams |
7-5, 6-3 |
| 2003 | Los Angeles | Amélie Mauresmo |
6-2, 6-0 |
[edit] Tier I singles finals
[edit] Wins (5)
| Year | Championship | Opponent in Final | Score in Final |
| 2003 | Indian Wells | Lindsay Davenport |
6-4, 7-5 |
| 2003 | Rome | Amélie Mauresmo |
3-6, 7-6(3), 6-0 |
| 2005 | Indian Wells (2) | Lindsay Davenport |
6-4, 4-6, 6-2 |
| 2005 | Miami |  Maria Sharapova |
6-3, 7-5 |
| 2005 | Toronto | Justine Henin-Hardenne |
7-5, 6-1 |
[edit] Runner-up (3)
| Year | Championship | Opponent in Final | Score in Final |
| 2001 | Indian Wells | Serena Williams |
4-6, 6-4, 6-2 |
| 2003 | Berlin | Justine Henin-Hardenne |
6-4, 4-6, 7-5 |
| 2006 | San Diego | Maria Sharapova |
7-5, 7-5 |
[edit] Titles (44)
[edit] Singles (33)
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| No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent in the final | Score |
| 1. | September 20, 1999 | Luxembourg City, Luxembourg | Carpet | Dominique Monami (Belgium) |
6-2, 6-2 |
| 2. | January 10, 2000 | Hobart, Australia | Hard | Chanda Rubin (USA) |
2-6, 6-2, 6-2 |
| 3. | October 30, 2000 | Leipzig, Germany | Carpet | Elena Likhovtseva (Russia) |
7-6(6), 4-6, 6-4 |
| 4. | July 23, 2001 | Stanford, California, USA | Hard | Lindsay Davenport (USA) |
6-4, 6-7(5), 6-1 |
| 5. | September 24, 2001 | Leipzig, Germany | Carpet |  Magdalena Maleeva (Bulgaria) |
6-1, 6-1 |
| 6. | October 22, 2001 | Luxembourg City, Luxembourg | Hard | Lisa Raymond (USA) |
6-2, 6-2 |
| 7. | April 29, 2002 | Hamburg, Germany | Clay | Venus Williams (USA) |
1-6, 6-3, 6-4 |
| 8. | October 7, 2002 | Filderstadt, Germany | Hard |  Daniela Hantuchová (Slovakia) |
4-6, 6-3, 6-4 |
| 9. | October 21, 2002 | Luxembourg City, Luxembourg | Hard | Magdalena Maleeva (Bulgaria) |
6-1, 6-2 |
| 10. | November 4, 2002 | WTA Championships, Los Angeles, USA | Carpet | Serena Williams (USA) |
7-5, 6-3 |
| 11. | January 6, 2003 | Sydney, Australia | Hard | Lindsay Davenport (USA) |
6-4, 6-3 |
| 12. | March 3, 2003 | Indian Wells, USA | Hard | Lindsay Davenport (USA) |
6-4, 7-5 |
| 13. | May 12, 2003 | Rome, Italy | Clay | Amélie Mauresmo (France) |
3-6, 7-6(3), 6-0 |
| 14. | June 16, 2003 | 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands | Grass | Justine Henin-Hardenne (Belgium) |
6-7(4), 3-0 retired |
| 15. | July 21, 2003 | Stanford, USA | Hard | Jennifer Capriati (USA) |
4-6, 6-4, 6-2 |
| 16. | August 4, 2003 | Los Angeles, USA | Hard | Lindsay Davenport (USA) |
6-1, 3-6, 6-1 |
| 17. | October 6, 2003 | Filderstadt, Germany | Hard | Justine Henin-Hardenne (Belgium) |
5-7, 6-4, 6-2 |
| 18. | October 20, 2003 | Luxembourg City, Luxembourg | Hard | Chanda Rubin (USA) |
6-2, 7-5 |
| 19. | November 3, 2003 | WTA Tour Championships, Los Angeles, USA | Hard | Amélie Mauresmo (France) |
6-2, 6-0 |
| 20. | February 9, 2004 | Paris, France | Carpet | Mary Pierce (France) |
6-2, 6-1 |
| 21. | February 16, 2004 | Antwerp, Belgium | Carpet |  Silvia Farina Elia (Italy) |
6-3, 6-0 |
| 22. | March 7, 2005 | Indian Wells, USA | Hard | Lindsay Davenport (USA) |
6-4, 4-6, 6-2 |
| 23. | March 23, 2005 | Miami, USA | Hard | Maria Sharapova (Russia) |
6-3, 7-5 |
| 24. | June 13, 2005 | Eastbourne, England | Grass | Vera Douchevina (Russia) |
7-5, 6-0 |
| 25. | August 1, 2005 | Stanford, USA | Hard | Venus Williams (USA) |
7-5, 6-2 |
| 26. | August 8, 2005 | Los Angeles, USA | Hard | Daniela Hantuchova (Slovakia) |
6-4, 6-1 |
| 27. | August 15, 2005 | Toronto, Canada | Hard | Justine Henin-Hardenne (Belgium) |
7-5, 6-1 |
| 28. | September 10, 2005 | U.S. Open, New York, USA | Hard | Mary Pierce (France) |
6-3, 6-1 |
| 29. | October 2, 2005 | Luxembourg City, Luxembourg | Hard |  Anna-Lena Groenefeld (Germany) |
6-2, 6-4 |
| 30. | October 30, 2005 | Hasselt, Belgium | Hard | Francesca Schiavone (Italy) |
6-2, 6-3 |
| 31. | May 7, 2006 | Warsaw, Poland | Clay | Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia) |
7-5, 6-2 |
| 32. | July 30, 2006 | Stanford, USA | Hard |  Patty Schnyder (Switzerland) |
6-4, 6-2 |
| 33. | November 5, 2006 | Hasselt, Belgium | Hard |  Kaia Kanepi (Estonia) |
6-3, 3-6, 6-4 |
[edit] Singles runner-up (16)
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[edit] Doubles (11)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Partnering | Opponents in the final | Score |
| 1. | October 27, 1999 | Bratislava, Slovakia | Laurence Courtois |
 Olga Barabanschikova and Lilia Osterloh |
6-2, 3-6, 7-5 |
| 2. | May 21, 2000 | Antwerp, Belgium | Sabine Appelmans |
Jennifer Hopkins and Petra Rampre |
6-1, 6-1 |
| 3. | August 12, 2002 | Los Angeles, USA |  Jelena Dokic |
Daniela Hantuchová and Ai Sugiyama |
6-3, 6-3 |
| 4. | October 27, 2002 | Luxembourg City, Luxembourg | Janette Husárová |
 Květa Peschke and Barbara Rittner |
4-6, 6-3, 7-5 |
| 5. | January 12, 2003 | Sydney, Australia | Ai Sugiyama |
 Conchita Martinez and Rennae Stubbs |
6-3, 6-3 |
| 6. | February 16, 2003 | Antwerp, Belgium | Ai Sugiyama |
Nathalie Dechy and Emilie Loit |
6-2, 6-0 |
| 7. | March 2, 2003 | Scottdale, USA | Ai Sugiyama |
Lindsay Davenport and Lisa Raymond |
6-1, 6-4 |
| 8. | June 8, 2003 | French Open, Paris, France | Ai Sugiyama |
Virginia Ruano Pascual and Paola Suarez |
6-7, 6-2, 9-7 |
| 9. | July 6, 2003 | Wimbledon, London, Britain | Ai Sugiyama |
Virginia Ruano Pascual and Paola Suarez |
6-4, 6-4 |
| 10. | August 3, 2003 | San Diego, USA | Ai Sugiyama |
Lindsay Davenport and Lisa Raymond |
6-4, 7-5 |
| 11. | October 19, 2003 | Zurich, Switzerland | Ai Sugiyama |
Virginia Ruano Pascual and Paola Suarez |
7-6, 6-2 |
[edit] Singles performance timeline
To prevent confusion and double counting, information in this table is updated only once a tournament or the player's participation in the tournament has concluded. This table is current through the WTA Tour Championships, which ended on November 12, 2006.
| Tournament | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | Career SR | Career Win-Loss |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australian Open | A | 1R | 4R | SF | SF | F | A | SF | 0 / 6 | 24-6 | |
| French Open | A | 1R | F | 3R | F | A | 4R | SF | 0 / 6 | 22-6 | |
| Wimbledon | 4R | 2R | QF | 2R | SF | A | 4R | SF | 0 / 7 | 21-7 | |
| U.S. Open | 3R | 2R | QF | 4R | F | A | W | A | 1 / 6 | 23-5 | |
| Grand Slam SR | 0 / 2 | 0 / 4 | 0 / 4 | 0 / 4 | 0 / 4 | 0 / 1 | 1 / 3 | 0 / 3 | 0 / 0 | 1 / 25 | N/A |
| Grand Slam Win-Loss | 5-2 | 2-4 | 17-4 | 11-4 | 22-4 | 6-1 | 13-2 | 14-3 | 0-0 | N/A | 90-24 |
| WTA Tour Championships | A | QF | SF | W | W | A | RR | SF | 2 / 6 | 15-6 | |
| Tokyo | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 0 | 0-0 | |
| Indian Wells | A | 4R | F | 2R | W | 3R | W | A | 2 / 6 | 21-3 | |
| Miami | A | 4R | 4R | QF | SF | A | W | 2R | 1 / 6 | 18-5 | |
| Charleston | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 0 | 0-0 | |
| Berlin | A | A | 1R | 2R | F | 3R | 3R | A | 0 / 5 | 7-4 | |
| Rome | A | A | 2R | SF | W | A | A | 3R | 1 / 4 | 9-3 | |
| San Diego1 | A | 1R | 2R | QF | F | A | QF | F | 0 / 6 | 12-6 | |
| Montreal/Toronto | A | A | A | 3R | 3R | A | W | 2R | 1 / 4 | 6-3 | |
| Moscow | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 0 | 0-0 | |
| Zurich | A | A | A | QF | SF | A | A | A | 0 / 2 | 4-2 | |
| Tournaments played | 8 | 17 | 22 | 21 | 21 | 6 | 17 | 14 | 0 | N/A | 126 |
| Finals reached | 2 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 15 | 3 | 9 | 5 | 0 | N/A | 49 |
| Tournaments Won | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 2 | 9 | 3 | 0 | N/A | 33 |
| Hardcourt Win-Loss | 6-2 | 16-8 | 32-11 | 31-10 | 57-7 | 9-2 | 47-4 | 21-6 | 0-0 | N/A | 219-50 |
| Clay Win-Loss | 4-3 | 1-2 | 11-5 | 9-3 | 15-2 | 1-0 | 8-3 | 10-2 | 0-0 | N/A | 59-20 |
| Grass Win-Loss | 6-1 | 2-2 | 7-2 | 2-2 | 9-1 | 0-0 | 8-1 | 6-2 | 0-0 | N/A | 40-11 |
| Carpet Win-Loss | 8-2 | 9-3 | 4-0 | 8-2 | 5-2 | 8-0 | 2-1 | 3-1 | 0-0 | N/A | 47-11 |
| Overall Win-Loss | 24-8 | 28-15 | 54-18 | 50-17 | 86-12 | 18-2 | 65-9 | 40-11 | 0-0 | N/A | 365-921 |
| Year End Ranking | 47 | 18 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 22 | 2 | 5 | N/A | N/A |
A = did not participate in the tournament
SR = the ratio of the number of singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played
1 The San Diego tournament achieved Tier I status only in 2004.
2 If ITF women's circuit (Hardcourt: 10-1; Clay: 23-4) and Fed Cup (15-3) participations are included, overall win-loss record stands at 413-100.
[edit] WTA Tour career earnings
| Year | Majors | WTA wins | Total wins | Earnings ($) | Money list rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 135,006 | 65 |
| 2000 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 418,503 | 23 |
| 2001 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1,335,659 | 6 |
| 2002 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 1,754,376 | 4 |
| 2003 | 0 | 9 | 9 | 4,466,345 | 1 |
| 2004 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 787,366 | 15 |
| 2005 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 3,983,654 | 1 |
| 2006* | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1,463,492 | 5 |
| Career | 1 | 32 | 33 | 14,350,137 | 9 |
[edit] Notable matches
- 2001 French Open final: lost to Jennifer Capriati, 1-6, 6-4, 12-10. The 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.
- 2002 WTA Tour Championships final: defeated Serena Williams for the first time in her career, 7-5 6-3. This was only the fifth defeat of the year for Williams and snapped her 18-match winning streak. In her run to the finals, Clijsters also defeated 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.
- 2003 Australian Open semifinal: lost to Serena Williams, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5. After defeating Williams in the WTA Tour Championships the previous year, some commentators believed that only Clijsters could prevent Williams from winning her fourth consecutive Grand Slam singles title. Clijsters led 5-1 in the third set (and held a match point at 5-2) before Williams, who was playing with an injured foot, took the match. She went on to defeat her older sister Venus in the final.
- 2003 Italian Open final: defeated Amélie Mauresmo 3-6, 7-6(3), 6-0. After defeating Capriati and Serena Williams on her way to the final, Mauresmo led 6-5 in the second set and served for the championship. Clijsters, two points away from defeat, stormed back to win the set in a tiebreak, before cruising through the last set. [5]
- 2003 Los Angeles final: defeated Lindsay Davenport 6-1, 3-6, 6-1 for the fourth consecutive time. By winning her sixth title of the year, Clijsters gained enough points to overtake Serena Williams and claim the top spot in women's tennis, becoming the 12th player to do so and the first one to claim the spot without winning a Grand Slam title.
- 2003 Filderstadt final: defeated Justine Henin-Hardenne 5-7, 6-4, 6-2. With the number one ranking at stake, Clijsters rallied from a set down to beat her compatriot. The match marked only the eighth time that the top two players battled for the number one ranking. [6] This was also Clijster's second victory (and first to have concluded, her previous win came when her opponent retired in 's Hertogenbosch) against Henin-Hardenne in their last seven meetings.
- 2003 WTA Tour Championships semifinal: defeated Capriati 4-6, 6-3, 6-0. While leading 6-4, 3-2, Capriati took an injury break, but after play resumed, she never regained her form. Clijsters won the next 10 games to claim victory and reached her second WTA Tour Championships final. [7] In the final, she defeated Mauresmo, 6-2, 6-0, which was the most one-sided final in the tournament since Martina Navratilova won over Chris Evert by the same score in 1983.
- 2005 Indian Wells final: defeated Davenport 6-4, 4-6, 6-2. Unseeded, ranked 133 in the world, and in only her second tournament of the year after being sidelined by a wrist injury, Clijsters won seven straight games after Davenport opened up the match with a 4-0 lead. The victory was bittersweet for Clijsters, who began having problems with her wrist in the same tournament a year before. [8]
- 2005 Miami final: defeated Maria Sharapova 6-3, 7-5. Both players struggled to keep the ball in play as windy conditions prevailed throughout the match. Her victory meant that she was only the second woman to earn the Indian Wells-Miami double, after Steffi Graf. These consecutive victories (Clijsters won 14 consecutive matches) catapulted Clijsters from 133 in the world to within the top 20. As Sharapova noted, "I think the biggest surprise was that it was her 14th match and yet I didn’t feel like she was physically fatigued at all. She is a very strong girl and she can play all day. Running from corner to corner is like a piece of cake for her." [9]
- 2005 U.S. Open quarterfinal: defeated Venus Williams 4-6, 7-5, 6-1. Despite being touted as the overall tournament favorite and winning the 2005 U.S. Open Series, Clijsters was the underdog in this quarterfinal. Clijsters had won only three out of the nine matches she had contested against Williams (although she had won the last one). After Williams led 6-4, 4-2, Clijsters won 11 of the next 13 games, calling her win the best since she returned to competition. [10]
- 2005 U.S. Open semifinal: defeated Sharapova 6-2, 6-7(4), 6-3. Sharapova saved three match points while serving to stay in the match at 5-6 (0-40) after Clijsters had won the first set, Clijsters finally won the match on her sixth match point in the third set. [11] Clijsters won the final, defeating Mary Pierce, 6-3 6-1.
[edit] Famous quotes
- Clijsters is often considered by few critics as "too nice." In response to these critics, she famously replied, "You don't have to hate your opponent to beat them."
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Official website
- WTA Tour profile for Kim Clijsters
- unofficial fanclub
- Kim Clijsters fanclub
- Kim Clijsters at the Internet Movie Database
| Preceded by Serena Williams Justine Henin-Hardenne Lindsay Davenport |
World No. 1 August 11, 2003 - October 19, 2003 October 27, 2003 - November 9, 2003 January 30, 2006 - March 19, 2006 |
Succeeded by Justine Henin-Hardenne Justine Henin-Hardenne Amélie Mauresmo |
| Preceded by Serena Williams |
WTA Newcomer of the Year 1999 |
Succeeded by Dája Bedáňová |
| Preceded by Maria Sharapova |
WTA Player of the Year 2005 |
Succeeded by TBD |
| Preceded by Serena Williams |
WTA Comeback Player of the Year 2005 |
Succeeded by TBD |
| Preceded by Anastasia Myskina |
ITF World Champion 2005 |
Succeeded by TBD |
| Preceded by Dominique Monami |
Belgian Sportswoman of the Year 1999–2002 |
Succeeded by Justine Henin-Hardenne |
| Preceded by Justine Henin-Hardenne |
Belgian Sportswoman of the Year 2005 |
Succeeded by Unknown |
| Women's Tennis Association | Top ten female tennis players as of November 20, 2006 | |
|---|---|
| 1. Justine Henin-Hardenne (Belgium) | 2. Maria Sharapova (Russia) | 3. Amélie Mauresmo (France) | 4. Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia) | 5. Kim Clijsters (Belgium) | 6. Nadia Petrova (Russia) | 7. Martina Hingis (Switzerland) | 8. Elena Dementieva (Russia) | 9. Patty Schnyder (Switzerland) | 10. Nicole Vaidisova (Czech Republic) | |
|
* Open Era | (1968) Virginia Wade | (1969-70) Margaret Smith Court | (1971-72) Billie Jean King | (1973) Margaret Smith Court | (1974) Billie Jean King | (1975-78) Chris Evert | (1979) Tracy Austin | (1980) Chris Evert | (1981) Tracy Austin | (1982) Chris Evert | (1983-84) Martina Navrátilová | (1985) Hana Mandlíková | (1986-87) Martina Navrátilová | (1988-89) Steffi Graf | (1990) Gabriela Sabatini | (1991-92) Monica Seles | (1993) Steffi Graf | (1994) Arantxa Sánchez Vicario | (1995-96) Steffi Graf | (1997) Martina Hingis | (1998) Lindsay Davenport | (1999) Serena Williams | (2000-01) Venus Williams | (2002) Serena Williams | (2003) Justine Henin-Hardenne | (2004) Svetlana Kuznetsova | (2005) Kim Clijsters | (2006) Maria Sharapova |
| Women's Tennis Association | World No. 1's in Women's tennis | |
|---|---|
| Tracy Austin | Jennifer Capriati | Kim Clijsters | Lindsay Davenport | Chris Evert | Steffi Graf | Justine Henin-Hardenne | Martina Hingis | Amélie Mauresmo | Martina Navrátilová | Arantxa Sánchez Vicario | Monica Seles | Maria Sharapova | Serena Williams | Venus Williams | |
