Best Return
With husband Brian Lynch and baby Jada Ellie in tow, former World No.1 Kim Clijsters returned to Tour in the spring of 2009. Her initial design was to ease into the schedule, adjust to competition, and start next year strong. She surprised everyone, including herself, when she was the last woman standing at the US Open. “It still seems so surreal that in my third tournament back I won my second Grand Slam, because it wasn't in the plan,” she said. “I just wanted to come here and get a feel for it all over again.”
Since her return, Kim’s demeanor has been noticeably relaxed. “I think that she's just going out there and enjoying it. She doesn't have any pressure, because she already achieved what she wanted to. She has the family. She has everything,” Caroline Wozniacki, US Open finalist, said.
Preparing for the pro tour required considerable physical and mental training. Kim said she experienced many frustrating practice days. “Mentally I really had to just tell myself, ‘Okay, Kim, you're starting from zero here.’ This is not a little break that I had in between tournaments or anything. This is really kind of starting from zero and reteaching my body again and knowing how to work in tennis conditions. It was probably the hardest in the beginning. I had a few – no swearwords like Serena – but a lot of swearing going on.”
Kim is the first unseeded wildcard to win the US Open and the first mother to win a major since Evonne Goolagong collected the Wimbledon title in 1980. As she looks to 2010, Kim will play a limited schedule of 13-16 tournaments with great focus on the Slams.
