kim clijsters

KIM CLIJSTERS

First and only oFFicial career overviewKIM

CLIJSTERSFirst and only oFFicial career overview

Tennis player Kim Clijsters built up an impressive honours list on court, but she also showed her superb class off court with her modesty, spontaneity, and joviality. For this book, Belgium’s greatest ever sports ambassadress has chosen thirty of the most important moments of her exceptional 15-year career: from her first steps in junior tennis, the final at Roland Garros, and her first grand slam title at the US Open, to her successful comeback, and her last match in New York in 2012. All these key moments are recorded by tennis journalist, Filip Dewulf, furnished with comments by Kim herself, and richly illustrated with some splendid pictures, many of which are published for the first time. This full career review makes an ideal book for everyone

who still wants to cherish Kim Clijsters as a sportswoman and a person, even after her retirement from tennis.

With quotations from top international players and an interview with Kim by the Dutch sports journalist, Wilfried de Jong.

www.cannibalpublishing.comcannibal publishing

KIM CLIJSTERS

oFFicia

9 7 8 9 4 9 1 3 7 6 5 8 0

Last tennis racket, 2012First tennis racket, 1987

11Disappointment Down UnDer after a top-class finalKim loses the final of the Australian Open

to Justine Henin, on 31 January 2004.

16from frienD to rival to teammateKim plays together with Justine Henin in the quarter-final

of the Federation Cup in Liege, on 22 and 23 April 2006.

21sUper mUm conqUers new YorkKim wins her second US Open title,

on 13 September 2009.

P. 104

26finallY the real aUssie kimKim wins the Australian Open,

on 29 January 2011

P. 131

12Goose bUmps in antwerpKim wins the Diamond Games,

on 22 February 2004.

17a GrippinG farewellKim says farewell to her Belgian fans at the final

of the Diamond Games, on 18 February 2007.

22olD belGians renew rivalrYKim beats Justine Henin in Brisbane

in a thrilling final, 9 January 2010.

P. 111

27nUmber one mUmKim regains the number one

ranking in Paris, on 13 February 2011.

P. 142

13finGer on the pUlse in hasseltKim suffers serious injuries, but starts

playing again a year later, on 2 October 2004.

18in sickness anD in healthKim weds Brian, bears Jada, but loses

her father Lei, on 4 January 2009.

23worlD recorD!Kim plays in front of the biggest tennis crowd ever

at the King Baudouin Stadium, on 8 July 2010.

P. 114

28the boDY faltersKim incurs abdominal muscle

injury in Toronto, on 9 August 2011.

P. 147

14the conqUest of americaKim wins Indian Wells and Miami,

on 3 April 2005

19kim ii exhibitsShe plays against Steffi Graf during the

inauguration of the roof at Wimbledon,

on 17 May 2009.

24new York, new York, new YorkKim wins her third US Open title,

P. 119

29JUst shY of the olYmpic DreamKim loses in the quarter-final

to Maria Sharapova, on 2 August 2012.2

P. 152

15qUeen of qUeensKim wins her first grand slam title

at the US Open, on 10 September 2005.

20never been awaYKim defeats Marion Bartoli in Cincinnati,

on 10 August 2009

P. 103

25worlD champion in the DesertKim wins the Masters in Doha, on 31 October 2010

P. 126

30farewell in her own waYKim loses in the second round

of the US Open, on 29 August 2012.

P. 157

06DoUble pleasUreKim wins her first doubles title

in Bratislava, on 24 October 1999.

07paris on stiltsKim plays in the final at Roland Garros,

on 10 June 2001.

08team spiritKim, together with Justine Henin, Els Callens,

and Laurence Courtois, wins the Federation Cup

in Madrid, on 11 November 2001.

09skilfUllY towarDs a first maJor titleKim wins the Masters in Los Angeles,

on 11 November 2002.

10the best in the worlDKim becomes Number One in singles

and doubles, on 11 August 2003.

05the GranD DUchY Discovers a princessKim wins her first WTA title at the tournament

of Luxembourg, on 26 September 1999.

04entrY throUGh the biG Gates of the all enGlanD clUbKim plays Steffi Graf in the last sixteen

at Wimbledon, on 30 June 1999.

03in tanDem with JUstineKim reaches the quarter-finals at her first

WTA tournament in Antwerp, on 14 May 1999.

02thoroUGhbreD crosses the first hUrDlesYoungest ever Belgian champion

in Brussels, on 1 August 1998

01YoUnG fillY emerGes as a thoroUGhbreDKim wins the Small Champions (‘Les petits As’)

in Tarbes, on 2 February 1997

11Disappointment Down UnDer after a top-class finalKim loses the final of the Australian Open

to Justine Henin, on 31 January 2004.

16from frienD to rival to teammateKim plays together with Justine Henin in the quarter-final

of the Federation Cup in Liege, on 22 and 23 April 2006.

21sUper mUm conqUers new YorkKim wins her second US Open title,

P. 104

26finallY the real aUssie kimKim wins the Australian Open,

on 29 January 2011

P. 131

12Goose bUmps in antwerpKim wins the Diamond Games,

on 22 February 2004.

17a GrippinG farewellKim says farewell to her Belgian fans at the final

of the Diamond Games, on 18 February 2007.

22olD belGians renew rivalrYKim beats Justine Henin in Brisbane

in a thrilling final, 9 January 2010.

P. 111

27nUmber one mUmKim regains the number one

ranking in Paris, on 13 February 2011.

P. 142

13finGer on the pUlse in hasseltKim suffers serious injuries, but starts

playing again a year later, on 2 October 2004.

18in sickness anD in healthKim weds Brian, bears Jada, but loses

her father Lei, on 4 January 2009.

23worlD recorD!Kim plays in front of the biggest tennis crowd ever

at the King Baudouin Stadium, on 8 July 2010.

P. 114

28the boDY faltersKim incurs abdominal muscle

injury in Toronto, on 9 August 2011.

P. 147

14the conqUest of americaKim wins Indian Wells and Miami,

on 3 April 2005

19kim ii exhibitsShe plays against Steffi Graf during the

inauguration of the roof at Wimbledon,

on 17 May 2009.

24new York, new York, new YorkKim wins her third US Open title,

P. 119

29JUst shY of the olYmpic DreamKim loses in the quarter-final

to Maria Sharapova, on 2 August 2012.2

P. 152

15qUeen of qUeensKim wins her first grand slam title

at the US Open, on 10 September 2005.

20never been awaYKim defeats Marion Bartoli in Cincinnati,

on 10 August 2009

P. 103

25worlD champion in the DesertKim wins the Masters in Doha, on 31 October 2010

P. 126

30farewell in her own waYKim loses in the second round

of the US Open, on 29 August 2012.

P. 157

06DoUble pleasUreKim wins her first doubles title

in Bratislava, on 24 October 1999.

07paris on stiltsKim plays in the final at Roland Garros,

on 10 June 2001.

08team spiritKim, together with Justine Henin, Els Callens,

and Laurence Courtois, wins the Federation Cup

in Madrid, on 11 November 2001.

09skilfUllY towarDs a first maJor titleKim wins the Masters in Los Angeles,

on 11 November 2002.

10the best in the worlDKim becomes Number One in singles

and doubles, on 11 August 2003.

05the GranD DUchY Discovers a princessKim wins her first WTA title at the tournament

of Luxembourg, on 26 September 1999.

04entrY throUGh the biG Gates of the all enGlanD clUbKim plays Steffi Graf in the last sixteen

at Wimbledon, on 30 June 1999.

03in tanDem with JUstineKim reaches the quarter-finals at her first

WTA tournament in Antwerp, on 14 May 1999.

02thoroUGhbreD crosses the first hUrDlesYoungest ever Belgian champion

in Brussels, on 1 August 1998

01YoUnG fillY emerGes as a thoroUGhbreDKim wins the Small Champions (‘Les petits As’)

in Tarbes, on 2 February 1997

“Tarbes was my first prestigious international youth tournament. People went there from all over the world. It was a sort of Masters for the young. I still remember the final against Bovina. We were the top two promising talents at the time. And we set a certain standard because, after that, we played against each other several times as juniors and professionals..”

YoUnG fillY emerGes as a

thoroUGhbreD2 february 1997

Kim wins the small champions (‘les petits as’) in tarbes

that the winners, however young, will be success-ful professionals within a few years. Previous win-ners included martina Hingis and anna Kournikova when Kim took part. “The year before, when Justine Henin won it, Kim had also had a good tournament,” said Carl maes, who was supervising her at the time. “in 1997, she started the tournament as top seed, so it was the first time for her to experience the pressure of being under the spotlight. She’d caught the eye in 1996 when she took part in the Under-14 tournament for the first time. However, she proved that she could cope with the pressure at international level.” in the final, the russian elena Bovina discovered as much after a tense struggle, which Kim won 7-5, 3-6, 6-2. “Kim won that tournament without playing her best tennis,” said maes, “in the semi-final, she also beat iveta Benesova. it was obviously a generation of good players, who all made an impression later. Kim’s tennis differed very little from her later style of play. as a professional, she had to play harder and with more precision, but her basic style of play was already engrained.” The Small Champions was the perfect run-up to the real thing. maes continues, “That was a tournament in a multi-purpose hall, with a players’ lounge and a sponsor’s village, just like professional tournaments. That added an extra dimension. Kim also went to the players’ party for the first time, where she was carried on the shoulders of the tournament referee, whilst everyone was dancing.”

session, Kim would join in. Then she put her heart and soul into her own training session, after which she joined the next group for their warm-up exer-cises. When they did some running or played foot-ball, it was definitely time to say, ‘Hey, Kim, time to go home!’” no lack of energy there. “always horsing around. out there in the woods. running around. always on the go.”

Kim made huge strides. Very soon, she transferred to an older age group because she was simply too strong for her peers. “Kim won all the time,” said Van Kerckhoven, “She slammed the ball hard from the very beginning.” apparently, you had to go to Wallonia to find another girl capable of thwarting Kim at the national level from time to time, namely a certain Justine Henin. Together, they won the doubles tournament at the Belgian Championships (the Borman Cup) for those under twelve. Kim had only just reached her tenth birthday, whilst Justine was eleven. at international level, too, they more than held their own. in 1996, they played as a team and, together with leslie Butkiewicz, were crowned european champions in the under-four-teen age group.

early in 1997, Kim made a big breakthrough at the annual ‘Small Champions’ (‘les Petits as’) youth tournament in Tarbes. This unofficial Under-14 world championship has acquired such renown over the years that you can be sure

Free spirit, fireball, giggler, live wire. Kim Clijsters sped through her youth just as hard as through her tennis career. The film clip is now legendary in which her father lei admits to a cute, giggling mop of curly hair that he had promised her a tennis court if he ever won the golden Boot (‘gouden Schoen’), something which he managed to achieve in 1988. eventually, the court was to prove a source of frustration. Kim and her little sister elke enjoyed themselves even more at the TC Tennisdel tennis club in genk, where their first trainer, Bart Van Kerckhoven, wagered a barrel of beer that one of his charges, then not even eight years old, would one day reach the world’s top ten. “Kim had it all,” Van Kerckhoven recalls. “She was physically so strong and determined. i had to keep her in check constantly.” He also noticed that elke, her younger sister by eighteen months, actually had more natural ability (she had better hands), but she couldn’t match her elder sister for sheer power and determination, features which she had inherited from her father lei. Wild horses couldn’t drag Kim and elke away from a tennis court. Their mother, els, a Belgian national gymnastics cham-pion, was usually the one who drove them to their tennis club where they would start hitting balls around half an hour before their lesson was due to start. Then, when the session was over, they had to be sent away to stop them from playing until they dropped. Bart Van Kerckhoven recalls, “if the group before her did some sprints to finish off the

“Tarbes was my first prestigious international youth tournament. People went there from all over the world. It was a sort of Masters for the young. I still remember the final against Bovina. We were the top two promising talents at the time. And we set a certain standard because, after that, we played against each other several times as juniors and professionals..”

YoUnG fillY emerGes as a

thoroUGhbreD2 february 1997

Kim wins the small champions (‘les petits as’) in tarbes

that the winners, however young, will be success-ful professionals within a few years. Previous win-ners included martina Hingis and anna Kournikova when Kim took part. “The year before, when Justine Henin won it, Kim had also had a good tournament,” said Carl maes, who was supervising her at the time. “in 1997, she started the tournament as top seed, so it was the first time for her to experience the pressure of being under the spotlight. She’d caught the eye in 1996 when she took part in the Under-14 tournament for the first time. However, she proved that she could cope with the pressure at international level.” in the final, the russian elena Bovina discovered as much after a tense struggle, which Kim won 7-5, 3-6, 6-2. “Kim won that tournament without playing her best tennis,” said maes, “in the semi-final, she also beat iveta Benesova. it was obviously a generation of good players, who all made an impression later. Kim’s tennis differed very little from her later style of play. as a professional, she had to play harder and with more precision, but her basic style of play was already engrained.” The Small Champions was the perfect run-up to the real thing. maes continues, “That was a tournament in a multi-purpose hall, with a players’ lounge and a sponsor’s village, just like professional tournaments. That added an extra dimension. Kim also went to the players’ party for the first time, where she was carried on the shoulders of the tournament referee, whilst everyone was dancing.”

session, Kim would join in. Then she put her heart and soul into her own training session, after which she joined the next group for their warm-up exer-cises. When they did some running or played foot-ball, it was definitely time to say, ‘Hey, Kim, time to go home!’” no lack of energy there. “always horsing around. out there in the woods. running around. always on the go.”

Kim made huge strides. Very soon, she transferred to an older age group because she was simply too strong for her peers. “Kim won all the time,” said Van Kerckhoven, “She slammed the ball hard from the very beginning.” apparently, you had to go to Wallonia to find another girl capable of thwarting Kim at the national level from time to time, namely a certain Justine Henin. Together, they won the doubles tournament at the Belgian Championships (the Borman Cup) for those under twelve. Kim had only just reached her tenth birthday, whilst Justine was eleven. at international level, too, they more than held their own. in 1996, they played as a team and, together with leslie Butkiewicz, were crowned european champions in the under-four-teen age group.

early in 1997, Kim made a big breakthrough at the annual ‘Small Champions’ (‘les Petits as’) youth tournament in Tarbes. This unofficial Under-14 world championship has acquired such renown over the years that you can be sure

Free spirit, fireball, giggler, live wire. Kim Clijsters sped through her youth just as hard as through her tennis career. The film clip is now legendary in which her father lei admits to a cute, giggling mop of curly hair that he had promised her a tennis court if he ever won the golden Boot (‘gouden Schoen’), something which he managed to achieve in 1988. eventually, the court was to prove a source of frustration. Kim and her little sister elke enjoyed themselves even more at the TC Tennisdel tennis club in genk, where their first trainer, Bart Van Kerckhoven, wagered a barrel of beer that one of his charges, then not even eight years old, would one day reach the world’s top ten. “Kim had it all,” Van Kerckhoven recalls. “She was physically so strong and determined. i had to keep her in check constantly.” He also noticed that elke, her younger sister by eighteen months, actually had more natural ability (she had better hands), but she couldn’t match her elder sister for sheer power and determination, features which she had inherited from her father lei. Wild horses couldn’t drag Kim and elke away from a tennis court. Their mother, els, a Belgian national gymnastics cham-pion, was usually the one who drove them to their tennis club where they would start hitting balls around half an hour before their lesson was due to start. Then, when the session was over, they had to be sent away to stop them from playing until they dropped. Bart Van Kerckhoven recalls, “if the group before her did some sprints to finish off the

“she Gave the sport a powerfUl inJection at a time when it baDlY neeDeD it.” — johN MCENRoE

Kim started her last season on tour in the same way that she had finished her previous one: injured. in spite of an injured hip, a sprained ankle, and a blocked neck, she progressed to the semi-finals of the australian open, thanks to her will power. a minor miracle. She beat na li in the fourth round by only four points in an exciting match, reminis-cent of the final of the previous year. The rod laver arena was alive with the excitement and the australian fans showed their admiration for Kim with great enthusiasm. aussie Kim was still alive and kicking, playing fantastic tennis, but had a run-in against an unknown Victoria azarenka in the last four. With a narrow defeat in the three sets, she said farewell to melbourne Park. Kim would always be in the hearts of her australian fans.

Kim’s main objective that year was undoubtedly the olympic games in london. due to injury, she had had to abandon athens 2004 and Beijing 2008, so this was an apotheosis for her. She changed nothing in her routine and ignored the athlete’s village. as always, she moved into the same house near to the all england Club in Wim-bledon. Kim wanted to perform and was aiming for a medal. Focused and motivated, she started the tournament. roberta Vinci, one of the few grass specialists on the circuit, was dismissed from the tournament decisively. There were no noticeable

after-effects from Kim’s heavy defeat in the fourth round of Wimbledon against angelique Kerber. even her abdominal injury, which she had sus-tained in rosmalen(again a small tear in more or less the same place as the previous year in Toronto) seemed under control. Kim played with consistent pressure, efficient and careful tennis. Three quarters of the ladies on the tour were unable to match that. Carla Suarez navarro dis-covered this in the second round. Hope blazed. in this form and without any visible discomfort, Kim could perhaps produce a surprise.

The first test against ana ivanovic in the third round went flawlessly. The young Serb didn’t have a chance and had to acknowledge the superiority of a focused Kim. Half an hour after her quarter-final qualification, Kim was standing in the kitchen of her rented house making risotto for her team. mums do all sorts of work. Then there was work on the tennis court as maria Sharapova was blocking her path to the medals. The stylish but loud russian had won several months earlier and had therefore arrived in london full of confidence. The ninth match between them promised to be a cracker. The centre court at Wimbledon was full. Belgian flags covered the stands and even the neutral spectators wanted the departing mum to produce a surprise. However, it was not to be for

Kim. The massive tennis sledgehammer known as Sharapova defeated her, and in particular the Siberian siren’s service smashed Kim’s defence. it was also clear that the explosiveness of yesteryear was slightly truncated, and that made it difficult to escape from Sharapova’s pressure game. Kim dragged, laboured, pulled, and pushed. She tried to wring everything out of her exhausted body in order to disrupt the russian model.

Sharapova proved too strong in the end and finally won 6-2, 7-5. The olympic fire was prematurely extinguished. There was to be no medal for Kim in her penultimate tournament. The disappoint-ment was palpable, but Kim reined in the feeling with her infinite sporting grace. Her words were, “Sharapova was much too strong.” Her last ball on the legendary centre court at Wimbledon was a forehand into the net. Kim didn’t take it to heart and even went to the Belgium House that eve- ning. later in the week, she cheered up her friend Tia Hellebaut during her last shot at a medal. With raised head and disbelief in her eyes, she has learned a lot from other sports. “Too bad that i can’t be at the next olympic games. after my loss, i even thought: ‘i want to try for a medal again’.” That will be a medal in everyday life. Kim set off for the USa to prepare for her last tournament, the US open in new Jersey, with her in-laws.

“After my tournament, I stayed for three more days to enjoy the atmosphere. It was unique. You could

just sit down in the restaurant next to someone who had just won a gold medal or have a chat in

the gymnasium with someone who had suffered a big disappointment. It was then that I realised just

what the Olympic Games can mean.”

JUst shY of the olYmpic Dream2 august 2012

Kim loses in the quarter-final to maria sharapova