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Kim Clijsters is ready to re-open her personal history with tennis. Eight years after her retirement at the US Open 2012, the Belgian will come back to play at the Dubai Tennis Championships, where she will challenge Garbine Muguruza, in an amazing first-round match.
Kim is 36 years old and with three children, but after eight years of absence from the WTA Tour, she made the sensational decision to come back to compete on a tennis court in September 2019. Five months later, the former world no.
1 will be again the protagonist, as was already in the past. “Mom, you look at least 10 years older than Venus Williams. Maybe you should start playing tennis again." That was what Jada Lynch, the 11-year-old daughter of Kim Clijsters and former basketball player Bryan Lynch, said to her mother, perhaps sparking her return to the professional courts.
In 2017, she was included in the International Tennis Hall of Fame, a rare honor for those who are still playing, but nobody in that year could think of her return. It will be understood what her effective psycho-physical shape will be, but Clijsters made mental strength and tennis from the baseline the best skills of her career.
With great speed in the shots, Kim won 41 career titles, including four Majors (Australian Open 2011, US Open 2005, 2009 and 2010) and three WTA Finals (2002, 2003, 2010). She also won the French Open and the Wimbledon titles in the women's doubles.
The Belgian will come back to play for the third time in her career, after the retirement of 2007 and that of 2012. What will Kim Clijsters' come back bring to the WTA Tour? Certainly experience and another variable that will put all the pretenders to the queen's throne in difficulty.
With Serena and Venus Williams and Maria Sharapova, we will have vintage tennis that will stand in the way of today's tennis players.