Kim has announced that after this years US Open she will once again hang up her racquet.
The first retirement was from 2007 – 2009, though it was not long before Kim was back in the winners circle. The comeback was capped with her 2nd US Open title in 2009 when she defeated Caroline Wozniacki in straight sets. Two more Slams have followed in the form of the 2010 US Open and finally, the Australian Open in 2011.
“As it stands I will end my career at the US Open. That is where I enjoyed my greatest triumphs and it is a very special place for me.”
Kim has made no secret of her plan to retire and she is most looking forward to playing for Belgium at Wimbledon for the tennis tournament at the London Olympics. Kim did not play in 2008 as she was retired and Athens was marred by a sponsorship row that meant she could not compete.
“The Olympic fever is started to build”
Good luck Kim in whatever you do, it has be great to watch you play over the years.
Four-time Grand Slam champion Kim Clijsters will not play the French Open held in Paris, France due to still needing recovery from a hip surgery.
The 28-year-old, previously stating that she will end her career after this season, has been suffering from ankle and hip injuries for a while now. Clijsters admitted to having an injury after being defeated by Yanina Wickmayer in the Sony Ericsson Open last month.
The Belgian has also stated that she will mainly focus on the grass-court season that comes after the clay-court season, which includes Wimbledon and the Olympic Games.
Good luck to getting better and playing well again, Kim!
Kim Clijsters will not be playing this years BNP Paribas Open championship at Indian Wells. Clijsters withdrew from the tournament with an ankle injury.
Its a real shame for Clijsters, but Im really hoping to see her playing at her best during the French Open 2012 in Paris.
Kim Clijsters and Victoria Azarenka have made their way into the Australian Open 2012 semifinals. Azarenka has a close first set, but then turned up the head to win in three sets, 6-7, 6-0, 6-2 against Agnieszka Radwanska. While Kim Clijsters pushed past Caroline Wozniacki 6-2 7-6.
This now means we will have a new number 1 female player in the world after the Australian Open.
Poor old Li Na left the Chinese press in tears after she choked and didn’t convert four match points against Kim Clijster. Li Na lost 4-6, 7-6, (6), 6-4.
“Maybe 6-2 up in the tiebreak I was a little bit shocking,” Li told reporters in English.
Shame.. I can now see Kim Clijsters going on to make the final and possibly even win the title.
Kim Clijsters is off to a great start at the Australian Open 2012. Clijsters began her Australian Open defence with a straight sets with over qualifier Maria Joao Koehler 7-5 6-1.
“It doesn’t matter how hard you train in the off-season, the matches always put more stress on your body.”
It will be interesting to see if she has the drive and the stamina to make it into the second week and beyond!
After Li Na split up with her coach, Kim Clijsters of Belgium has decided to take the same route. She has replaced Wim Fissette with former Belgian Fed Cup captain, Carl Maes.
He has coached the former top player before on a private basis, but Kim isn’t expected to return to play until the next season due to injuries she has sustained this year.
Kim Clijsters cant stay out of the headlines, this time for a good reason. Courtesy of Babolat, Kim Clijsters is giving away a free private training session.
All you need to do is head to takealessonwithkim.com and sign up. Entries close 30th September 2011.
The injury list for the US Open is growing by the day, so it is going to be a very interesting tournament. The only top male player not on the list is Roger Federer.
Novak Djokovic – Shoulder and general fatigue. Has had some issues with patella tendinitis this season
Rafael Nadal – Large burn blisters on fingers and left foot
Andy Murray – Sore arm
Mardy Fish – Heel
Tomas Berdych – Shoulder
Robin Soderling – Wrist – he has announced he will travel to NYC
Jo Wilfried Tsonga – Arm. Ultrasound showed no muscle tear after he withdrew in Montreal.
Andy Roddick – Recently pulled out of Montreal with an oblique but played in Cincinnati.
Milos Raonic – Recovering from hip surgery
David Ferrer – Recovering from hairline fracture in left hand
Tommy Robredo – Withdrawn – Ongoing groin issues
Sam Querrey – Withdrawn – Recovering from elbow surgery (spurs)
Juan Carlos Ferrero – Recovering from multiple injuries
The new WTA Tour rankings are out and here is what has changed after the Rogers Cup in Toronto.
The complete top ten according to the August 15 rankings is below:
1. Caroline Wozniacki
2. Vera Zvonareva
3. Kim Clijsters
4. Victoria Azarenka
5. Na Li
6. Petra Kvitova
7. Maria Sharapova
8. Francesca Schiavone
9. Marion Bartoli
10. Samantha Stosur
Serena Williams won the Rogers Cup in Toronto and she is now 31st in the world rankings.
This week is the Cincinnati tournament in which we will see Serena Williams possibly play Samanthat Stosur in the second round.
There is a very interesting article over at PostGame that showcases the top 5 highest paid female athletes. Out of the top 5 there are 4 tennis players in the list!
Thus, if your a female and you want to earn a lot of money from sport, then Tennis is the game for you.
WTA Tour rankings are out and Caroline Wozniacki is still leading in August. I still think Kim Clijsters would be the best player in the world if she played more than once a month on average!
Singles
1. Caroline Wozniacki, Denmark, 9,915 points.
2. Kim Clijsters, Belgium, 7,625.
3. Vera Zvonareva, Russia, 6,850.
4. Victoria Azarenka, Belarus, 6,115.
5. Maria Sharapova, Russia, 5,941.
6. Li Na, China, 5,855.
7. Petra Kvitova, Czech Republic, 5,437.
8. Francesca Schiavone, Italy, 4,831.
9. Marion Bartoli, France, 4,425.
10. Sam Stosur, Australia, 3,275.
11. Andrea Petkovic, Germany, 3,245.
12. Svetlana Kuznetsova, Russia, 3,220.
13. Agnieszka Radwanska, Poland, 2,915.
14. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Russia, 2,775.
15. Jelena Jankovic, Serbia, 2,775.
16. Dominika Cibulkova, Slovakia, 2,595.
17. Peng Shuai, China, 2,580.
18. Ana Ivanovic, Serbia, 2,555.
19. Yanina Wickmayer, Belgium, 2,470.
20. Julia Goerges, Germany, 2,335.
Kim Clijsters has officially withdrawn from Wimbledon 2011.
Kim said in a statement:
“I’m very very disappointed to have to withdraw from Wimbledon after injuring my foot again at the tournament in ‘s-Hertogenbosch. At this moment I feel frustrated that it has to happen now before one of my favourite tournaments. I’ve always enjoyed being a part of the Wimbledon atmosphere but I have no other choice now but to rest, recover and to not play tennis for a few weeks.”
Kim Clijsters, a former world No.1, and current world No.2, did not pass her second round test at the French Open, as Arantxa Rus defeated the Belgian with a score of 3-6 7-5 6-1.
Clijsters was holding a match point with a 6-3 5-2 lead, but squandered those points and ended up losing to the Dutch 20-year-old.
While this was Clijsters’ second clay-court tournament of the year, she took a good lead and had a match point at 5-2 and 5-4 in the second set, but Rus was able to find her confidence and win the second set, and then the third set, quite easily, to end the match.
“I’m still trying to figure it out,” Clijsters said. “I felt like she was missing quite a lot in the beginning of the rallies, and I felt I was moving her around well from side to side. Then I started doubting a little bit. That’s definitely the wrong attitude to have, especially for me on clay. She obviously started building up more confidence, playing a lot better and putting me on my back foot all the time. I couldn’t really play my aggressive tennis anymore in that third set.”
Some injuries have been holding Clijsters back recently, but she still chose to participate in the second Grand Slam of the year, after winning last year’s U.S. Open and this year’s Australian Open.
Day 3 was an amazing day. Day 3 saw Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray in action amoung other great players.
Nadal came up against John Isner, who has an amazingly big serve. It was expected that Nadal would dominate the match and just simply be too strong on the clay. However, Isner was playing his A-game and Nadal was quick lucky to win in five very tough sets. 6-4 6-7 6-7 6-2 6-4.
In the rest of the matches most of the seeds got through without any trouble at all. However, Nicolas Almagro (11) was not so lucky as he fell to Lukasz Kubot in five sets. 3-6 2-6 7-6 7-6 6-4.
For me the pick of the matches was between two of the older guys on tour, Dmitry Tursunov and Xavier Malisse. These guys were roughing it on court 17 and they gave the crowd something to talk about. The match lasted three hours and saw Xavier Malisse progress 6-1 in the fifth set.
Womens Singles:
In day 3 on the womens side everything seemed to go very well for all the seed. The only seed that didnt make it through was Ana Ivanovic (whats news). Ana seemed to be playing strong tennis as she lost the first set 7-6 and then won the second set 6-0. However, as Ana isnt really predictable, she then went on to lose the third set 6-2.
For me the match of the day was Patty Schnyder and Sorana Cirstea. This was expected to be a very close match between two good players who both were not seeded. However, it seemed like Patty didnt really turn up for the match and Cirstea steam rolled her 6-1 6-3.
Overall:
Rafael Nadal has a tough match and progressed, this could set him up nicely for a good campaign here! In the other matches Andy Murray played very well, but he tends to run out of steam in the second week of Grand Slams. Outsiders are Robin Soderling and Gilles Simon, both played very well today.
Kim Clijsters has to be the favourite for this title and she didn’t disappoint today. Surprisingly Maria Sharapova is playing some great tennis at the moment and I could see he going quite deep in this tournament.
It seems like Kim Clijsters has injured herself while dancing at the wedding of her nephew. With only the French Open weeks away, this isnt the time for Clijsters to get injured.
Clijsters turned her ankle while dancing (wonder if there was any alcohol involved! haha).
Clijsters revealed the news on her website (translated from Dutch):
At the wedding party of her cousin Tim, Kim injured her ankle severely. The consequences are rather dire. After a visit to the doctor, echo and NMR the diagnosis is a severe strain of both the medial and lateral ligaments of the right ankle and a torn ligaments, a torn capsule of the ankle joint, a hematoma and torn tendon sheath.
