Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Kim Clijsters

Kim Antonie Lode Clijsters is a Belgian professional tennis player. She is a former World No. 1 ranked player in singles and in doubles. As of May 10, 2010, Clijsters is ranked World No. 10.

Clijsters has won 37 WTA singles titles and 11 WTA doubles titles. She won the US Open singles title in 2005 and 2009. She has also won the WTA Tour Championships singles title in 2002 and 2003. In doubles, she's won the French Open and Wimbledon titles in 2003. Clijsters was twice a singles runner-up at the French Open and a one-time runner-up at the Australian Open, also reaching two Wimbledon singles semi-finals. She announced her retirement with immediate effect on 6 May 2007, but almost two years later, on 26 March 2009, she publicly declared her intent to return to the WTA tour for the 2009 summer hard court season. In only her third tournament back, she won her second US Open title, becoming the first unranked player and wildcard to win the tournament, and the first mother to win a major since Evonne Goolagong in 1980.












statics
Country : Belgium
Residence : Bree, Belgium
Date of birth : 8 June 1983 (1983-06-08)
Place of birth Bilzen, Belgium
Height : 1.74 m (5 ft 8+1⁄2 in)
Weight : 68 kg (150 lb; 10.7 st)
Turned pro : 17 August 1997
Retired : 6 May 2007
Returned :11 August 2009
Plays : Right-handed; two-handed backhand
Career prize money : US$16,433,

Records
2001
* Clijsters became the first Belgian—man or woman—to reach a Grand Slam singles final in the Open Era.

2003
* Clijsters became not only the first Belgian—man or woman—to be ranked World No. 1, but also did so without winning a Grand Slam tournament. Clijsters is one of only five women to have been ranked World No. 1 in singles and doubles simultaneously (the others being Martina Navratilova, Martina Hingis, Arantxa Sánchez Vicario and Lindsay Davenport).
* Clijsters compiled a 90–12 singles record. Her singles win total was the highest single-season total by any woman since Navratilova in 1982. Clijsters was the first woman to play more than 100 singles matches in a year since Chris Evert in 1974.

2005
* At the NASDAQ-100 Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, Clijsters became only the second player (the first being Steffi Graf in 1995 and 1996) to win the Pacific Life Open-NASDAQ-100 Open double. En route to the Key Biscayne victory, she beat the fifth (Anastasia Myskina), fourth (Elena Dementieva), first (Amélie Mauresmo), and second (Maria Sharapova) seeds in consecutive matches.
* Following Clijsters's victory in the US Open Series and the subsequent US Open, she collected US$2.2 million in prize money, the largest single purse ever won by a female athlete. To that date, she held a North American hardcourt win-loss record of 36–1.
* 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 US Open.

2006
* In returning to the World No. 1 ranking after the Australian Open in January, Clijsters broke a rankings record. She was ranked as low as World 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.

2009
* Third unseeded and first unranked female champion of a Grand Slam title by winning the 2009 US Open. Clijsters also became the first mother to win a major since Evonne Goolagong Cawley won the Wimbledon title in 1980. She defeated Danish Caroline Wozniacki 7–5, 6–3 in the US Open final.
* Returned to WTA rankings at number 19, equaling the highest debut ever that was set by Andrea Jaeger in 1980.

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:
1999
* Belgian Sportswoman of the Year
* WTA Most Impressive Newcomer

2000

* Belgian Sportswoman of the Year

2001
* Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award (for 2000)
* Belgian Sportswoman of the Year

2002
* Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award (for 2001)
* Belgian Sportswoman of the Year

2003
* Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award(for 2002)

2004
* WTA Player Service Award (for 2003)
* Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award(for 2003)

2005
* ITF World Champion
* WTA Tour Championships Race winner
* Belgian Sportswoman of the Year
* International Tennis Writers Association (ITWA) Player of the Year
* International Tennis Writers Ambassador for Tennis
* WTA Player of the Year

2006
* WTA Player of the Year (for 2005)
* WTA Comeback Player of the Year (for 2005)
* Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award (for 2005)
* WTA Humanitarian of the Year

2007
* Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award (for 2006)

2009
* VTV Tennis Performance of the Year
* Belgian Sportswoman of the Year

2010
* Laureus World Comeback of the Year (For 2009)
* WTA Comeback Player of the Year (for 2009)
* Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award (for 2009)