Kim Clijsters, currently ranked number five woman in the world of tennis, has declared 2007 her last year of professional tennis. Though Clijsters is only 23, she is plagued by persistent injuries. She also plans to marry American Brian Lynch right after Wimbledon and devote herself to starting a family and making a home. Lynch plays for the Belgian basketball club Bree, Clijsters’ hometown team.
Clijsters’ career highlights include winning the 2005 US Open as well as 36 other singles titles. She was the first Belgian female to reach a Grand Slam final at Roland Garros in 2001 though she was defeated by Jennifer Capriati. Kim held the world’s number one ranking for a period during 2003 and has earned over $14 million in prize money.
In 2004, injuries began to bother Clijsters when she sprained her ankle badly and withdrew from a tournament in Sydney. She managed to come back and win Antwerp (the biggest match in her home country of Belgium) but then another injury struck when Kim hurt her wrist in play at Indian Wells. After months of rest and rehabilitation, she fought her way back again. In 2005, her world ranking soared from 133 to 17, and even a bad knee injury did not keep Clijsters from winning her first Grand Slam—the US Open! Sadly her game in 2006 was hampered by an injured hip, a twisted ankle, an injured foot, and a painful fall on her wrist.
“2007 will become my final year for sure. Pretty special if you ask me. I’ll select some nice tournaments so as to go and say goodbye to the many nice people I have met in the past,” Clijsters said in her web diary in November. Kim will begin her last year in tennis in Australia where she has long been a favorite, perhaps partly due to her former engagement to top Australian player Lleyton Hewitt. She will also play her home tournament in Antwerp though she declined an invitation from the Belgian Olympic Committee to play at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Read Clijster’s web diary for further thoughts about her last year in women’s tennis.
[...] The city of Antwerp in Belgium has honored native tennis great Kim Clijsters with a small museum of sorts, highlighting her career. Clijsters plans to retire at the end of this tennis season and Belgium wants to ensure that her legacy endures. [...]