Great Tennis Comebacks - Kim Clijsters - By: Rodney J Smith

Belgian tennis star Kim Clijsters recently completed a fairytale comeback to win the 2009 US Open grand slam event after being out of the professional game for almost two years. In so doing, she cemented her place in the Great Tennis Comebacks hall of fame.

Kim retired from professional tennis in May 2007, shortly before her 24th birthday. Despite playing on the tour for almost ten years, it was almost universally felt that she was too young to retire and was prematurely ending a good career which could have ended up being a great one. Kim's stated reasons for leaving tennis were injuries and a desire to start a family, which she duly did - her daughter Jada was born in February 2008.

So naturally she was received back with open arms when in March 2009 she announced her intention to return. She was granted wildcard entries into tournaments in Cincinnati and Toronto, where she reached the quarter finals and third round respectively - a good enough showing to then be granted a wildcard for the main draw of the US Open which she had won in 2005. In the 2009 tournament she played some solid tennis, defeating both Venus and Serena Williams on her way to the title where she beat Caroline Wozniacki in the final.

When announcing her return to the game, Kim stated that she would evaluate the success of her comeback after the US Open, both in tennis terms and how it works combined with her new family responsibilities. It was surely an unmitigated success on the first count, so let's hope she can find a way to balance her personal commitments so that we can see more of her, because surely this is a player with potential to achieve a lot more in tennis. No doubt she will pick her tournaments carefully to manage her schedule, and who knows - perhaps this is a healthier approach than trying to play every tournament anyhow.

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