Personal Information
Date of Birth | June 8, 1983 |
Kim Clijsters: A Brief Biography
Kim Antonie Lode Clijsters is a retired Belgian professional tennis player who is also lauded as the former world number 1 in both singles and doubles. Clijsters began competing in Tennis when she was six and by the time she was nine, she was already an accomplished amateur player. She won the Belgian Junior Championship in 1994 at the age of eleven. Clijsters made her professional debut in 1999 at the Women\'s Tennis Association tour in Antwerp, making it to the quarterfinals. In 2002 she won the Masters followed by nine singles tournaments and seven doubles titles in 2003. Her outstanding victory rate projected her into the No 1 position in the rank list. Clijsters has won 41 WTA singles titles and 11 WTA doubles titles. She has won three Grand Slam Titles at the US Open, in 2005, 2009, and 2010 and one at the Australian Open in 2011 making it a sum total of Grand Slam singles titles. She was also the finalist in four other Grand Slam singles tournaments and has been dubbed winner for the WTA Tour Championships in 2002, 2003, and 2010. In doubles, she took home awrds for winning the French Open and Wimbledon titles in 2003. On 6 May 2007, Clijsters announced her retirement from the sport only to return two years later to the WTA tour for the 2009 summer hard court season. In her third tounament after the hiatus, she the first unseeded player and wildcard to win the US Open title. On 29 August 2012, Clijsters played her last singles match of her career at the 2012 US Open and on 1 September, her last (mixed) doubles match, both of which she lost in the second round.