INTRO
Kim Clijsters is the latest edition to a flock of young tennis prodigées. She follows in the footsteps of Monica Seles, Martina Hingis, and Venus Williams. She first caught everyone’s eye at the 1999 Wimbledon, upsetting seeded player Amanda Coetzer in the 3rd round. She then came within inches of beating the 1999 U.S. Open Champion Serena Williams in the 3rd round. The Belgian hasn’t had overnight success, but from the first day she placed her hands on a tennis racket, she was bound for it.
BIRTH IN A NATION
Kim Clijsters was born on the 8th of June 1983 in Bilzen, Belgium. Her father Lei was a professional soccer player. He was the first Clijsters to win sports trophies. Her mother Els is a cancer survivor. Clijsters also has a sister named Elke.
CONQUERING JUNIORS
Clijsters first picked up a racket when she was 5. That was when she realized she wanted to play tennis. At first, Clijsters thought it would be fun to pursue tennis as a hobby, but she was so good at just a hobby. It was obvious that a young Clijsters should be in juniors. With Lei Clijsters’ incredible soccer career, the young Belgian never had trouble finding the money for coaching, traveling, and whatnot. She apparently didn’t have trouble in juniors either as she breezed through it. “There are so many [juniors] trophies in the attic,” brags Clijsters. A couple of those trophies include a 1998 French Open Juniors doubles title, and a runner-up title at the 1998 Juniors Wimbledon. It was very clear at this point to Clijsters and her coach Carl Maes that she was ready for the WTA Tour.
NEXT CONQUEST
When Clijsters was not very known to anyone on the WTA Tour (now know as the Sanex WTA Tour); she had won 3 satellite titles even. But she began to be some word of mouth on her premiere year of 1999, at Antwerp. After competing in the tournament as a “lucky loser,” Clijsters reached the quarterfinals. At her first Grand Slam which was Wimbledon, Clijsters reached the 4th round after upsetting the 10th seed Amanda Coetzer in the 3rd. Although she lost in the 4th, at least she fell to her idol Steffi Graf. Her final phenomenal show at a Grand Slam was at the U.S. Open. She reached the 3rd round and faced the eventual champion Serena Williams. She was serving for the match at 5-3 in the 3rd set, but that was the game where Serena found her groove and won 4 straight games to win the match. The loss looks as if it would be Clijsters' biggest regret, but she assures, “I loved everything about that match; the court, the people and the rallies.” The U.S. Open and Wimbledon were just the beginning for Clijsters.
WINNING HER FIRST TITLE
Directly after the U.S. Open, Clijsters was at the Seat Open in Luxembourg as a qualifier. At the all Belgian semifinal, Clijsters beat World No. 2 Belgian Sabine Appelmans, and in the unexpected final, she pounded World No. 1 Belgian Dominique Van Roost. Her ranking benefited too, and reached No. 47 as a result of winning her first WTA Tour title. She followed that tournament with a final showing at Bratislava. She lost to Amelie Mauresmo, but finished the year in the Top 50!
CONCLUSION
All the top players now—Hingis, the Williams sisters, Sampras, Agassi—male or female, started out young and big, and became Gargantuan. Clijsters is obviously en route to join that pattern. Her premiere year opened many an eye, and they’re still wide open because Kim Clijsters will be around for quite some time!
~Clijsters City
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