
Sanex WTA Tour Singles Titles: 7
Sanex WTA Tour Doubles Titles: 2
ITF Women's Circuit Single : 3
Career Prize Money : $2,263,628
Career Win/Loss Record : 120-48
She 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. 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. 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.
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.
The loss looks as if it would be Clijsters' biggest
regret. The U.S. Open and Wimbledon were just the
beginning for Clijsters.
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. Kim is
now in the Top 10 after two years of rising to the top.
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