Comeback Kim Eyes the Crown
Saturday, 18 June, 2005
Kim Clijsters would be a popular Wimbledon champion. No one on the circuit has
a bad word to say about the friendly Belgian who, with countrywoman Justine
Henin-Hardenne, has put the small European country (population 10.3m) back on
the tennis map this year, both staging remarkable comebacks from long-term
ailments.
While Henin-Hardenne followed wins in Charleston and Warsaw with a stunning
victory at Roland Garros, Clijsters heralded her return in the spring with
back-to-back triumphs at Indian Wells and Miami. Only seven-times Wimbledon
champion Steffi Graf had achieved such a feat, in 1994. More importantly, in
winning both titles Clijsters defeated the world's top three players: Lindsay
Davenport, Maria Sharapova and Amelie Mauresmo.
Her sport heaped plaudits and her public love and affection. Tennis and the
world at large had viewed Clijster's personal roller-coaster on and off the
court since last summer with nothing but sympathy. Clijsters suffered an
injury to her left wrist at Indian Wells in 2004 but played the Fed Cup
wearing a brace. The problem returned at the German Open; she withdrew from
the Italian and French Opens before undergoing surgery on June 12 to repair a
torn tendon and have a cyst removed from her wrist.
That put Clijsters out of last year's Championships and, apart from an
aborted return at Hasselt in late 2004, she was out of the game for eight
months. During that time she also split from Lleyton Hewitt, the 2002 Wimbledon
champion from Australia, after a four-year engagement.
It was time for a fresh start for Clijsters, who turned 22 on 8 June. Less
than four months after tennis' great romance had finished, Hewitt was engaged
to 'Home and Away' television actress Bec Cartwright and shortly after it was
announced they would be parents by the end of the year. For her part Clijsters
has developed a new circle of pals. "I made a lot of new friends while I was
home recovering," she said. "I did a lot of things I hadn't had the chance to
do while on tour. It's good to have my tour and non-tour lives back again."
Clijsters' confidence was buoyed by her emphatic return. After starting
Indian Wells ranked 133, she raced back into the top 20, helped by 17
successive wins up to the semi-finals at Warsaw.
Clijsters said: "It was amazing. When I beat Lindsay at Indian Wells, I
couldn't believe it. It had been so long. It was incredible after a tough year.
But winning in Miami was harder to believe because I felt tired after a few
matches and thought I wouldn't last. It was so satisfying but I did not
expect it all. I just wanted to play a few matches but my game clicked
straight away. It was like a dream."
Clijsters, who reached the world No.1 ranking in 2003, looked strong physically
and mentally until a knee injury forced her to quit the German Open. She was
able to enter the French Open, however, and as the No.14 seed she set up a
fourth round encounter with top seed Lindsay Davenport. Ahead a set and a break,
a berth in the quarter-finals looked assured. But Davenport's forehand started
to hit its mark and Clijsters' serve began to fail. Eleven double-faults later
she was out of the tournament.
It may have been a blessing in disguise, for Clijsters could turn her attention
to grass courts. She entered the warm-up event at Eastbourne for the first time.
After beating defending champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in a three-set tussle in
the semi-finals, she defeated Russian qualifier Vera Douchevina 7-5, 6-0 to
take the title.
But even before that timely win, Clijsters had experts talking about her chances
of success at The Championships.
Christine Truman, a Wimbledon finalist and BBC commentator, said: "Kim has a
chance for Wimbledon. She has a big game and her wins in America might give
her the extra mental strength that it seems she has needed in Grand Slams. I
was surprised how quickly she came back to form.
"If a player takes a long break it can take time to get going again. I remember
John McEnroe having difficulty coming back to his best form after having a few
months off. But Kim is younger and perhaps that has helped her. Should she win
she would certainly be a popular winner. She is a good player and a lovely girl."
It has been a long road back. Clijsters said: "The toughest time was when I
just started rehab after I came out of plaster. I wondered how the hell I was
going to play tennis again because I had no muscles. I couldn't even move my
fingers."
The experience has, understandably, given her perspective and she is not
getting carried away. "I know I am going to have to keep working hard," she
said. "I am not thinking 'I am back' because I did well at the start of my
return. I might lose in the first round next week. You never know. I just try
to stay positive. I want to play girls like Lindsay and Maria in Grand Slams
like Wimbledon. It's the challenge."
The recent knee injury in Berlin is a reminder just how quickly hopes and dreams
can be destroyed. But if her body holds up, Clijsters has every chance of
lifting the Venus Rosewater Dish on 3 July. She would be wearing one of the
widest smiles seen on Wimbledon's Centre Court, no doubt.
Written by Mike Donovan
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