Tennis: Clijsters determined to press on with comeback

BRUSSELS, Belgium -- Kim Clijsters is looking forward to returning to the US Open even though the coronavirus pandemic means that since her second comeback from retirement she has spent more time with her family.

"I'm still motivated," the four-time Grand Slam winner told a Belgium newspaper on Sunday.

"I hope we can still play this season. But even if we don't, I intend to keep going," the Belgian tennis star, who turns 37 in June, told Het Laatse Nieuws (HLN). 

Clijsters had spells at number one before and after her first retirement, from 2007-2009. She had her daughter in 2008. She won the US Open before that break and the Australian Open and two more US titles when she came back. She retired for a second time after the US Open in 2012. She has since had two sons.

"I always felt I was fulfilled," Clijsters said in an earlier interview with the Tennis Hall of Fame. "After I had our third baby, Blake, I started travelling to tournaments. I did commentary.

"But I still felt more like a player. A little itch started."

Returning to the tour poses a challenge for a mother of three.

"I'm away a little bit, which turned out to be not so much in the last few months," she said.

She began her second comeback in February in Dubai, where she lost to Garbine Muguruza in the first round. She then lost to Johanna Konta in her opening match in Monterrey, the last tournament before the women's tour shut down at the start of March.

She was in the United States when the tournament in Indian Wells, where she planned to play singles and partner Venus Williams in the doubles, was cancelled. The family stayed at their home in New Jersey, where they don't have a tennis court and the public courts soon shut.

"We made a court with kitchen chairs," she said.

Clijsters and her husband Brian Lynch, a basketball coach, completed Andy Murray's 100 volleys couples challenge.

"In the first few weeks when you're in quarantine and all these challenges pop up...you're trying everything," she said. "After a few weeks it's 'another challenge? I'm done!'"

The family returned to Belgium and quarantined for two weeks. 

Clijsters told HLN that the break had allowed her to rest her body and allow injuries in her knees to improve. 

"If the US Open can happen, I want to be ready," she said in the Hall of Fame interview. "I would also be happy if I had to play on court 18. I don't have to be out on Arthur Ashe "

Agence France-Presse

Serena overwhelmed by fan love on Indian Wells return

INDIAN WELLS, California - Fourteen years after leaving the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in shocked disbelief after being heckled by the fans, Serena Williams soaked up their adulation on her return to the venue on Friday.

The American world number one, who was booed by the crowd as she beat Kim Clijsters in the 2001 final to win her second title at the California desert resort, felt overwhelmed after receiving a standing ovation at the start of the match.

"I didn't know what to expect," said an emotional Williams, who struggled to find her rhythm against a highly unorthodox opponent before battling past Romania's Monica Niculescu 7-5 7-5 in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open.

"In the last couple of moments leading up to it, I was focused on warming up for the match and I wasn't really prepared for that. I was overwhelmed by it.

"It was such a warm feeling. It made me feel incredibly well. And receiving the love from the crowd here, it really meant a lot to me."

During the 2001 final at Indian Wells, Williams was repeatedly booed by the crowd in apparent response to Serena's sister Venus having withdrawn from their semi-final that year just minutes before the match, citing injury.

Her father, Richard Williams, alleged he had heard racist taunts.

Fast forward 14 years and Williams was greeted with huge cheers while walking out on to the stadium court, prompting her to remove the headphones she was wearing and raise her right arm skywards to acknowledge the crowd.

One fan yelled out "We love you Serena" during the coin toss and she received repeated calls of "Come on Serena" throughout a topsy-turvy match that lasted a little more than two hours.

"I just felt so good to be out there," said the world number one, who clinched her 19th grand slam singles crown with a 6-3 7-6(5) victory over Russian Maria Sharapova in the Australian Open final in January.

"I felt like I made the right decision (to come back) and I knew I wanted to do it. I knew I really wanted to do it. But up until that moment I didn't really know if it was the right thing for me to do. That's when I felt it was the right thing.

"I don't feel like I have to actually hold the trophy at the end of this. I feel like I'm already holding up a trophy. I have never felt that way before. I feel like just being here is a huge win. Not only for me, but for so many people."

Asked to assess where Friday's experience ranked among her multiple accomplishments on the tennis court, Williams replied: "It definitely feels like one of the biggest moments and the proudest moments of my career." (Editing by John O'Brien)

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com