CINCINNATI, OH, USA - If former world No.1 Kim Clijsters wanted to gauge her
form against the very best, she could hardly have chosen a better venue for
her comeback than the Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open. The
entire Top 10 has lined up in Cincinnati this week, and although the
26-year-old Belgian has avoided drawing any of them in the first round, she
has certainly not been given an easy opening test.
Clijsters' opponent will be world No.12 Marion Bartoli, who arrives in the
Midwest fresh from winning the biggest title of her career at Stanford a week
ago. But the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour's newest touring mom always knew there
would be nowhere to hide in the draw of the $2,000,000 Premier event, and is
ready to tackle all challengers head-on.
"I'm really excited to start playing again, I can't tell you how much!" said
the 2005 US Open champion, who is unranked after 28 months away from the Tour
but has been granted a wildcard into the Cincinnati event. "I have been
training so hard for the last six months to get myself into this situation
again, this is what I really want.
"It doesn't feel like a comeback, it feels like starting from scratch," she
added.
Video Check out Kim's new official YouTube channel, ClijstersTube
Since wowing fans with her performance at the gala event held to mark the
official opening of the new roof over Wimbledon's Centre Court - she not only
beat Steffi Graf, which was probably to be expected given the age gap between
the two, but also out-rallied Andre Agassi on many occasions - Clijsters has
played a series of exhibitions in Europe and the US, including World Team
Tennis for the St Louis Aces.
As well as caring for 18-month-old daughter Jada and training, Clijsters also
spent the early part of the summer buying a house in New Jersey with her
husband, pro basketballer Brian Lynch, and last weekend attended her
brother-in-law's wedding in Atlantic City.
The family arrived in Cincinnati on Wednesday together with other members of
the support team, including coach Wim Fisette, physio Tim Clijsters (Kim's
cousin), Jada's nanny, Nicole and Clijsters' agent, former Sony Ericsson WTA
Tour senior communications manager John Dolan.
Clijsters and Bartoli have played just once before, in the round of 16 at San
Diego back in 2003. At the time Clijsters was a 20-year-old ranked No.2 in
the world, Bartoli an up-and-coming 18-year-old ranked No.50.
It was no contest, with the Belgian recording a straightforward 61 61 win.
But she'll be expecting a far tougher time of it this time, not least because
Bartoli beat Venus Williams to capture the Stanford title. Clijsters will
need all her trademark athleticism and power to suppress the double-fisted
Frenchwoman, who also loves playing on hardcourts and is clearly in a groove.
When Clijsters takes to the court she'll have a career win-loss record in
singles of 427-104, and 34 singles titles to her name. Given her quarter of
the draw also harbors the likes of French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova
and world No.1 Dinara Safina, it may be unrealistic to expect a 35th title to
come this week.
But it is worth noting that 23 of those titles were won on hardcourts, and
more than a third on US soil. What's more, Clijsters is 28-17 against the
current Top 5. None would relish the prospect of seeing 'K.Clijsters' next to
their name on the match schedule.