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Clijsters wins US Open to complete mother of all comebacks
Ross Lydall14 Sep 2009
Kim Clijsters has become the first mother for almost three decades to win a tennis Grand Slam after victory in the US Open.
She also made history by being the first unseeded “wildcard” entry to take the title at Flushing Meadows, in New York, after defeating ninth seed Caroline Wozniacki.
Clijsters, 26, cried tears of joy and hugged her 18-month-old daughter Jada on court after defeating the 19-year-old Dane in straight sets.
It marked a remarkable comeback for the former world number one, who came out of retirement only 35 days ago after 27 months away from the game.
The Belgian's victory, early today, was in only her third tournament since her return and was the first victory of a mother since Evonne Goolagong Cawley won Wimbledon for the second time in 1980.
“I don't have words for how I'm feeling — I'm just glad I got to come back to defend my title from 2005,” she said afterwards.
“It's been so exciting for me, I just wanted to get back to playing tennis. We tried to plan Jada's nap time a little bit later today so she could be here. It's the greatest joy in the world.”
Clijsters, who is married to US basketball player Brian Lynch, went through to the final in controversial fashion after her semi-final opponent Serena Williams had the match-point awarded against her after an outburst against a line judge. Williams has since been fined $10,000 (£6,000).
Clijsters, who had lost four of her five previous Grand Slam finals, had retired from tennis in 2007 after being troubled by injuries. She said getting back in shape was hard work. “No swear words like Serena yesterday, but a lot of swearing at home.”
She had beaten both Williams sisters to earn her place in the final, which she described on her Twitter page as a “fairy tale”. She came from behind to defeat Wozniacki 7-5, 6-3.
“It still seems so surreal,” Clijsters said, “because it wasn't in the plan. I wanted to come back here, get a feel for it, play a Grand Slam so I wouldn't have to come back next year and learn the new experiences all over.
“Just coming back here meant so much to me and seeing how warm everybody welcomed me and embraced me, just to be back was a great feeling.”
