Former No.1 tennis player in the world Kim Clijsters is plotting a return to professional tennis after being retired for the past seven years. Clijsters, who turned 36 in June, announced on Thursday that she plans to compete in 2020 on the WTA tour.
Clijsters retired in 2012 and has since been mostly involved in the work of her tennis academy in native Belgium. She made several appearances on charity tennis tournaments and matches, while also playing Legends of Tennis events.
“My goal right now … is to be able to get fit enough, and ready tennis-wise, to compete at the highest level,” – said Clijsters. “That to me would be my challenge, as of right now. And if you get to that stage, then you push yourself, and then it might be like, ‘Hmm, let’s see if I can get, I don’t know, to the second week of a Grand Slam.’ I’ll constantly push myself, I think, if I feel that I’m getting better and improving.”
This wouldn’t be the first time Kim Clijsters returns out of retirement. Clijsters first retired back in 2007, when she was just 23 years old. She returned two years later, and went on to win three more Grand Slams.
Clijsters knows that things will be a lot different now, but isn’t afraid of the challenge.
“I do think the level and the power that a lot of the women bring is higher than maybe in the past, and it’s higher at a consistent level,” – she added. “If I want to be able to compete with these girls, I’m going to have to be the fittest that I ever have been and to be able to move like I did in the past.”
While Clijsters doesn’t intend to play the full season, she will able to participate at the WTA tournaments thanks to the fact that she is guaranteed an unlimited number of wildcards as a past Grand Slam champion.
