‘Dont Feel Like I Need To Prove Anything’ – Kim Clijsters Puts an End to Her Barrier-Breaking Career

Kim Clijsters has been one of the best players on the WTA tour. She’s had quite the success in both singles and doubles titles, and was the World No. 1 in both. She held the position simultaneously in 2003. but she finally announced her retirement and said that she is ready for a new chapter of her life.

This is not the first time that Kim Clijsters is retiring but, it seems like this time it’s for good. She retired for the first time back in 2007, when she retired after having a subpar season due to injuries. In the meantime, she became a mother, but then returned two years later and played for almost 4 years before again retiring in 2012.

During this time she won 2 back-to-back US Open Titles and her first Australian Open title too! This feat really smashed a lot of barriers, that motherhood can interfere with your skill as a player.

Her most recent comeback was announced at the peak of the global pandemic and did not really work out the way she wanted to. This was her second attempt at a comeback. Her first one had been extremely successful given that it resulted in 3 Grand Slam victories!

Also read: Who Is Kim Clijsters Husband Brian Lynch?

Kim Clijsters is ready for more

“I have decided to no longer play official tournaments,” she said on her Instagram. “I can’t wait to see what new adventures will cross my path. Thank you to everyone who has supported me over the past two years!”

She played a few matches in 2020, during the worse days of the COVID crisis, and she made her second comeback at the Dubai Tennis Championships, where she lost in the first round to Garbine Muguruza. She then played at the Monterrey Open, the Top Seed Open, and then at the US Open, but lost in the first round in all of those tournaments.

Her 2021 season went similarly and she again suffered all first-round match losses. Her last match was at the Indian Wells, in October, where she lost to Katerina Siniakova. The 38-year-old former World No. 1 now wants to concentrate on settling down in New Jersey, where she and her family of 4 moved from Belgium.

WATCH THIS STORY: Venus Williams and Will Smith’s emotional SAG Awards