She came out of retirement with one thing on her mind: to win the gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics. She may have achieved much more, winning three Slams and returning to the top of the rankings, but a never ending series of injuries prevented Kim from fulfilling her biggest goal.
Since regaining the number 1 position in February last year, Clijsters' career has been rued by tremendous misfortune. Last season she missed the entire clay-court preparatory season before returning to lose second round at Roland Garros. She then injured her foot at s'Hertogenbosch and ended up being sidelined since January this year. In just her first tournament back, at Brisbane, the Belgian was forced to withdraw due to a hip injury, before twisting her ankle at the Australian Open. Both these injuries took their tool and, although Kim decided to suck it in and continued playing, she was clearly limited in the defense of her title.
After Australian, she again opted to take time out, skipping the clay-court season as an attempt to focus on achieving two big ambitions: Wimbledon and the Olympic Games. However, visibly hindered by an ailing body, the Belgian succumbed sooner than expected at SW19, losing in the fourth round to German Angelique Kerber. Having already announced she will retire after the US Open, this was Kim's last chance to win the prestigious Venus Rosewater Dish trophy.
With the Wimbledon disillusion behind her, the Belgian put all her hopes into obtaining a medal at the London Olympics. Her campaign got off to a great start, quickly dismissing the likes of Italian Roberta Vinci and Spaniard Carla Suarez-Navarro, before overcoming a stiff test in former world number 1, Serbian Ana Ivanovic. Playing for a place in the semifinals, Kim faced Maria Sharapova next. The Russian, coming off a sensational French Open success, started confidently though and quickly took charge of the match. Being completely overpowered by her opponent, Clijsters' derailed game was too weak to stand a chance. As a consequence, Maria wrapped up a 6-2,7-5 victory that sees her in direct contention for a medal. She will tackle beauty queen Maria Kirilenko next.
Kim now has only tournament left. The undisputed queen of the Flushing Meadow courts, she will be hoping to end her career in outstanding fashion by collecting a fourth US Open crown.
photo: GETTY IMAGES
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