Kim Clijsters before comeback: "In the beginning it will also be a great learning process"
Kim Clijsters is making her comeback on Monday afternoon (from 4 p.m. CET). The first opponent is Garbine Muguruza, the Belgian has also played a high-class training partner.
by Jörg Allmeroth from Dubai
last edit: Feb 16, 2020, 03:36 pm
Simona Halep didn't talk long after all about the hot porridge. "It was terribly nervous" on Sunday morning, before a very special training session in Dubai, before the first meeting on the tennis court with a certain Kim Clijsters : "She is an absolute legend for me," said Halep, number 1 in the world rankings, "I copied her as a child, I wanted to be like her."
Clijsters' spectacular second comeback will start next week in the Arabian Gulf, and Halep was one of the players the 36-year-old Belgian has played with for the past few days, warming up for the tournament. What can you expect from “Darling Kim” ( Gulf News )? Halep, the current front woman, was very certain: “A lot. It hits the ball as well as anyone out there. She is fit and ambitious. I don't think you want to have her as an opponent. ”
Clijsters: "The joy is great"
A few minutes after Halep had paid the former idol the best compliments, Clijsters also came into the stylish "CuBa" lounge of the "Jumeirah Creekside Hotel" - the usual setting for press talks before the tournament started. The rush was huge, huge, two dozen camera teams besieged the returnee, and a large group of journalists had traveled from Belgium to the desert. Kim mobilizes, not just herself. "It is a bit crazy to sit here again, answer questions, immerse yourself in old life," said the Flämmin, who had recently worked behind the camera on occasion, as a TV -Expert and commentator, "I am now pretty excited to start this journey. The joy is great."
What do you think of the recognition of the other players, of the general expressions of respect of the younger and very young? Clijsters laughed, then parried the question like this: “When I go out on the court, they want to hit me. It is obvious. They don't want to lose against me at any price. ”The start is a tough one for Clijsters anyway. After her original opponent, the Dutch Kiki Bertens, had withdrawn due to an injury, the triple mother now meets Garbine Muguruza . Reminder: It was just surprisingly in the final of the Australian Open.
"I'm curious to see how we can do it as a family"
But Clijsters is not focused on quick success, the quick winning moments. "I know that it can take a while until I find my way around on the tour again," she said, "In the beginning it will also be a great learning process." Clijsters had already resigned from the resignation, in 2009 she packed hers Tennis bag back together, won three Grand Slam titles as "Mother Courage". The US Open 2012 ended - until today. And what has changed in the meantime, from comeback to comeback? “Two more children,” smiled Clijsters, “traveling, being a whole professional - it is getting more difficult and exciting. I am curious to see how we can do it as a family. ”After the first performance, the taster course in Dubai, the Clijsters team continues to Monterrey, Mexico, and then to Indian Wells, the so-called fifth Grand Slam.
And why all this, in my mid-thirties, with three children and as a wife? "The question of why is everyone asked. But at some point my husband and I said: Why not, "said Clijsters," I can still feel the fire inside me, the desire to compete on Center Court. I was always someone who liked these duels, the argument with the opponent and yourself. ”Goals, expectations, demands? Clijsters doesn't think in such categories. Or better yet: not yet. "I worked well. I put up with some setbacks along the way. Now the joy is great that it starts, ”said the 36-year-old,“ I'm perfectly prepared for it to start off bumpy. I have no illusions, this is a process that will be very challenging. "The good thing, according to Clijsters," is that I have been through and experienced all emotions in the many years ":" There is actually nothing that can really surprise me. "
When the American Sofia Kenin recently sensationally won the Australian Open, Clijsters also appeared involuntarily - in a video that showed Kenin and Clijsters at the 2005 tournament in Miami. At that time Clijsters led the six-year-old girl over the facility for an advertising partner, Kenin proudly announced that he wanted to become number one and Grand Slam winner himself. Clijsters noted with amusement. 15 years later, they are now together in a tournament field, the tall old lady from Belgium on her second comeback and the latest Grand Slam winner. "It's an unbelievable mood of fate," said Clijsters on Sunday. She had previously met Kenin for a PR appointment at the famous Burj al Arab hotel, and camel rides were also planned. But only Kenin dared the little trip, Clijsters watched carefully: "I didn't want anything else to go wrong."