A wiki ( ) is a website that allows the creation and editing of any number of interlinked web pages via a web browser using a simplified markup language or a WYSIWYG text editor. Wikis are typically powered by wiki software and are often used collaboratively by multiple users. Examples include community websites, corporate intranets, knowledge management systems, and note services. The software can also be used for personal notetaking.

Wikis serve different purposes. Some permit control over different functions (levels of access). For example editing rights may permit changing, adding or removing material. Others may permit access without enforcing access control. Other rules can be imposed for organizing content.

Ward Cunningham, the developer of the first wiki software, WikiWikiWeb, originally described it as "the simplest online database that could possibly work." "Wiki" (pronounced or ) is a Hawaiian word meaning "fast" or "quick".

History

WikiWikiWeb was the first wiki. Ward Cunningham started developing WikiWikiWeb in Portland, Oregon, in 1994, and installed it on the Internet domain c2.com on March 25, 1995. It was named by Cunningham, who remembered a Honolulu International Airport counter employee telling him to take the "Wiki Wiki Shuttle" bus that runs between the airport's terminals. According to Cunningham, "I chose wiki-wiki as an alliterative substitute for 'quick' and thereby avoided naming this stuff quick-web."

Cunningham was in part inspired by Apple's HyperCard. Apple had designed a system allowing users to create virtual "card stacks" supporting links among the various cards. Cunningham developed Vannevar Bush's ideas by allowing users to "comment on and change one another's text."

In the early 2000s, wikis were increasingly adopted in enterprise as collaborative software. Common uses included project communication, intranets, and documentation, initially for technical users. Today some companies use wikis as their only collaborative software and as a replacement for static intranets, and some schools and universities use wikis to enhance group learning. There may be greater use of wikis behind firewalls than on the public Internet.

On March 15, 2007, ''wiki'' entered the online ''Oxford English Dictionary''.

Characteristics

Ward Cunningham and co-author Bo Leuf, in their book ''The Wiki Way: Quick Collaboration on the Web'', described the essence of the Wiki concept as follows:

A wiki invites all users to edit any page or to create new pages within the wiki Web site, using only a plain-vanilla Web browser without any extra add-ons.

Wiki promotes meaningful topic associations between different pages by making page link creation almost intuitively easy and showing whether an intended target page exists or not.

A wiki is not a carefully crafted site for casual visitors. Instead, it seeks to involve the visitor in an ongoing process of creation and collaboration that constantly changes the Web site landscape.

A wiki enables communities to write documents collaboratively, using a simple markup language and a web browser. A single page in a wiki website is referred to as a "wiki page", while the entire collection of pages, which are usually well interconnected by hyperlinks, is "the wiki". A wiki is essentially a database for creating, browsing, and searching through information. A wiki allows for non-linear, evolving, complex and networked text, argument and interaction.

A defining characteristic of wiki technology is the ease with which pages can be created and updated. Generally, there is no review before modifications are accepted. Many wikis are open to alteration by the general public without requiring them to register user accounts. Many edits can be made in real-time and appear almost instantly online. This can facilitate abuse of the system. Private wiki servers require user authentication to edit pages, and sometimes even to read them.

Maged N. Kamel Boulos, Cito Maramba and Steve Wheeler write that it is the "openness of wikis that gives rise to the concept of 'Darwikinism', which is a concept that describes the 'socially Darwinian process' that wiki pages are subject to. Basically, because of the openness and rapidity that wiki pages can be edited, the pages undergo a natural selection process like that which nature subjects to living organisms. 'Unfit' sentences and sections are ruthlessly culled, edited and replaced if they are not considered 'fit', which hopefully results in the evolution of a higher quality and more relevant page. Whilst such openness may invite 'vandalism' and the posting of untrue information, this same openness also makes it possible to rapidly correct or restore a 'quality' wiki page."

Editing wiki pages

There are many different ways in which wikis have users edit the content. Ordinarily, the structure and formatting of wiki pages are specified with a simplified markup language, sometimes known as "''wikitext''". For example, starting a line of text with an asterisk ("*") often sets up a bulleted list. The style and syntax of wikitexts can vary greatly among wiki implementations, some of which also allow HTML tags. Designers of wikis often take this approach because HTML, with its many cryptic tags, is not very legible, making it hard to edit. Wikis therefore favour plain-text editing, with fewer and simpler conventions than HTML, for indicating style and structure. Although limiting access to HTML and to the Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) of wikis limits user ability to alter the structure and formatting of wiki content, there are some benefits. Limited access to CSS promotes consistency in the look and feel, and having JavaScript disabled prevents a user from implementing code that may limit access for other users.

MediaWiki syntax	Equivalent HTML	Rendered output
"Take some more tea," the March Hare said to Alice, very earnestly."I've had nothing yet," Alice replied in an offended tone: "so I can't take more.""You mean you can't take ''less''," said the Hatter: "it's very easy to take ''more'' than nothing."	<p>"Take some more tea," the March Hare said to Alice, very earnestly.</p>	<p>"I've had nothing yet," Alice replied in an offended tone: "so I can't take more."</p>	<p>"You mean you can't take <i>less</i>," said the Hatter: "it's very easy to take <i>more</i> than nothing."</p>		"Take some more tea," the March Hare said to Alice, very earnestly.			"I've had nothing yet," Alice replied in an offended tone: "so I can't take more."			"You mean you can't take ''less''," said the Hatter: "it's very easy to take ''more'' than nothing."

Increasingly, wikis are making "WYSIWYG" ("What You See Is What You Get") editing available to users, usually by means of JavaScript or an ActiveX control that translates graphically entered formatting instructions, such as "bold" and "italics", into the corresponding HTML tags or wikitext. In those implementations, the markup of a newly edited, marked-up version of the page is generated and submitted to the server transparently, shielding the user from this technical detail. However, WYSIWYG controls do not always provide all of the features available in wikitext, and some users prefer not to use a WYSIWYG editor, and as a result many of these sites offer some means to edit the wikitext directly.

Most wikis keep a record of changes made to wiki pages; often every version of the page is stored. This means that authors can revert to an older version of the page, should it be necessary because a mistake has been made or the page has been vandalized. Many implementations (for example MediaWiki) allow users to supply an "edit summary" when they edit a page. This is a short piece of text (usually one line) summarizing the changes. It is not inserted into the article, but is stored along with that revision of the page, allowing users to explain what has been done and why; this is similar to a log message when committing changes to a revision-control system.

Navigation

Within the text of most pages there are usually a large number of hypertext links to other pages. This form of non-linear navigation is more "native" to wiki than structured/formalized navigation schemes. That said, users can also create any number of index or table-of-contents pages, with hierarchical categorization or whatever form of organization they like. These may be challenging to maintain by hand, as multiple authors create and delete pages in an ad hoc manner. Wikis generally provide one or more ways to categorize or tag pages to support the maintenance of such index pages.

Most wikis have a backlink feature, which displays all pages that link to a given page.

It is typical in a wiki to create links to pages that do not yet exist, as a way to invite others to share what they know about a subject new to the wiki.

Linking and creating pages

Links are created using a specific syntax, the so-called "link pattern" (also see CURIE). Originally, most wikis used CamelCase to name pages and create links. These are produced by capitalizing words in a phrase and removing the spaces between them (the word "CamelCase" is itself an example). While CamelCase makes linking very easy, it also leads to links which are written in a form that deviates from the standard spelling. CamelCase-based wikis are instantly recognizable because they have many links with names such as "TableOfContents" and "BeginnerQuestions." It is possible for a wiki to render the visible anchor for such links "pretty" by reinserting spaces, and possibly also reverting to lower case. However, this reprocessing of the link to improve the readability of the anchor is limited by the loss of capitalization information caused by CamelCase reversal. For example, "RichardWagner" should be rendered as "Richard Wagner," whereas "PopularMusic" should be rendered as "popular music". There is no easy way to determine which capital letters should remain capitalized. As a result, many wikis now have "free linking" using brackets, and some disable CamelCase by default.

Implementations

Wiki software is a type of collaborative software that runs a wiki system, allowing web pages to be created and edited using a common web browser. It is usually implemented as an application server that runs on one or more web servers. The content is stored in a file system, and changes to the content are stored in a relational database management system. A commonly implemented software package is MediaWiki, which runs this encyclopedia. See the List of wiki software for further information.

Alternatively, personal wikis run as a standalone application on a single computer. WikidPad is an example. Or even single local HTML file with JavaScript inside - like TiddlyWiki.

Wikis can also be created on a "wiki farm", where the server side software is implemented by the wiki farm owner. PBwiki, Socialtext, Wetpaint, and Wikia are popular examples of such services. Some wiki farms can also make private, password-protected wikis. Note that free wiki farms generally contain advertising on every page. For more information, see Comparison of wiki farms.

Trust and security

Controlling changes

Wikis are generally designed with the philosophy of making it easy to correct mistakes, rather than making it difficult to make them. Thus, while wikis are very open, they provide a means to verify the validity of recent additions to the body of pages. The most prominent, on almost every wiki, is the "Recent Changes" page—a specific list numbering recent edits, or a list of edits made within a given time frame. Some wikis can filter the list to remove minor edits and edits made by automatic importing scripts ("bots").

From the change log, other functions are accessible in most wikis: the revision history shows previous page versions and the diff feature highlights the changes between two revisions. Using the revision history, an editor can view and restore a previous version of the article. The diff feature can be used to decide whether or not this is necessary. A regular wiki user can view the diff of an edit listed on the "Recent Changes" page and, if it is an unacceptable edit, consult the history, restoring a previous revision; this process is more or less streamlined, depending on the wiki software used.

In case unacceptable edits are missed on the "recent changes" page, some wiki engines provide additional content control. It can be monitored to ensure that a page, or a set of pages, keeps its quality. A person willing to maintain pages will be warned of modifications to the pages, allowing him or her to verify the validity of new editions quickly. A watchlist is a common implementation of this.

Some wikis also implement "patrolled revisions," in which editors with the requisite credentials can mark some edits as not vandalism. A "flagged revisions" system can prevent edits from going live until they have been reviewed.

Searching

Most wikis offer at least a title search, and sometimes a full-text search. The scalability of the search depends on whether the wiki engine uses a database. Some wikis, such as PmWiki, use flat files. MediaWiki's first versions used flat files, but it was rewritten by Lee Daniel Crocker in the early 2000s to be a database application. Indexed database access is necessary for high speed searches on large wikis. Alternatively, external search engines such as Google Search can sometimes be used on wikis with limited searching functions in order to obtain more precise results. However, a search engine's indexes can be very out of date (days, weeks or months) for many websites.

Trustworthiness

Critics of publicly editable wiki systems argue that these systems could be easily tampered with, while proponents argue that the community of users can catch malicious content and correct it. Lars Aronsson, a data systems specialist, summarizes the controversy as follows:

High editorial standards in medicine have led to the idea of expert-moderated wikis. Some wikis allow one to link to specific versions of articles, which has been useful to the scientific community, in that expert peer reviewers could analyse articles, improve them and provide links to the trusted version of that article.

Noveck points out that "participants are accredited by members of the wiki community, who have a vested interest in preserving the quality of the work product, on the basis of their ongoing participation." On controversial topics that have been subject to disruptive editing, a wiki may restrict editing to registered users.

Security

The open philosophy of most wikis, allowing anyone to edit content, does not ensure that every editor is well-meaning. Vandalism can be a major problem. In larger wiki sites, such as those run by the Wikimedia Foundation, vandalism can go unnoticed for a period of time. Wikis by their very nature are susceptible to intentional disruption, known as "trolling". Wikis tend to take a ''soft security'' approach to the problem of vandalism; making damage easy to undo rather than attempting to prevent damage. Larger wikis often employ sophisticated methods, such as bots that automatically identify and revert vandalism and JavaScript enhancements that show characters that have been added in each edit. In this way vandalism can be limited to just "minor vandalism" or "sneaky vandalism", where the characters added/eliminated are so few that bots do not identify them and users do not pay much attention to them.

The amount of vandalism a wiki receives depends on how open the wiki is. For instance, some wikis allow unregistered users, identified by their IP addresses, to edit content, whilst others limit this function to just registered users. Most wikis allow anonymous editing without an account, but give registered users additional editing functions; on most wikis, becoming a registered user is a short and simple process. Some wikis require an additional waiting period before gaining access to certain tools. For example, on the English Wikipedia, registered users can only rename pages if their account is at least four days old. Other wikis such as the Portuguese Wikipedia use an editing requirement instead of a time requirement, granting extra tools after the user has made a certain number of edits to prove their trustworthiness and usefulness as an editor. Basically, "closed up" wikis are more secure and reliable but grow slowly, whilst more open wikis grow at a steady rate but result in being an easy target for vandalism. A clear example of this would be that of Wikipedia and Citizendium. The first is extremely open, allowing anyone with a computer and internet access to edit it, making it grow rapidly, whilst the latter requires the users' real name and a biography of themselves, affecting the growth of the wiki but creating an almost "vandalism-free" ambiance.

Malware can also be problem, as users can add links to sites hosting malicious code. For example, a German Wikipedia article about the Blaster Worm was edited to include a hyperlink to a website that would infect the user's computer. A countermeasure is the use of software that prevents users from saving an edit that contains a link to a site listed on a blacklist of malware sites.

Wiki software must also block JavaScript or other kinds of scripting that the attacker may attempt to insert directly into the page during editing sessions.

Edit wars can also occur as users repetitively revert a page to the version they favor. Some wiki software allows an administrator to stop such edit wars by locking a page from further editing until a decision has been made on what version of the page would be most appropriate. For example, an article named Dolf was deemed not notable and after debate between several users a new article on a more general topic was created called Dart Golf.

Some wikis are in a better position than others to control behavior due to governance structures existing outside the wiki. For instance, a college teacher can create incentives for students to behave themselves on a class wiki he administers, by limiting editing to logged-in users and pointing out that all contributions can be traced back to the contributors. Bad behavior can then be dealt with in accordance with university policies.

Communities

Many wiki communities are private, particularly within enterprises. They are often used as internal documentation for in-house systems and applications. Some companies use wikis to allow customers to help produce software documentation. A study of corporate wiki users found that they could be divided into "synthesizers" and "adders" of content. Synthesizers' frequency of contribution was affected more by their impact on other wiki users, while adders' contribution frequency was affected more by being able to accomplish their immediate work. In 2005, the Gartner Group, noting the increasing popularity of wikis, estimated that they would become mainstream collaboration tools in at least 50% of companies by 2009.

Wikis have also been used in the academic community for sharing and dissemination of information across institutional and international boundaries. In those settings, they have been found useful for collaboration on grant writing, strategic planning, departmental documentation, and committee work. In the mid-2000s, the increasing trend amongst industries toward collaboration was placing a heavier impetus upon educators to make students proficient in collaborative work, inspiring even greater interest in wikis being used in the classroom.

Wikis have found some use within the legal profession, and within government. Examples include the Central Intelligence Agency's Intellipedia, designed to share and collect intelligence, dKospedia, which was used by the American Civil Liberties Union to assist with review of documents pertaining to internment of detainees in Guantánamo Bay; and the wiki of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, used to post court rules and allow practitioners to comment and ask questions. The United States Patent and Trademark Office uses a wiki to allow the public to collaborate on finding prior art relevant to examination of pending patent applications. Queens, New York has used a wiki to allow citizens to collaborate on the design and planning of a local park. Cornell Law School founded a wiki-based legal dictionary called Wex, whose growth has been hampered by restrictions on who can edit.

There also exist WikiNodes which are pages on wikis that describe related wikis. They are usually organized as neighbors and delegates. A ''neighbor'' wiki is simply a wiki that may discuss similar content or may otherwise be of interest. A ''delegate'' wiki is a wiki that agrees to have certain content delegated to that wiki.

One way of finding a wiki on a specific subject is to follow the wiki-node network from wiki to wiki; another is to take a Wiki "bus tour", for example: . Domain names containing "wiki" are growing in popularity to support specific niches.

The English Wikipedia has the largest user base among wikis on the World Wide Web and ranks in the top 10 among all Web sites in terms of traffic. Other large wikis include the WikiWikiWeb, Memory Alpha, Wikitravel, World66 and Susning.nu, a Swedish-language knowledge base.

Medical and health-related wiki examples include Ganfyd, an online collaborative medical reference that is edited by medical professionals and invited non-medical experts.

The four basic types of users who participate in wikis are reader, author, wiki administrator and web administrator. The web administrator is responsible for installation and maintenance of the wiki engine and the container web server. The wiki administrator maintains wiki content and is provided additional functions pertaining to pages (e.g. page protection and deletion), and can adjust users' access rights by, for instance, blocking them from editing.

A study of several hundred wikis showed that a relatively high number of administrators for a given content size is likely to reduce growth; that access controls restricting editing to registered users tends to reduce growth; that a lack of such access controls tends to fuel new user registration; and that higher administration ratios (i.e. admins/user) have no significant effect on content or population growth.

Conferences

Conferences and meetings about wikis in general include:

The International Symposium on Wikis (WikiSym), a conference dedicated to wiki research and practice in general.

RecentChangesCamp, an unconference on wiki-related topics

Conferences on specific wiki sites and applications include: Atlassian Summit, an annual conference for users of Atlassian software, including Confluence RegioWikiCamp, a semi-annual unconference on "regiowikis", or wikis for cities and other geographic areas. SMWCon, a bi-annual conference for users and developers of Semantic MediaWiki. TikiFest, a frequently held meeting for users and developers of Tiki Wiki CMS Groupware.

Wikimania, an annual conference dedicated to the research and practice of Wikimedia Foundation projects like Wikipedia.

Rules

Wikis typically have a set of rules governing user behavior. Wikipedia, for instance, has an intricate set of policies and guidelines summed up in its five pillars: Wikipedia is an encyclopedia; Wikipedia has a neutral point of view; Wikipedia is free content; Wikipedians should interact in a respectful and civil manner; and Wikipedia does not have firm rules. Many wikis have adopted a set of commandments. For instance, Conservapedia commands, among other things, that its editors use "B.C." rather than "B.C.E." when referring to years prior to the common era and refrain from "unproductive activity." One teacher instituted a commandment for a class wiki, "Wiki unto others as you would have them wiki unto you."

Legal environment

Joint authorship of articles, in which different users participate in correcting, editing, and compiling the finished product, can also cause editors to become tenants in common of the copyright, making it impossible to republish without the permission of all co-owners, some of whose identities may be unknown due to pseudonymous or anonymous editing. However, where persons contribute to a collective work such as an encyclopedia, there is no joint ownership if the contributions are separate and distinguishable. Despite most wikis' tracking of individual contributions, the action of contributing to a wiki page is still arguably one of jointly correcting, editing, or compiling which would give rise to joint ownership.

Some copyright issues can be alleviated through the use of an open content license. Version 2 of the GNU Free Documentation License includes a specific provision for wiki relicensing; Creative Commons licenses are also popular. When no license is specified, an implied license to read and add content to a wiki may be deemed to exist on the grounds of business necessity and the inherent nature of a wiki, although the legal basis for such an implied license may not exist in all circumstances.

Wikis and their users can be held liable for certain activities that occur on the wiki. If a wiki owner displays indifference and forgoes controls (such as banning copyright infringers) that he could have exercised to stop copyright infringement, he may be deemed to have authorized infringement, especially if the wiki is primarily used to infringe copyrights or obtains direct financial benefit, such as advertising revenue, from infringing activities. In the United States, wikis may benefit from Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which protects sites that engage in "Good Samaritan" policing of harmful material, with no requirement on the quality or quantity of such self-policing. However, it has also been argued that a wiki's enforcement of certain rules, such as anti-bias, verifiability, reliable sourcing, and no-original-research policies, could pose legal risks. When defamation occurs on a wiki, theoretically all users of the wiki can be held liable, because any of them had the ability to remove or amend the defamatory material from the "publication." It remains to be seen whether wikis will be regarded as more akin to an internet service provider, which is generally not held liable due to its lack of control over publications' contents, than a publisher.

It has been recommended that trademark owners monitor what information is presented about their trademarks on wikis, since courts may use such content as evidence pertaining to public perceptions. Jarvis notes, "Once misinformation is identified, the trade mark owner can simply edit the entry."

See also

Comparison of wiki software

Content management system

Mass collaboration

Universal Edit Button

Wikis and education

References

Further reading

External links

WikiIndex.org a wiki directory of wikis.

Exploring with Wiki An interview with Ward Cunningham, by Bill Verners.

WikiMatrix website for comparing wiki software and hosts

Category:Hawaiian words and phrases Category:Human–computer interaction Category:Hypertext Category:Self-organization Category:Social information processing

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Coordinates	39°46′5.88″N86°9′29.52″N
name	Daniela Hantuchová
nickname	Danka (in Slovak) Dani (in English)
country
residence	Monte Carlo, Monaco
birth date	April 23, 1983
birth place	Poprad, Slovakia, (at that time CSSR)
height
weight
turnedpro	1999
plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
careerprizemoney	$7,863,649
singlesrecord	452–285
singlestitles	4 WTA, 3 ITF
highestsinglesranking	No. 5 (January 27, 2003)
currentsinglesranking	No. 23 (August 29, 2011)
australianopenresult	SF (2008)
frenchopenresult	4R (2002, 2006, 2010, 2011)
wimbledonresult	QF (2002)
usopenresult	QF (2002)
othertournaments	Yes
wtachampionshipsresult	RR (2002, 2007)
tournament of champions	SF (2010)
olympicsresult	2R (2004, 2008)
doublesrecord	234–164
doublestitles	9 WTA, 1 ITF
highestdoublesranking	No. 5 (August 26, 2002)
currentdoublesranking	No. 37 (August 29, 2011)
grandslamsdoublesresults	yes
australianopendoublesresult	F (2002, 2009)
frenchopendoublesresult	F (2006)
wimbledondoublesresult	QF (2005)
usopendoublesresult	3R (2003, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009)
mixed	yes
mixedrecord	39–13 (75%)
mixedtitles	4
highestmixedranking	n/a
australianopenmixedresult	W (2002)
frenchopenmixedresult	W (2005)
wimbledonmixedresult	W (2001)
usopenmixedresult	W (2005)
updated	August 29, 2011 }}

Daniela Hantuchová (; born April 23, 1983) is a Slovak professional tennis player. She turned professional in 1999 and had her breakthrough year in 2002, when she won her first Tier I tournament and ended the year in the top ten.

She is currently coached by Larri Passos. Her WTA Tour mentor in the "Partners for Success" program was Martina Navrátilová, who was her doubles partner for a brief period in early 2005. As of August 22, 2011, Hantuchová is ranked World No. 22 in singles.

In 2005, she became the fifth female tennis player to have won the mixed doubles title in all four Grand Slam tournaments during her career.

Personal life

Hantuchová was born in Poprad, Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia) to father Igor, a computer scientist, and mother Marianna, a toxicologist.

When her parents split up in 2003, Hantuchová's performances temporarily worsened. At Wimbledon that year, she failed to convert several match points and was seen weeping on court. She also suffered from a weight problem during this period. She was suspected of being anorexic but denied this.

Hantuchová speaks three languages (Slovak, English and German), and was trained as a classical pianist. She is thought to be a perfectionist and puts a lot of pressure on herself during her training. She qualified for university in Slovakia but deferred it to pursue tennis.

She appeared in the 2009 ''Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition'' alongside Maria Kirilenko and Tatiana Golovin in a pictoral entitled ''Volley of the Dolls''.

Career

2002

Hantuchová started the year as the world number 38, being known as a new up-and-coming player, in the Gold Coast where she lost to World No. 7 Justine Henin in the second round in a three setter 1–6, 6–0, 6–3. After reaching the last 16, after qualifying, in Sydney, Hantuchová went on to play at the Australian Open losing in the third round to the second seed Venus Williams 3–6, 6–0, 6–4.

After climbing the rankings to world number 26, having competed in Paris and Antwerp (reaching the round of 16 in both), she went into the prestigious Indian Wells event, defeating Justine Henin in the fourth round 6–3 6–3 and Martina Hingis in the final 6–3 6–4. She was the lowest ranked player of 26th (seeded 18th) to ever win the Tier I event. In Miami and Amelia Island Hantuchová went on to lose surprisingly in the second rounds. She then played in Charleston only to be beaten by again in the second round by 1995 Australian Open and 2000 French Open Champion, Mary Pierce 6–3, 6–4, Pierce being ranked 232. Playing in Fed Cup she won one of her two singles rubbers against Switzerland. Also in the clay season Hantuchová reached the quarterfinals in Hamburg and Berlin losing to Martina Hingis respectively in straight sets and Anna Smashnova 1–6, 6–2, 6–3. Having entered the French Open as the 11th seed and World No. 13 and losing her previous match in Rome in the first round, she beat Cara Black (after losing to her in Miami earlier in the year) only to lose to former champion Monica Seles in straight sets in the fourth round.

Hantuchová progressed to the semi-finals of Eastbourne losing to Myskina again in aid as a warm-up tournament into Wimbledon, where she beat 7th ranked Jelena Dokić in the round of 16 only to be beaten by the eventual champion, Serena Williams as the 11th seed. left|thumb|Daniela Hantuchová Her US Open Series season was modest as she lost in the second rounds of San Diego and Los Angeles, after having first round byes in both tournaments, but as improvement in match fitness going into the US Open she reached the semi-finals of the Tier I event in Montreal, losing to Amélie Mauresmo, and New Haven, losing to World No. 2 Venus Williams. At the final Grand Slam of the year Hantuchová defeated 1997 French Open champion Iva Majoli in round three, World No. 6 Justine Henin, 6–1, 3–6, 7–6(4) in round four only to be beaten in her second consecutive Slam quarterfinal by Serena Williams (whom again went on to win the title).

Later on that year, Hantuchová also reached the quarterfinal in Leipzig and the final in Filderstadt, losing to Kim Clijsters 4–6 6–3 6–4, the only set Hantuchová has taken from Clijsters in their nine meetings. She then went on to reach the quarterfinals of Zurich, losing to eventual champion Patty Schnyder in three tight sets, the semi-finals in Linz and winning both of her singles rubbers in the Fed Cup final, winning Slovakia their only title to date against Spain. This impressive season amassed her enough points to compete at the prestigious annual Tour Championships losing in the first round to 17th ranked Magdelena Maleeva 6–2, 7–5. Hantuchová's record for the year 56–25 and was 6–10 against top 10 players; 6–2 in singles Fed Cup play (helping lead Slovakia to their first Fed Cup victory against Spain in the final); 10–6 on indoor carpet, 6–2 on grass, 11–7 on clay, and 29–10 on hardcourts.

2003

Hantuchová started 2003 solidly, reaching the quarterfinals at her first three events in Sydney, losing to Lindsay Davenport 6–4 3–6 7–6(3), Venus Williams 6–4 6–3 at the Australian Open (her third Slam quarterfinal in a row), and Elena Dementieva in Paris 7–5 6–3. Hantuchová reached her first semifinal of the year at her fourth event in Antwerp, losing to Williams again, 6–1 6–4. By then, Hantuchová's ranking was at a career high No. 5. Defending a title for the first time in her career, Hantuchová advanced to the fourth round in Indian Wells, losing to Amanda Coetzer 6–4 6–4. Despite a first round loss to Alicia Molik in Miami, Hantuchová rebounded in the Tier I Charleston event, making her fifth quarterfinal in seven events, losing to Ashley Harkleroad 6–2 6–1. She made her sixth quarterfinal at her next event in Amelia Island, losing to eventual champion Dementieva 6–0 6–1. Hantuchová went undefeated in first round Fed Cup play against Germany, winning both of her matches. Following Fed Cup, she again made it to the quarterfinals for the seventh time of the year at the Tier I Berlin tournament, losing to Kim Clijsters 6–0 6–3.

At the French Open, Hantuchová lost in the second round in a marathon match to Harkleroad again 7–6(2) 4–6 9–7 making 101 unforced errors, leading to long-time coach Nigel Sears criticising her attitude publicly. Following the match, her extremely thin physique was noticed for the first time publicly and some wondered about Hantuchová's health. Kicking off the grass season in Eastbourne, Hantuchová lost in the quarterfinals to Conchita Martínez, but more famously she lost in the second round of Wimbledon to Shinobu Asagoe 0–6 6–4 12–10, with Hantuchová breaking down crying during the latter stages of the match in the midst of making 57 unforced errors. Some theorized that the media's continued interest regarding her weight and the pressure of success at 19 years of age, in addition to her on-court breakdown and her parents' divorce, her coach walked out during the middle of the match. This helped to explain subsequent fall of Hantuchová from the top of women's tennis. Following Wimbledon Hantuchová went 6–8 for the rest of the year, 0–4 against top 10 players She ended the year with an overall record of 28–23 and she fell to No. 17 in the world. Further signs of the pressure and problems she was facing during this period was that in July she made herself unavailable for Slovakia in the Fed Cup in order to concentrate on her singles career and in November she parted company with Sears.

2004

2004 proved to be a continuation of Hantuchová's poor second half of 2003, with many of the same struggles (she briefly hired Harold Soloman, who had previously coached her friend Jennifer Capriati as well as Anna Kournikova before re-hiring Sears in March), She reached just three quarterfinals, her first of which at the first Tier I event in Tokyo was not until halfway through the season. At Tokyo, however, she garnered her thus far only victory over Maria Sharapova in the second round, falling to Davenport 6–2 6–2 in the quarters. The tournament that saved her from a poor 2004 was Eastbourne, in which she defeated Ai Sugiyama in the quarterfinals 6–1 7–6(7) and Amélie Mauresmo in the semifinals 4–6 6–4 6–4 before losing to Svetlana Kuznetsova in the third final of her career, 2–6 7–6(2) 6–4. However, Hantuchová was serving for the championship, up 6–2 6–5, but got broken.

Hantuchová was ranked No. 54 as she entered Eastbourne, but found herself ranked No. 38 as she went into Wimbledon, losing to eventual champion Sharapova in the third round 6–3 6–1. Hantuchová would make one more quarterfinal at New Haven, losing to Lisa Raymond 6–4 6–3. At the US Open one week later, Hantuchová lost in three sets to Patty Schnyder in the third round. She finished the year ranked No. 31, with a 24–24 win-loss record. She finished 1–4 against top 10 players overall, the sole victory over Mauresmo.

2005–2006

Hantuchová reached the third round of the Australian Open, losing to Dementieva in a tight three-setter, 7–5 5–7 6–4. Following that, she made her first quarterfinal of the year in Tokyo for the second straight year, losing to Kuznetsova 7–6(4) 7–6(4). At her next event she reached the semifinals in Doha, losing to Sharapova 6–2 6–4. Then she made another quarterfinal at her next tournament in Dubai, losing to Serena Williams 6–4 6–3; at Dubai also, in the first round, she garnered her 10th top 10 victory over No. 8 Alicia Molik 7–6(8) 6–2. Hantuchová made the third round at the French Open and Wimbledon, losing to Clijsters 6–4 6–2 in Paris and eventual champion Venus Williams 7–5 6–3 in England.

Hantuchová had a successful US Open series run, where she reached the semifinals in Cincinnati, getting upset by No. 74 Akiko Morigami 6–4 6–4. After Cincinnati, in Stanford, Hantuchová lost to Clijsters in the quarterfinals 6–3 6–1. And after a second round loss in San Diego to Sugiyama, Hantuchová reached her fourth final in Los Angeles, getting a walkover in the quarterfinals over Sharapova, and got revenge against Dementieva in the semifinals, defeating her 6–3 6–4 (Hantuchová stands 2–0 against Dementieva in semifinals). In the final, for the seventh time in their head-to-head, Clijsters defeated Hantuchová 6–4 6–1. For the third time at the event, Hantuchová made the quarterfinals in New Haven, losing to Davenport 6–2 7–6(5).

Hantuchová would lose to eventual quarterfinalist Venus Williams in the third round at the US Open. In Luxembourg, Hantuchová made her eighth quarterfinal of the season, losing to Nathalie Dechy 6–1 6–4. In Filderstadt the following week, Hantuchová made the semifinals, her third of the year, defeating No. 10 Patty Schnyder in the second round and Flavia Pennetta in the quarterfinals; she lost to Davenport in the semifinals. And at the final Tier I event of the year, Hantuchová pushed Davenport to three sets and had match points in the second set in Zurich before losing 3–6 7–5 6–2. And in her final event of the year, in Linz, Hantuchová made her 10th quarterfinal, losing to Schnyder 6–2 6–1. Hantuchová finished 2005 with a 3–10 record against the top 10, 37–25 overall record with 2–1 on indoor carpet, 3–4 on clay, 2–3 on grass, 30–17 on hardcourts, reaching 10 quarterfinals, three semifinals, and one final.

thumb|left|Daniela Hantuchová at the Zurich Open 2006 Hantuchová started 2006 when she reached the quarterfinals of Sydney with a win over top 10 player Patty Schnyder and got to the semifinals of Auckland. She continued this form at the Australian Open with her third round 6–1, 7–6 (5) victory over defending champion and seven-time Grand Slam winner Serena Williams, who had entered the tournament with a lack of match practice and questions over her fitness. This victory (the only over Serena in her career) ensured Daniela progressed to the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in three years. She lost to 4th-seeded Maria Sharapova in straight sets in the fourth round. Thereafter she was unable to find a consistent level of form. She reached the fourth-round at the Australian Open, but prior to the clay court season she parted company for a second time (and permanently) with Sears. He was replaced by Angel Giminez. After the split with Sears she played her first Fed Cup matches for Slovakia in almost 3 years (Slovakia had slipped from being winners in 2003 to languishing in the Europe/Africa zone having being relegated every year in Hantuchová's absence). It was a successful return with Hantuchová winning her both singles and doubles matches against Luxembourg, her singles match against The Netherlands and the decisive singles rubber in the tie against Great Britain. With the help of Hantuchová's 4–0 record over the 6-day period Slovakia booked a place in the World Group II play-off against Thailand.

Despite disappointing results in the warm-up tournaments she equalled her Australian Open performance by getting to the fourth round of both the French Open and Wimbledon before extending her 2006 Fed Cup record to 6–0 by winning both her singles matches in Slovakia's 5–0 rout of Thailand, which ensured their promotion to the World Group II. Her fourth-round streak at Grand Slams ended when she was beaten by a resurgent Serena Williams at the second round of the US Open, which was the culmination of a very disappointing American hard court season (her record was 7–6 including the US Open, failing to get past the last 16 of any of the tournaments she entered).

Daniela showed what she is capable of producing the week before Stuttgart beating an in-form Tatiana Golovin in straight sets before losing out to Dinara Safina. The following week she reached the quarterfinals of Stuttgart with an easy victory over the now top 10 player Safina in the 2nd round, the same player to whom she had lost convincingly the previous week. This was both her first victory over a top 10 player and appearance in a quarter final since January. In October 2006, Hantuchová reached the final of the Zurich Open. In the first round, she upset 6th seed Patty Schnyder. In the second round, she defeated her doubles parter Ai Sugiyama. Daniela was then scheduled to play World No.1 Amélie Mauresmo in the quarter finals. However, Mauresmo withdrew due to a right shoulder injury. In the semi finals, Daniela upset World No.4 Svetlana Kuznetsova 6–4 6–2 to reach the final of the Tier I event. In the final, Daniela lost in a tight 3 setter to 2nd seed Maria Sharapova. Sharapova winning 6–1 4–6 6–3. The results in this tournament were the culmination of Hantuchová's up turn of form which kept her in the world's top 20 as she had arrived in Zurich outside the top group for the first time in over 11 months. The injury she suffered to her right rib, after Mary Pierce hit a shot at her in doubles, caused her the most serious injury of her career and also forced her to retire in her match against Vesnina the following week in Linz. Hantuchová finished the year ranked 17th in the world with a 34–25 record. She went 24–17 on hard courts, 5–4 on clay, 3–2 on grass and 2–2 on carpet. She was 4–6 against top 10 players beating Schnyder (twice), Safina and Kuznetsova, with losses to Sharapova (twice), Clijsters, Henin-Hardenne, Dementieva and Nadia Petrova.

2007

thumb|upright|Daniela Hantuchová at the 2007 Fortis Championships in Luxembourg Hantuchová's first tournament of the year was at the Tier IV ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand, where she lost in the second round to Virginie Razzano. Hantuchová then lost to Nicole Vaidišová in the first round of the Tier II New South Wales Open/Medibank International in Sydney and reached her second consecutive Australian Open fourth round, where she lost to World No. 5 Kim Clijsters 6–1, 7–5. Hantuchová was then upset in the first round of the Tier I Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo by Roberta Vinci. Three weeks later at the Tier II Dubai Tennis Championships, Hantuchová defeated Maria Kirilenko in the second round 2–6, 6–4, 7–6(4) before losing her quarterfinal match against Amélie Mauresmo in three sets. The following week at the Tier II Qatar Total Open in Doha, Hantuchová trailed World No. 6 Martina Hingis in their quarterfinal match 4–1 in the second set before coming back to win 1–6, 6–4, 6–4. She then lost her semifinal match against World No. 5 Svetlana Kuznetsova. In her seventh tournament of the year, Hantuchová won six matches, the last four of which were upsets of higher seeded players, to win the Tier I Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California. She upset Hingis in the fourth round, Shahar Pe'er in the quarterfinals 6–2, 5–7, 7–6(5), Li Na in the semifinals, and Kuznetsova in the final in straight sets.

Hantuchová, however, struggled in her next four events. She was upset in the third round of the Tier I Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida by Vera Zvonareva. On clay at the Bausch & Lomb Championships in Amelia Island, Florida, Hantuchová lost to Sybille Bammer in the quarterfinals. Two weeks later, Hantuchová lost both of her Fed Cup matches against the Czech Republic in Bratislava on clay, losing to Vaidišová and Lucie Šafářová. Losing her fourth consecutive match, Hantuchová was upset in the first round of the Tier I Qatar Telecom German Open in Berlin by Zuzana Ondrášková. Hantuchová then reached her first career clay court semifinal at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome. She upset seventh-seeded Anna Chakvetadze in the third round before losing to second-seeded Kuznetsova in the semifinals. At the French Open, Hantuchová was upset in the third round by Anabel Medina Garrigues 4–6, 7–6(2), 7–5.

After defeating Eleni Daniilidou in the third round of the Tier III grass court DFS Classic in Birmingham, United Kingdom, Hantuchová was guaranteed a return to the top 10 for the first time since August 2003. She then lost to Marion Bartoli in the quarterfinals 5–7, 6–4, 7–5. The following week at the Tier III Ordina Open in 's-Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands, Hantuchová defeated World No. 6 Ana Ivanović in the quarterfinals before losing to Chakvetadze in the semifinals. This result caused Hantuchová to drop out of the top 10. Hantuchová was the tenth-seeded player at Wimbledon and did not lose a set in her first two matches. She then defeated Slovenian Katarina Srebotnik in the third round 2–6, 6–3, 6–4 before losing to World No. 8 Serena Williams in the fourth round 6–2, 6–7(2), 6–2. Immediately after Wimbledon, Hantuchová helped Slovakia win its Fed Cup World Group II play-off against Serbia. On an indoor hard court in Košice, she beat Ana Timotić and Vojislava Łukić.

left|thumb|Daniela Hantuchová at the 2007 Bank of the West Classic Hantuchová played five tournaments during the North American summer hard court season. She began the US Open Series by losing to Chakvetadze in the semifinals of the Tier II Bank of the West Classic in Stanford, California. This result put her back in the top 10. At the Tier I Acura Classic in San Diego, she lost to World No. 16 Venus Williams in the second round. The following week at the Tier II JPMorgan Chase Open in Los Angeles, Hantuchová retired from her third round match with Elena Dementieva while trailing 6–3, 4–1. Hantuchová once again fell out of the top 10 after losing in the second round of the Tier II Pilot Pen Tennis tournament in New Haven, Connecticut to eventual runner-up Ágnes Szávay. At the US Open, Hantuchová was the ninth-seeded player but lost to Ukraine's Julia Vakulenko in the first round 6–4, 3–6, 6–1. It was Hantuchová's earliest loss at this tournament since her debut in 2001 and her earliest loss at a Grand Slam tournament since the 2004 French Open.

Hantuchová then played four consecutive tournaments. She reached her second final of the year at the Tier III Commonwealth Bank Tennis Classic in Bali, losing to Lindsay Davenport in three sets. At the Tier III Sunfeast Open in Kolkata, India, Hantuchová lost in the semifinals to Maria Kirilenko but reentered the top 10. Traveling back to Europe, Hantuchová played in the Tier II Fortis Championships Luxembourg. She defeated Patty Schnyder in the quarterfinals and Bartoli in the semifinals to advance to her third final of the year for the first time in her career. Hantuchová then lost to World No. 6 Ivanović in the final 3–6, 6–4, 6–4 after leading the match 6–3, 3–0. At the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Hantuchová defeated Šafářová in the first round but lost in the second round to Dementieva. This loss, however, did not prevent Hantuchová from rising to World No. 9, her highest ranking in over four years.

At the Tier I Zurich Open, Hantuchová defeated Dinara Safina in the first round 7–6(2), 7–6(4) before losing to Agnieszka Radwańska. One week later, Hantuchová won her third career title at the Tier II Generali Ladies Linz. In the semifinals, she defeated Vaidišová for the first time in her career 2–6, 6–2, 7–6(3). Hantuchová then defeated Schnyder in the straight-sets final. This title enabled Hantuchová to qualify for the year-ending Sony Ericsson Championships in Madrid. But Hantuchová did not advance past the round robin stage in Madrid. She lost to Maria Sharapova and Ivanović before beating Kuznetsova to finish third in her group. Hantuchová's win-loss record for 2007 was 52–28. She was 6–11 versus top 10 players, with two victories against Hingis, two against Kuznetsova, one against Ivanović, and one against Chakvetadze. The losses were to Clijsters, Mauresmo, Chakvetadze (twice), Kuznetsova (twice), Vaidišová, Serena Williams, Ivanović (twice), and Sharapova. Hantuchová finished the year at World No. 9, her first top-10 finish since 2002.

2008

She started the year at the Medibank International in Sydney. She defeated Russian Dinara Safina in the first round before eventually losing to World No. 12 Czech Nicole Vaidišová in the second round. At the Australian Open, Hantuchová reached her first Grand Slam semifinal. She won her first three matches without losing a set. In the quarterfinals, she beat Polish teenager Agnieszka Radwańska, who had defeated second-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova and Nadia Petrova in earlier rounds. Hantuchová then lost to Ana Ivanović in a semifinal 0–6, 6–3, 6–4 despite Hantuchová leading the match 2–0 in the second set. After the match, Hantuchová claimed that Ivanović had been distracting her by squeaking her shoes on the court before serving, a claim Ivanović disputed. Hantuchová's performance at this tournament caused her Women's Tennis Association ranking to improve one spot to World No. 8.

Hantuchová then played two indoor tournaments in Europe. At the Open Gaz de France in Paris, she lost to seventh-seeded Ágnes Szávay of Hungary in the quarterfinals. She was the third-seeded player at the Proximus Diamond Games in Antwerp, where she again reached the quarterfinals. A blister on her right hand caused Hantuchová to retire during the quarterfinal against Timea Bacsinszky. Hantuchová was then scheduled to play at the Qatar Total Open, the first Tier I event of the year, and the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships, a Tier II event, but withdrew from both because of fatigue. Hantuchová played both of the two-week Tier I events in the United States. At the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California, Hantuchová was the defending champion and fifth seed. She lost to fourth-seeded Maria Sharapova in the quarterfinals. In doubles, Hantuchová and Ai Sugiyama lost in the semifinals to Safina and Elena Vesnina, the eventual champions. At the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, Hantuchová failed to reach the fourth round in this event for the ninth consecutive year. She lost to former doubles partner Sugiyama in the third round 6–4, 6–7(8), 7–5 despite leading 3–0 in the third set. In doubles, Hantuchová partnered with Lindsay Davenport to reach the quarterfinals where they lost to Sugiyama and Katarina Srebotnik, who went on to win the event.

The following week at the Tier II Bausch & Lomb Championships on clay in Amelia Island, Florida, Hantuchová was the third seed but lost in the second round to Karolina Šprem. Hantuchová spent the month of May and most of June recovering from a stress fracture in her right foot, which resulted in her withdrawal from the Tier I Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome, the Tier III Istanbul Cup, the French Open, and the Tier III Ordina Open in 's-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands. She recovered in time for Wimbledon but lost in the second round to unseeded Alisa Kleybanova 6–3, 4–6, 6–1.

Hantuchová played four hard court tournaments between Wimbledon and the US Open. She lost in the second round of the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford, California and in the second round of the following week's tournament, the East West Bank Classic in Los Angeles. Hantuchová was seeded tenth at the Summer Olympics in Beijing. She defeated Sugiyama in the first round before losing in the second round to Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark. The following week at the Pilot Pen Tennis tournament in New Haven, Connecticut, Hantuchová lost in the quarterfinals to Alizé Cornet of France. Hantuchová was seeded eleventh at the US Open, where she was upset in the first round by qualifier Anna-Lena Grönefeld.

left|thumb|Hantuchová at the 2008 Fortis Championships To end the year, Hantuchová played seven tournaments in Asia and Europe. She lost in the semifinals of the Commonwealth Bank Tennis Classic in Bali and in the first round of the Tier I Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo to Francesca Schiavone. In Beijing at the China Open, she lost to World No. 2 Jelena Janković in the quarterfinals. After losing in the first round of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, the second round of the Tier I Kremlin Cup in Moscow, and the second round of the Tennis.com Zürich Open, Hantuchová was seeded third at the Fortis Championships Luxembourg. However, she lost to World No. 39 Sorana Cîrstea in the quarterfinals. Because she won only 11 of 26 singles matches after the Indian Wells tournament, Hantuchová finished the year ranked World No. 21, her lowest and first finish out of the top 20 since 2004. She was 0–5 during the year versus players ranked within the top 10 at the time the matches were played, with losses to Ivanović, Sharapova, Janković, and Vera Zvonareva (twice).

2009–2010

Hantuchová began the 2009 tour by participating in the Brisbane International as the tournament's fourth-seeded player. She was upset in the first round by Sara Errani 6–7(1), 6–4, 6–0. Hantuchová then played the Medibank International in Sydney where she lost in the second round to sixth-seeded Agnieszka Radwańska. right|thumb|180px|Daniela Hantuchová at the 2009 Brisbane International At the Australian Open in Melbourne, the first Grand Slam event of the year, Hantuchová was seeded nineteenth and defeated home favourite Casey Dellacqua in their first round match 7–6(11), 6–4, she then beat Mathilde Johansson of France in the second round before losing to fifteenth-seeded Alizé Cornet of France in the third round 4–6, 6–4, 6–2. In the doubles competition, Hantuchová and her partner Ai Sugiyama made it to the final, where they lost to Serena Williams and her sister Venus Williams.

At the Open GDF SUEZ in Paris, Hantuchová beat Ekaterina Makarova in the first round before losing to Cornet in the second round. This was the third consecutive time she has lost to Cornet. Hantuchová then played in the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships, where she lost to eventual runner-up Virginie Razzano in the third round. Because of her results at this tournament, Hantuchová's ranking improved five places to World No. 36. At the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California, a Premier Mandatory event, Hantuchová was the only two-time singles champion in the draw. Seeded 30th, Hantuchová fell to Sybille Bammer in the fourth round 6–3, 6–2. Unseeded for the first time since 2001 at the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, another Premier Mandatory event, Hantuchová lost to 22nd seeded Anna Chakvetadze in the second round 6–3, 6–1.

Starting off the spring clay court season as a wildcard at the MPS Group Championships in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, Hantuchová defeated eighth-seeded Bethanie Mattek-Sands in the second round 6–3, 7–5. She then lost to eventual champion and second seed Caroline Wozniacki in the quarterfinals 6–2, 6–2. Playing in the Fed Cup World Group Play-offs, Hantuchová defeated Alizé Cornet 6–7(2), 6–3, 6–4 in the first round rubber but lost to Amélie Mauresmo 7–5, 6–4 in her next match.

Hantuchová played four tournaments before Roland Garros on European clay. She lost in the early rounds of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, the Rome Masters and the Madrid Masters to Dinara Safina, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Jelena Janković respectively. In doubles at Rome, Hantuchová and Ai Sugiyama defeated No.1 seeds Cara Black and Liezel Huber in the quarterfinals. However, the pair lost to Hsieh Su-Wei and Peng Shuai 7–5, 7–6(5) in the final. Her fourth event was the Warsaw Open where she reached her second career clay court semi-final but Hantuchová lost to Romanian qualifier and eventual champion Alexandra Dulgheru 6–4, 6–7(2), 6–1. Hantuchová was unseeded at the French Open and lost to Frenchwoman Virginie Razzano in the first round 6–3, 6–3.

On grass, Hantuchová was seeded sixth at the Ordina Open in 's-Hertogenbosch. She fell to No.1 seed Safina 1–6, 6–4, 6–3 in the quarterfinals. Competing at her 9th Wimbledon, Hantuchová was unseeded in singles for the first time since 2004. She came from behind to defeat local teenager Laura Robson 3–6, 6–4, 6–2 in the first round. She then upset 16th seed and last year's semifinalist Zheng Jie 6–3, 7–5 and doubles partner Sugiyama 6–4, 6–3. However, Hantuchová fell to No.2 seed and eventual champion Serena Williams in the fourth round 6–3, 6–1.

Hantuchová played her first round match at the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford, California, winning in three sets against defending champion Aleksandra Wozniak, 6–4, 4–6, 7–5. She then defeated No.7 seed Agnieszka Radwańska in the second round 4–6, 7–6(6), 6–1 but fell to No.3 seed Elena Dementieva in the quarterfinals 6–2, 6–4. In the LA Women's Tennis Championships she lost to Dinara Safina 6–2 6–4. In the Western & Southern Financial Women's Open she lost to Flavia Pennetta 6–3, 6–3 after upsetting No.7 seed Vera Zvonareva 7–6(6), 0–6, 7–6(5). In the Rogers Cup in Toronto she fell to qualifier Yaroslava Shvedova in the first round 7–6(1), 7–6(4).

Hantuchová was seeded 22nd at the US Open. She defeated Meghann Shaughnessy, Timea Bacsinszky and Vania King but fell in the fourth round to No.2 seed and defending champion Serena Williams 6–2, 6–0.

At the Hansol Korea Open in Seoul, South Korea, Hantuchová was the top seed but was upset by eventual chmapion Kimiko Date Krumm in the quarterfinals 7–6(3), 4–6, 6–4. She then competed in the Toray Pan Pacific Open and the China Open were she reached the second round in both before losing in three sets to No.11 seed Agnieszka Radwańska and No.13 seed Nadia Petrova respectively.

Hantuchová finished off the season in Europe at the BGL Luxembourg Open where she was upset by unseeded Shahar Pe'er in the quarterfinals 6–2, 7–6(4).

Hantuchová finished outside the top 20 for the second consecutive year at No. 24 with a win-loss record of 39–25. She went 25–16 on hard courts, 9–7 on clay and 5–2 on grass. She was 1–9 versus top 10 players with losses to Radwańska, Kuznetsova, Janković, Dementieva, Serena Williams (twice) and Safina (three times) with the sole victory over Zvonareva.

Hantuchová started the 2010 tour by competing at the Brisbane International. Seeded fourth, Hantuchová was upset by unseeded Andrea Petkovic in the quarterfinals 6–4, 6–2. At the Medibank International in Sydney, Hantuchová fell to No. 5 seed and eventual champion Elena Dementieva in the second round 6–2, 4–6, 6–2. Seeded 22nd at the Australian Open, Hantuchová fell to 16th seed and eventual semifinalist Li Na in the third round 7–5, 3–6, 6–2.

Hantuchová defeated Zhang Shuai 6–0, 6–1 in the Fed Cup tie against China in Bratislava, Slovakia prior to the Dubai Tennis Championships in Dubai, UAE. In Dubai, Hantuchová upset No.5 seed Dementieva through retirement after winning the first set 6–4. However, she fell to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the third round 6–3, 6–4.

Hantuchová was seeded No. 2 at the Monterrey Open in Monterrey, Mexico. She became one of the favorites after No. 1 seed Jelena Janković fell in the first round. Hantuchová fought from a set down to beat unseeded Vania King 2–6, 6–2, 6–1 in the quarterfinals and No. 4 seed Dominika Cibulková 4–6, 6–3, 6–0 in the semifinals. However she fell to No. 3 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the finals 1–6, 6–1, 6–0. It was Hantuchová's first final since Linz in 2007. Hantuchová was upset at the BNP Paribas Open by Roberta Vinci in the second round after injuring her back during training earlier that day. At the Sony Ericsson Open she gained a career best in Miami reaching the fourth round after recording straight set victories over Patty Schnyder and No. 16 seed Nadia Petrova, but lost a very tight three set match to No. 3 seed and eventual finalist Venus Williams 1–6, 7–5, 6–4 in nearly three hours.

Hantuchová began the clay season by competing at the Family Circle Cup in Charleston, South Carolina. She upset No. 2 seed and World No. 7 Jelena Janković in the quarterfinals 1–6, 6–3, 6–3. However, she fell to No. 4 seed and eventual champion Samantha Stosur in her third career clay court semifinal 6–3, 7–6(2). Following Charleston, Hantuchová helped Slovakia earn a place in the World Group I for the 2011 Fed Cup by scoring two singles victories and a doubles victory in the World Group Play-offs against Serbia. She again defeated World No. 7 Janković in one of her singles matches for a second week in a row. Despite first round loses in the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome, Italy and in the Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open in Madrid, Spain, Hantuchová rebounded at the French Open in Paris, France. Seeded No. 23, she upset No. 16 seed Yanina Wickmayer in the third round but fell to No. 4 seed Jelena Janković in the fourth round.

Hantuchová played two tournaments on grass. She was defeated by Samantha Stosur at the AEGON International in Eastbourne, England and was then upset by Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová at The Wimbledon Championships in London, England.

To start off the US Open Series, Daniela suffered a tough opening round loss to No. 6 seed Shahar Pe'er 0–6, 6–4, 6–3 at the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford, California. At the Mercury Insurance Open in San Diego, she upset No. 6 seed Marion Bartoli 3–6, 7–6(3), 6–4 in the first round saving three match points. She then beat Zheng Jie and Alisa Kleybanova to advance to the semifinals where she fell to Agnieszka Radwańska in straight sets. Hantuchová then fell in the first rounds of the Cincinnati Masters and the Rogers Cup to eventual semifinalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and No. 15 seed Flavia Pennetta respectively. At the 2010 Pilot Pen Tennis she fell to Dinara Safina 7–6(4), 7–6(2).

As the 24th seed, Hantuchová defeated Dinara Safina and Vania King at the 2010 US Open before falling to No. 12 seed Elena Dementieva in the third round.

Hantuchová fell in the early rounds in both the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, Japan and the China Open in Beijing, China. At the Generali Ladies Linz in Linz, Austria, Hantuchová was upset by Patty Schnyder 6–4, 6–4 in the quarterfinals. At the BGL Luxembourg Open in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg she lost again in the early rounds to Angelique Kerber in three sets. Hantuchová received a wildcard to the Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions in Bali, Indonesia. She upset Yanina Wickmayer in straight sets but fell to Alisa Kleybanova in the semifinals. She also lost the third place match to Kimiko Date Krumm 7–5, 7–5.

Hantuchová finished outside the top 20 for the third consecutive year at No. 30 with a win-loss record of 35–25. She was 3–5 versus top 10 players with losses to Dementieva, Venus Williams, Janković, Stosur and Radwańska and with victories over Dementieva and Janković (twice).

2011

Hantuchová withdrew from her first tournament of the year at the Brisbane International due to a left Achilles strain. She competed next at the Medibank International Sydney but suffered a loss to María José Martínez Sánchez in the first round 6–2, 6–4. At the Australian Open she was the No. 28 seed, but lost in the first round to Regina Kulikova in three sets 7–5, 3–6, 9–7. This is the first time Hantuchová has lost in the first round of the Australian Open, bar her first appearance.

She then played at the PTT Pattaya Open where she defeated Kurumi Nara, Kimiko Date Krumm and Akgul Amanmuradova all in straight sets to reach the semifinals. There she upset top seed, World No. 3 and defending champion Vera Zvonareva 7–6(3), 6–4. Hantuchová then won her first title in more than 3 years by defeating Sara Errani 6–0, 6–2 in the final. Despite this she fell to Anna Chakvetadze in the first round of the Dubai Tennis Championships 6–1, 6–3 the following week. However she rebounded at the Qatar Ladies Open in Doha, Qatar by upsetting No. 6 seed Victoria Azarenka in the first round 4–6, 6–1, 6–2 but fell to No. 2 seed and eventual champion Vera Zvonareva 7–5, 6–7(5), 7–5 in the quarterfinals despite serving for the match at 5–4 in the final set.

At the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California and Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, Florida, Hantuchová lost in the early rounds to Dinara Safina and No. 1 seed Caroline Wozniacki respectively. Partnering Agnieszka Radwańska they reached the semifinals in Indian Wells falling to the eventual champions but won the doubles title in Miami defeating Nadia Petrova and Liezel Huber.

On clay, Hantuchová was upset in the third round of the Family Circle Cup in Charleston, South Carolina by Christina McHale. Hantuchová next competed on European red clay at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany, the Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open in Madrid, Spain and at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome, Italy. She fell in the early rounds of all three to Samantha Stosur in both Stuttgart and Madrid and to No. 2 seed Francesca Schiavone in Rome. However, Hantuchová rebounded at the Internationaux de Strasbourg in Strasbourg, France where she upset No. 4 seed Nadia Petrova in the quarterfinals but fell to No. 2 seed Andrea Petkovic in the semifinals 6–4, 3–6, 6–4. Seeded No. 28 at the French Open in Paris, France, Hantuchová defeated Zhang Shuai and Sara Errani in the first two rounds, both in straight sets. She then upset top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki 6–1, 6–3. This is also her first win over a reigning World No. 1. However, Hantuchová fell to No. 13 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova in the fourth round 6–7(6), 6–3, 6–2.

Hantuchová reached her second career grass court final at the AEGON Classic in Birmingham, England upsetting No. 2 seed Ana Ivanović in the semifinals 6–7(2), 6–3, 6–2 before falling to unseeded Sabine Lisicki 6–3, 6–2. Competing at the AEGON International in Eastbourne, Hantuchová defeated No. 2 seed Li Na and Venus Williams before retiring to No. 5 seed Petra Kvitová in the semifinals. Seeded No. 25 at the Wimbledon Championships in London, England, Hantuchová fell to No. 4 seed Victoria Azarenka in the third round 6–3, 3–6, 6–2.

Hantuchová fell in the early rounds of both the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford, California and the Rogers Cup in Toronto, Canada. She reached her sixth and seventh quarterfinals of the season at the Mercury Insurance Open in Carlsbad, California and at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, Ohio but fell to No. 3 seed Agnieszka Radwańska and No. 2 seed Vera Zvonareva respectively.

Career statistics

Endorsements

Product endorsement and equipment

Until the 2009 US Open, Hantuchová was endorsed by Nike sportswear and had her own line with them for her tournament wear, similar to players such as Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams. From the 2009 US Open onwards, Hantuchová began endorsing Adidas sportswear. As of Wimbledon 2010, she shares the same signature line as Ana Ivanović, therefore being the faces of the Adidas tennis sportswear line (except the Adidas by Stella McCartney line). In 2006, Hantuchová also appeared on an advertisement for Sony Ericsson Cyber-shot phone with Ivanović.

Hantuchová also has endorsed three racquet brands. She was first endorsed by Babolat from being a junior until late 2003, then Yonex until the 2007 Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo when she then used the Prince Ozone Seven Racquets from the 2007 Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships. Photos were released from Prince giving the impression that Hantuchová, from the start of the 2011 season, will be using the Prince EXO3 Tour 100. But, she signed a deal with Volkl Tennis and is currently using the Volkl Power Bridge 9. This means that she has endorsed four brands of racquets so far in her career – more than most players. Again however, from the 2011 Fed Cup she began using the Prince EXO3 Tour Team 100, which she won her fourth career title using.

Video games

Hantuchová has been in many sports/tennis related video games with such players as Maria Sharapova, Lindsay Davenport, Venus Williams and Anna Kournikova. Some of the titles are Top Spin (both Xbox and Play Station 2 versions), Smash Court Tennis Pro Tournament 2, Roland Garros 2005 and Virtua Tennis 3. Hantuchová is currently ranked third behind Serena Williams and Ana Ivanović in a poll for new downloadable players for Top Spin 3. Hantuchová is also a playable character in Virtua Tennis 2009.

Achievements

Team achievements

2000 Eurotel Doubles Champion

2002 Fed Cup Champion (Slovakia)

2004 Hopman Cup Finalist (with Karol Kučera)

2004 Athens Olympic Games

2005 Hopman Cup Champion (with Dominik Hrbatý)

2008 Beijing Olympic Games

Special achievements

2001 WTA Newcomer of the Year Award

2002 WTA Most Improved Player of the Year Award

2003 Laureus World Sports Academy Award nominee for World Newcomer of the Year Award

See also

Slovakia Fed Cup team

References

External links

Daniela Hantuchová official web site

Category:1983 births Category:Living people Category:Slovak female tennis players Category:Olympic tennis players of Slovakia Category:Tennis players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Category:Tennis players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Category:Australian Open (tennis) champions Category:French Open champions Category:Wimbledon champions Category:United States Open champions (tennis) Category:People from Poprad

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Coordinates	39°46′5.88″N86°9′29.52″N
Name	Caroline Wozniacki
Country
Residence	Monte Carlo, Monaco
Birth date	July 11, 1990
Birth place	Odense, Denmark
Nickname	Caro, Miss Sunshine, Golden Retriever
Height
Weight
Turnedpro	18 July 2005
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Careerprizemoney	US$ 10,002,875
Website	www.carolinewozniacki.dk
Singlesrecord	288–102
Singlestitles	18 WTA, 4 ITF
Highestsinglesranking	No. 1 (11 October 2010)
Currentsinglesranking	No. 1 (29 August 2011)
Australianopenresult	SF (2011)
Frenchopenresult	QF (2010)
Wimbledonresult	4R (2009, 2010, 2011)
Usopenresult	F (2009)
Othertournaments	yes
Wtachampionshipsresult	F (2010)
Olympicsresult	3R (2008)
Doublesrecord	36–53
Doublestitles	2 WTA, 0 ITF
Highestdoublesranking	No. 52 (14 September 2009)
Grandslamsdoublesresults	yes
Australianopendoublesresult	2R (2008)
Frenchopendoublesresult	2R (2010)
Wimbledondoublesresult	2R (2009, 2010)
Usopendoublesresult	3R (2009)
Updated	29 August 2011 }}

Caroline Wozniacki (born 11 July 1990) is a Danish professional tennis player. She is the current World No. 1 on the WTA Tour. As of 29 August 2011, she has held this position for 46 weeks. She is the first Danish tennis player to hold the top ranking position and 20th overall.

Since her WTA debut in 2005, she has improved her year-end ranking each year until finishing on top in 2010. She has won 18 WTA singles titles as of August 2011, three in 2008, three in 2009, six in 2010 (the most since Justine Henin's ten in 2007), and six in 2011. She was runner-up at the 2009 US Open and the 2010 WTA Tour Championships in Doha to Kim Clijsters. She won the 2006 Wimbledon Girls' Singles, but has yet to win a Women's Grand Slam title. She also holds two WTA titles in doubles.

Early life

Wozniacki is the daughter of Polish immigrants, Piotr and Anna Wozniacki. Her mother played on the Polish women's national volleyball team, and her father played professional football. The couple moved to Denmark when Piotr signed for the Danish football club Boldklubben 1909. Wozniacki's older brother Patrik is a professional footballer for Hvidovre IF in Denmark.

Playing style

Wozniacki's playing style centers "around the defensive aspects of tennis with her anticipation, movement, agility, footwork and defence all first-rate and key parts of her game." Her two-handed backhand is one of her best weapon as she is capable of turning defense into offense, most notably the backhand down-the-line. Her defensive playing style has her contemporaries label her a counter-puncher.

Career

2005

Wozniacki won several junior tournaments in 2005, including the Orange Bowl tennis championship. She made her debut on the WTA Tour at Cincinnati's Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open on 19 July 2005, losing to the top-seeded and eventual champion Patty Schnyder in the first round. In the Nordea Nordic Light Open, her other WTA tournament of the year, she lost to Martina Suchá in the first round.

2006

In 2006, she was the top seed at the Australian Open (junior girls' singles), but lost the final to eighth-seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia. She was seeded second with partner Anna Tatishvili in the doubles tournament, but the pair was knocked out in the semifinals by the French-Italian pair of Alizé Cornet and Corinna Dentoni, who were seeded eighth.

In February at the Memphis, she reached her first WTA Tour quarterfinal, beating Kristina Brandi and Ashley Harkleroad before losing to third-seeded Sofia Arvidsson of Sweden. Before the Wimbledon, Wozniacki won the exhibition tournament Liverpool International Tennis Tournament, beating Ashley Harkleroad in the finals.

Later that year, she was given a wild card to main draw qualifying of the Wimbledon, where she was beaten in the first round by Miho Saeki. However, Wozniacki went on to win the girls' singles tournament, beating Slovak Magdaléna Rybáriková in the finals.

In August, she reached another WTA Tour quarterfinal, this time at the Nordea Nordic Light Open in Stockholm. She defeated top 100 players Iveta Benešová and Eleni Daniilidou before falling to eventual champion and third-seeded Zheng Jie.

Wozniacki was seeded second in Girls' Singles in the year's last major tournament. In the first round she won the first set against Russian Alexandra Panova, but was disqualified in the second set for verbally abusing an umpire. Wozniacki was said to have used an expletive in referring to a linesman who made a disputed call; however, on her blog, she claimed to say "take your sunglasses of [sic]" and was mistaken for talking to the linesman, when she in fact was criticizing herself after the next point.

In her last junior tournament, the Osaka Mayor's Cup, she won both the girls' singles and doubles.

Her first title on the senior tour came shortly after on 29 October, when she won the $25,000 ITF-tournament in Istanbul by beating Tatjana Malek in the final.

Wozniacki was set to face Venus Williams on 27 November in an exhibition match in Copenhagen, but five days before the event, Williams canceled because of an injury. The two did, however, face each other in the Memphis WTA Tier III event on 20 February. Williams beat Wozniacki, ending the nine-match winning streak Wozniacki had at the time.

On 29 November, Wozniacki was named ambassador for Danish Junior Tennis by the Culture Minister of Denmark at the time, Brian Mikkelsen.

2007

On 4 February, she won an $75,000 ITF singles title in Ortisei, Italy, beating the Italian player Alberta Brianti. On 4 March, she won the $75,000 ITF tournament in Las Vegas, beating top-seed Akiko Morigami in the final.

She obtained a wild card for the Pacific Life Open main draw and made her Tier I debut there. She was knocked out in the second round by Martina Hingis.

She then made the semifinals of the AIG Open in Tokyo in October, her first career WTA Tour semifinal, and as a result became the first Danish woman to reach a WTA semifinal since Tine Scheuer-Larsen at Bregenz in 1986. She was defeated by Venus Williams in straight sets.

2008

At the Australian Open, Wozniacki defeated Gisela Dulko and 21st seed Alona Bondarenko on her way to the Round of 16, where she lost to the eventual finalist and fourth-seeded Ana Ivanović.

At the French Open, she was seeded thirtieth, making this the first Grand Slam tournament in which Wozniacki was seeded. She again lost in the third round to the eventual champion and World No. 2 Ana Ivanović.

At Wimbledon, she reached the third round, but lost to second-seeded Jelena Janković.

Wozniacki won her first-ever WTA Tour title at the Nordic Light Open in Stockholm without dropping a set, defeating no. 5 seed Anabel Medina Garrigues in the quarterfinals, top seed and World No. 10, Agnieszka Radwańska in the semifinals, and Vera Dushevina in the final.

At the Summer Olympics in Beijing, she beat World No. 12 Daniela Hantuchová in the second round before falling to the eventual gold-medalist Elena Dementieva. Wozniacki then won her second WTA Tour title at the Pilot Pen Tennis in New Haven, defeating four seeded players in Dominika Cibulková, Marion Bartoli and Alizé Cornet en route to the final, where she defeated World No. 11 Anna Chakvetadze.

Wozniacki was the 21st seed at the US Open. She defeated World No. 14 Victoria Azarenka in the third round but lost to second-seeded and eventual runner-up Jelena Janković in the fourth round.

At the China Open, she lost her opening match to Anabel Medina Garrigues. However, she teamed up with Medina Garrigues to clinch the doubles title, defeating the Chinese duo of Han Xinyun and Xu Yi-Fan. It was Wozniacki's first WTA doubles title. At the Tier III AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships, she was the top seed for the first time on the WTA Tour, and she won her third career title, defeating Kaia Kanepi of Estonia in the final.

Wozniacki then took part in an ITF tournament in her hometown Odense. She won the tournament, beating World No. 64 Sofia Arvidsson in the final.

Her final win–loss record for the year (ITF matches included, exhibition matches not included) was 58–20 in singles and 8–9 in doubles. She ended the year ranked 12th in singles and 79th in doubles. She finished thirteenth in the race for the Sony Ericsson Championships. She also won the WTA Newcomer of the Year award for 2008.

2009

Wozniacki's started the season in Auckland where she lost to Elena Vesnina in the quarterfinals. She also reached the quarterfinals in Sydney, this time losing to World No. 2 Serena Williams 6–7(5), 6–3, 7–6(3) after having three match points. Seeded 11th at the Australian Open, Wozniacki lost in the third round to Australian wild card Jelena Dokić.

In Pattaya, Wozniacki lost to Magdaléna Rybáriková in the quarterfinals. Seeded first at the Cellular South Cup in Memphis, Tennessee, Wozniacki advanced to the final but lost to Victoria Azarenka. Afterwards they partnered in the doubles final to defeat Michaëlla Krajicek and Yuliana Fedak.

Wozniacki then took part in the first two Premier Mandatory tournaments of the year. At Indian Wells she lost in the quarterfinals to eventual champion Vera Zvonareva. In Miami she scored her first win over Elena Dementieva before losing to another Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova in the quarterfinals.

Wozniacki won her first title of the year at the MPS Group Championships on green clay in Ponte Vedra Beach where she defeated Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak (no relation). In Charleston she defeated top seed Elena Dementieva in the semifinals before losing the final to Sabine Lisicki.

Wozniacki suffered early exits in her next two tournaments, losing to Marion Bartoli in the second round in Stuttgart, and to Victoria Azarenka in the third round in Rome. She reached the final of the inaugural Premier Mandatory Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open, where she lost to World No. 1 Dinara Safina. This was Wozniacki's only match against a reigning No. 1 before she herself became No. 1 in October 2010. Seeded 10th at the French Open, Wozniacki lost to Sorana Cîrstea in the third round. They partnered in doubles but lost in the first round.

Wozniacki won her second 2009 title on the grass of Eastbourne. In the final she defeated Virginie Razzano. Wozniacki was seeded 9th in Wimbledon where she lost to Sabine Lisicki in the fourth round.

On her 19th birthday she lost the final of the Swedish Open to María José Martínez Sánchez. On hard-court at the LA Women's Tennis Championships, she lost in the second round to Sorana Cîrstea. At the Cincinnati Masters, she reached the quarterfinals before falling to Elena Dementieva. In Toronto she lost early in the second round to Zheng Jie, but she then went on to defend her title at the Pilot Pen Tennis in New Haven without losing a set. In the first round she had her first double bagel win as a professional, 6–0, 6–0 over Edina Gallovits in 41 minutes. In the final she beat Elena Vesnina for her third title of the season.

Wozniacki was the 9th seed at the US Open. She made her best result to date by becoming the first Danish woman to reach a Grand Slam final. There she was defeated by Kim Clijsters who had recently made a comeback after retiring in 2007.

In the second round of the Toray Pan Pacific Open she retired because of a viral illness down 0–5 against Aleksandra Wozniak. She then lost to María José Martínez Sánchez in the first round of the China Open, and to Samantha Stosur in the semifinals in Osaka. The following week in Luxembourg, she retired with a hamstring injury in the first round while leading 7–5, 5–0 over Anne Kremer. This aroused controversy because of the scoreline.

Wozniacki's 2009 results qualified her for the year-ending Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha for the first time. She won two of three group matches and advanced to the semifinals. There she struggled with a stomach strain and a left thigh injury against World No. 1 Serena Williams, and retired while trailing 6–4, 0–1.

2010

In her first WTA tournament of the year, Wozniacki suffered an opening round loss to Li Na of China in the Sydney. She was seeded 4th at the Australian Open, her first top-eight seed in a Grand Slam. She again fell to Li, this time in the fourth round, in straight sets. Despite her 4th round exit, Wozniacki achieved a career-high ranking of No.3.

As the 2nd seed at Indian Wells, Wozniacki reached the final before losing to former World No. 1 Jelena Janković. With this result, she achieved a new career-high ranking of World No. 2. At the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, Wozniacki lost in the quarterfinals to the newly-returned Justine Henin.

Her next tournament was the Ponte Vedra Beach, where she defeated Olga Govortsova in the final. Wozniacki then competed at the Family Circle Cup in Charleston. She advanced to the semifinals, where she met Vera Zvonareva. Wozniacki was forced to retire down 2–5 after she rolled her ankle while chasing down a short ball.

Despite her ongoing ankle injury, she continued to compete in tournaments through the clay-court season, suffering early losses in Stuttgart, Rome and the Madrid. She then reached the quarterfinals in Warsaw, but retired there after losing the first set.

Wozniacki was seeded 3rd at the French Open. She posted her best result at Roland Garros by advancing to the fourth round without dropping a set. After defeating Flavia Pennetta in the Round of 16 in three sets, she lost to eventual champion Francesca Schiavone in the quarterfinals. Wozniacki partnered with Daniela Hantuchová in doubles, but they withdrew before their second round match against the Williams sisters because to a right shoulder injury to Hantuchová.

As the defending champion, Wozniacki lost early at the AEGON International, her first grass-court tournament of the year, to Aravane Rezaï. Wozniacki was seeded 3rd at the 2010 Wimbledon Championships, where she defeated Tathiana Garbin, Chang Kai-chen and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova en route to the fourth round, where she was defeated by Petra Kvitová.

Wozniacki was the number 1 seed at the inaugural 2010 e-Boks Danish Open. It was the first Danish WTA tournament, created largely out of Wozniacki's popularity in Denmark. She reached the final and she defeated Klára Zakopalová to win her second title of the year.

In Cincinnati, she lost in the third round to Marion Bartoli. As the number 2 seed of Montreal, Wozniacki was forced to wait two days to play her semifinal match with Svetlana Kuznetsova because of heavy rain. She defeated both Kuznetsova and Vera Zvonareva on the same day for her third singles title of the year. As the top seed of New Haven, Wozniacki defeated Nadia Petrova in the final for her third consecutive title there. By virtue of this, she also won the 2010 US Open Series.

Wozniacki was the top seed at the US Open due to the withdrawal of World No. 1 Serena Williams. She advanced to the semifinals before being upset by Vera Zvonareva. With her semifinal appearance, Wozniacki became only one of two women (the other being Venus Williams) to have reached at least the fourth round of all 4 Grand Slam events in 2010.

Wozniacki's first tournament during the Asian hard-court season was the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo. She won back-to-back three setters against Victoria Azarenka and Elena Dementieva, the latter of whom she beat in the final to win her fifth title of the year.

She then entered the China Open in Beijing. In the third round, Wozniacki faced Petra Kvitová, who had routed her at Wimbledon. Wozniacki avenged that loss which ensured that she would replace Serena Williams as the new World No. 1 after the tournament. She was the fifth player to reach the number 1 position without having won a Grand Slam tournament. She also became the first Danish, man or woman, to reach the top ranking. Wozniacki ultimately won the tournament, defeating Vera Zvonareva in the final to win her sixth title of the year and twelfth overall.

At the year-end Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha, Wozniacki was drawn in a group with Francesca Schiavone, Samantha Stosur and Elena Dementieva. She defeated Dementieva in her first round robin game, but lost to Stosur in the second. She won her last round-robin match in the group against Schiavone, securing the year-end World No. 1 rank and a place in the semifinals against the winner of the other group, Vera Zvonareva. Wozniacki defeated her, but then lost . in the final in three sets to Kim Clijsters. Wozniacki ended the season with six WTA singles titles, the most on the tour. Clijsters won five and no other player won more than two.

2011

During the offseason, Wozniacki switched her racquet make from Babolat to Yonex. Wozniacki began her 2011 season with an exhibition match in Thailand against Kim Clijsters. She lost 3–6, 6–4, 10–12 after a super tie-break. Wozniacki then played another exhibition, the team event Hong Kong Tennis Classic where she represented and was Captain of Team Europe. She won two matches against Team Asia Pacific before getting crushed 6–1, 6–0 by world no. 2 Vera Zvonareva in the final against Team Russia. Her first WTA tournament was the Medibank International Sydney. She received a bye to the second round where she lost 6–3, 6–3 to Dominika Cibulková.

The Australian Open was Wozniacki's first major as World No. 1. She lost to Li Na, who had defeated her the previous year, in the semifinals 6–3, 5–7, 3–6, after failing to convert a match point when trying to serve out the match at 5–4 in the second set.

Wozniacki dropped to No. 2 behind Kim Clijsters during the week of 14 February, but regained the top spot the following week. She received a bye to the second round in Dubai where, in the quarterfinals, she beat Shahar Pe'er 6–2, 6–4 to ensure her No. 1 position in the next rankings update. She went on to defeat Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final 6–1, 6–3 to take her 13th career singles title and first of the year.

In Doha she received a bye to the second round and reached the final after defeating Nadia Petrova, Flavia Pennetta and Marion Bartoli in straight sets. She lost to Vera Zvonareva in the final 4–6, 4–6.

In the first Premier Mandatory event of the year, the Indian Wells, Wozniacki made it to the final where she met Marion Bartoli and won 6–1, 2–6, 6–3 for her 14th singles title.

After a first-round bye at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, Florida, Wozniacki lost in the fourth round to 21st seed Andrea Petkovic 7–5, 3–6, 6–3. Wozniacki made an uncharacteristic 52 unforced errors and later cited exhaustion as a factor in the loss.

In the Family Circle Cup, Wozniacki made it to the final, where she defeated unseeded Elena Vesnina 6–2, 6–3 to take her third title of the year, fifteenth of her career.

In Stuttgart Wozniacki made it to her fifth final of the year, where she lost to Julia Görges in straight sets.

In Madrid Wozniacki lost to Görges again, this time in the third round. In Rome, she lost to eventual champion Maria Sharapova in the semifinal round, with a 7–5, 6–3 defeat.

At the Brussels Open, Wozniacki reached the semifinals, where she defeated the 3rd seed and reigning French Open champion, Francesca Schiavone 6–4, 4–6, 6–3. In the final – Wozniacki's 6th of the year – she defeated the 8th seed Peng Shuai 2–6, 6–3, 6–3 to win her first red clay title after having won three on the faster green clay.

Wozniacki was the top seed at the French Open, but was defeated in the third round by 28th seed Daniela Hantuchová, 6–1, 6–3.

Wozniacki's next tournament was the e-Boks Sony Ericsson Open in her native Denmark. In the final, she defeated 4th seed Lucie Šafářová 6–1, 6–4 taking her fifth title of the year. At Wimbledon she had straight-set wins until the fourth round but then lost 6–1, 6–7(5), 5–7 to 24th seed Dominika Cibulková.

At the Rogers Cup, Wozniacki was not able to defend her title and made an early second round exit. She was defeated by Roberta Vinci 6–4, 7–5, despite holding a 5–1 lead in the second set. Wozniacki was the top seed at the 2011 Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, but lost in the second round to World #76 Christina McHale 4–6, 5–7. Next playing at the 2011 New Haven Open at Yale, Wozniacki won the title for the fourth year in a row, defeating Francesca Schiavone in the semifinals and qualifier Petra Cetkovská in the final, 6–4, 6–1. At the US Open Wozniacki will be the No.1 seed, and her first round opponent is Nuria Llagostera Vives.

Personal life

Wozniacki's best friend is her fellow Danish tennis player Malou Ejdesgaard, her doubles partner in some WTA tournaments. They are trying to gain entry to the 2012 Summer Olympics in doubles.

When asked in 2008 by ''Teen Vogue'' magazine what sports beside tennis she liked to play, Wozniacki said "I like handball, soccer, swimming, playing the piano, and all kinds of different things."

On 20 December 2010, she signed a three-year deal to endorse Turkish Airlines' business class service.

Wozniacki is a Liverpool F.C. supporter. She wore a Liverpool shirt signed by footballer Steven Gerrard on court in the 2011 Qatar Ladies Open.

According to Forbes in 2011 she was the second highest earning female athlete in the world.

According to the June 2011 edition of SportsPro Wozniacki is the world's 9th most marketable athlete.

She is currently dating golfer Rory McIlroy.

Career statistics

Grand Slam finals

Singles: 1 (0–1)

Singles performance timeline

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Awards

;2008

WTA Tour Most Impressive Newcomer of the Year

;2010 ITF Player of the Year Danish Sports Name of the Year

References

External links

Category:1990 births Category:Living people Category:Danish expatriates in Monaco Category:Danish female tennis players Category:Danish people of Polish descent Category:Olympic tennis players of Denmark Category:People from Monte Carlo Category:People from Odense Category:Tennis players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Category:World No. 1 tennis players Category:Wimbledon junior champions

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Coordinates	39°46′5.88″N86°9′29.52″N
Name	Kim Clijsters
Nickname	Aussie Kim
Country
Residence	Bree, Belgium
Birth date	June 08, 1983
Birth place	Bilzen, Belgium
Height
Weight
Turnedpro	17 August 1997
Retired	6 May 2007Returned 11 August 2009
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Careerprizemoney	US $23,757,657 (3rd in overall earnings)
Singlesrecord	503–121 (80.60%)
Singlestitles	41 WTA (13th in overall rankings)3 ITF
Currentsinglesranking	No. 3 (29 August 2011)
Highestsinglesranking	No. 1 (11 August 2003)
Australianopenresult	W (2011)
Frenchopenresult	F (2001, 2003)
Wimbledonresult	SF (2003, 2006)
Usopenresult	W (2005, 2009, 2010)
Doublesrecord	131–54 (%)
Doublestitles	11 WTA, 3 ITF
Highestdoublesranking	No. 1 (4 August 2003)
Grandslamsdoublesresults	Yes
Australianopendoublesresult	QF (2003)
Frenchopendoublesresult	W (2003)
Wimbledondoublesresult	W (2003)
Usopendoublesresult	QF (2002)
Othertournaments	Yes
Wtachampionshipsresult	W (2002, 2003, 2010)
mixed	Yes
mixedtitles	0
wimbledonmixedresult	F (2000)
updated	29 August 2011 }}

Kim Antonie Lode Clijsters (; born 8 June 1983) is a Belgian professional tennis player. As of 29 August 2011, Clijsters is ranked No. 3 in singles. Clijsters is a former World No. 1 in both singles and doubles.

Clijsters is the reigning singles champion at the US Open and the Australian Open. She has also won 41 WTA singles titles and 11 WTA doubles titles. She has won four Grand Slam singles titles: three at the US Open, in 2005, 2009 and 2010 and one at the Australian Open in 2011. She has also been runner-up in four Grand Slam singles tournaments, and won the WTA Tour Championships singles title in 2002, 2003 and 2010. In doubles, she won the French Open and Wimbledon titles in 2003. Clijsters announced her retirement with immediate effect on 6 May 2007, but almost two years later, on 26 March 2009, she publicly declared her intent to return to the WTA tour for the 2009 summer hard court season. In only her third tournament back, she won her second US Open title, becoming the first unseeded player and wildcard to win the tournament, and the first mother to win a major since Evonne Goolagong in 1980.

In June 2011, ''TIME'' Magazine named her one of the "30 Legends of Women's Tennis: Past, Present and Future".

According to ''Forbes'' in August 2011, she became the fifth highest-paid female athlete over the past year.

Playing style

Clijsters is recognized for her deep, powerful, well-placed groundstrokes. She can hit outright winners off both wings and from any part of the court. Her forehand is one of the best and most powerful the women's game has ever seen, yet occasionally erratic and prone to unforced errors; her backhand is more reliable and consistent, and can be hit with heavy slice as a defensive shot. Clijsters is also recognised for her all-court defence, characterized by speed and athleticism. Clijsters, along with Jelena Janković and Svetlana Kuznetsova, is among the few tennis players on either the Association of Tennis Professionals or Women's Tennis Association tours who can slide (or "straddle") on all surfaces. Maria Sharapova, interviewed after losing to Clijsters in the 2005 Nasdaq-100 Open, said, "You just have to expect that she's going to get every ball back". Her first serve, while not overwhelming, is placed well and earns aces and unreturnables. Clijsters tends to rush between first and second serves, which may contribute to her occasional matches with high numbers of double faults. A former World No. 1 player in doubles, Clijsters has exceptional volleys; she has no problem switching from baseline to finishing points at the net with a volley or over-head. Her mental fragility was considered her biggest weakness, and at the earlier stages of her career she was considered a "choker", often surrendering big leads in the latter rounds of Grand Slams. Since winning the 2005 US Open, Clijsters has gained more control over her nerves and since her return to the tour in 2009 she has been known, along with Serena Williams, as among the toughest players to beat mentally. She is now seen as capable of rising to the occasion and playing her best tennis at the important stages of matches. Clijsters is also considered to be one of the most popular players on the tour, known for her grace on the court and even temper. She has been voted the WTA Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award by her fellow players seven times and the WTA Player Service Award three times.

Personal life

Clijsters was born on 8 June 1983, in Bilzen, Limburg, in the Flemish Region of Belgium. She is the daughter of Lei Clijsters, a former international footballer, and Els Vandecaetsbeek, a former national gymnastics champion. Lei Clijsters died of skin cancer on 4 January 2009. Clijsters says that she inherited footballer's legs from her father and a gymnast's flexibility from her mother. Kim's younger sister Elke finished 2002 as the ITF World Junior Doubles champion and retired in 2004 after back injuries.

In December 2003, Clijsters announced her engagement to Australian Lleyton Hewitt, but their relationship ended in October 2004. Clijsters is still affectionately nicknamed "Aussie Kim" by Australians. In October 2006, Clijsters announced her engagement to American basketball player Brian Lynch, who is based in Clijsters' hometown of Bree. In an interview with ''Sportweekend'' (a sports programme on Belgian Flemish television), Clijsters said that she was retiring to start a family. Clijsters and Lynch married privately on 13 July 2007, at 6 am at the Bree city hall. She was married by the mayor, with sister Elke, Lynch's brother Pat Lynch, and both sets of parents present.

Clijsters gave birth to a daughter on 27 February 2008, at 1:35 pm at the Vesalius hospital in Tongeren, Belgium.

Tennis career

Junior career

Clijsters was an accomplished junior player. In singles, she finished as runner-up in the 1998 Wimbledon junior event, finishing 11th in the year-end singles ranking. In the same year in doubles, Clijsters won the French Open title with Jelena Dokić defeating Elena Dementieva and Nadia Petrova in the final as well the US Open with Eva Dyrberg defeating former partner Dokic in the final. Clijsters ended the season as number four in the International Tennis Federation junior doubles world ranking.

1999

In 1999, Clijsters made her breakthrough professionally. At her first WTA tournament in Antwerp, she qualified and lost to the eventual finalist Sarah Pitkowski-Malcor in the quarterfinal after failing to convert a matchpoint. Playing through the qualifying rounds at Roehampton, only after four others had dropped out, she made it through the main draw of Wimbledon. Clijsters won six matches in a row while only losing 25 games. She defeated tenth ranked Amanda Coetzer en route to the fourth round, during which Clijsters lost to her childhood idol Steffi Graf in straight sets, in difficult rainy circumstances. Later that summer, Clijsters reached the third round of the US Open, losing to eventual champion Serena Williams after serving for the match. In the autumn, Clijsters won her first Women's Tennis Association (WTA) singles title at Luxembourg. She followed up with her first WTA doubles title at Bratislava, partnering Laurence Courtois. At the end of the year, she was granted the WTA Most Impressive Newcomer award, the only Belgian player to have received this trophy.

2000–2002

Clijsters climbed up the rankings over the next couple of years. In 2001, she reached her first Tier I final at the tournament in Indian Wells, California, losing to Serena Williams in a match overshadowed by controversy. Clijsters also reached her first Grand Slam final at the French Open, where she lost to Jennifer Capriati 12–10 in the third set. This two-hour, 21-minute match featured the longest third set in a French Open women's final. Clijsters was four times within two points of winning before Capriati prevailed. Her next important breakthrough came at the end of 2002, when she won the year-end Home Depot Championships in Los Angeles, defeating top ranked Serena Williams in the final. This was only the fifth defeat of the year for Williams and snapped her 18-match winning streak. On her way to the final, Clijsters defeated fourth ranked Justine Henin and second ranked Venus Williams, becoming just the fourth player to beat both of the Williams sisters in the same event. She also equaled the event's record for the fewest games dropped.

2003

Clijsters started her season at the Adidas International, where she won her first tournament of the year defeating Lindsey Davenport in straight sets in the final. Clijsters reached the final after defeating Patty Schnyder, Chanda Rubin and Justine Henin. At the Australian Open, Clijsters lost in the semi-final to Serena Williams 4–6, 6–3, 7–5 after holding 5 match points. On the way to the semis Clijsters lost just fifteen games beating Samantha Reeves and completing a double bagel (wherein the opposing player fails to win a single game) against Petra Mandula. She then continued by winning in straight sets against Tatiana Poutchek, Amanda Coetzer and Anastasia Myskina. At the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California, she defeated Lindsay Davenport in the final.

Clijsters reached the final of the WTA German Open after defeating Jennifer Capriati 6–4 in the final set. In the final she played Justine Henin and squandered three match points as Clijsters lost the final set 7–5. To compound the day Clijsters also lost the doubles final 6–4 in the final set.

Clijsters’ third title of the year came at the Telecom Italia Masters in Rome, where she defeated Amélie Mauresmo in the final. Clijsters had defeated Myskina and doubles partner Ai Sugiyama to make the final.

At the French Open Clijsters’ reached the final for the second time in three years after defeating Nadia Petrova. In the final Clijsters lost to Henin 6–0, 6–4, and again at the US open, 7–5, 6–1. She also lost in the semi-final at Wimbledon to Venus Williams after leading by a set and a break. On 11 August 2003, Clijsters attained the World No. 1 ranking, holding the spot for 12 non-consecutive weeks during the remainder of the year, and was the first player to be top ranked by the WTA without first winning a Grand Slam singles title.

On 18 August 2003, Clijsters also attained the World No. 1 ranking in doubles, joining a very select group of only four players – Martina Navratilova, Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, Martina Hingis and Lindsay Davenport – having reached the World number one ranking in singles and doubles simultaneously. By 2010, only Serena Williams has managed to join this group.

The World No. 1 ranking was again at stake in October during the final of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Filderstadt, Germany. Clijsters rallied from a set down to beat Henin. The match marked only the eighth time that the top two players battled for the top ranking. Even though Clijsters won that match, she finished the year ranked World No. 2, just behind Henin.

2004

Clijsters started 2004 by playing in the Hopman Cup. During the tie against Australia, Clijsters injured her ankle against Alicia Molik. Clijsters was on crutches for a few days and feared she may need surgery. Clijsters pulled out of the Adidas International due to the injury. Clijsters did recover in time to reach her fourth career Grand Slam final at the Australian Open, where she lost once more to Henin. After defeating in straight sets Marlene Weingärtner, Maria Elena Camerin (with a double bagel), Dinara Safina, Silvia Farina Elia, Anastasia Myskina (during the match Clijsters aggravated her ankle injury) and Patty Schnyder to reach the final. Clijsters then won two consecutive titles in Paris and Antwerp. In Paris Clijsters defeated local favourite Mary Pierce in the final. To reach the final Clijsters defeated Maria Sanchez-Lorenzo, Farina Elia and Safina. While defending her Tier I title at the Pacific Life Open Clijsters injured her wrist during her win against Angelika Roesch, in her first match. Clijsters withdrew ahead of her second match with the injury being described as a bruised bone. Clijsters withdrew from the event in Miami the next week Clijsters then appeared six weeks later in her home town of Bree to play in a Fed Cup tie against Croatia winning both of her rubbers. Clijsters returned to the tour in Berlin and needed three sets to see off Marta Marrero. Clijsters then pulled out of her second match and then was told to rest for five weeks causing her to miss the French Open. Clijsters then had surgery to remove a cyst causing her to miss three months of the tour including Wimbledon and the US Open. Clijsters also missed the Olympics, but she had already decided not to play the tournament after a dispute about clothing sponsors. Clijsters returned at the Gaz de France Stars she made the semi finals defeating Iveta Benešová and Magdalena Maleeva; before pulling out in the second set against Elena Bovina. Clijsters had aggravated the injury and although she did not need surgery, she was out for the rest of the season. As well she played down fears that the injury may force her retirement from tennis.

2005

Clijsters missed the first Grand Slam of the year, the Australian Open, due to injury. In February, after four months out, Clijsters returned to the tour by participating in Antwerp. Her first match back was against Jelena Kostanić, which she won in straight sets before losing to Venus Williams in the quarter-finals.

Clijsters completed her comeback in March and April, when she won, as an unseeded player, 17 matches in a row to claim two Tier I titles and regain a top-20 ranking. At the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California, Clijsters was ranked World No. 133 at the time. The Belgian began by beating Nicole Pratt, Shinobu Asagoe, Anna Chakvetadze and Evgenia Linetskaya all without dropping a set. In the semi final Clijsters defeated World No. 5 Elena Dementieva in straight sets and World No. 1 Lindsay Davenport in the final in three sets. The week after that win, Clijsters defeated four top-6 players in straight sets to win the NASDAQ-100 Open. To win the title Clijsters defeated Sandra Kloesel, Amy Frazier, Nathalie Dechy, Anastasia Myskina, Elena Dementieva, Amélie Mauresmo and Maria Sharapova going the whole tournament without dropping a set.

Turning her attention to clay, Clijsters’ winning streak continued at the J&S; Cup. Clijsters defeated Tatiana Perebiynis, Maria Kirilenko, and Elena Bovina. Against Bovina Clijsters’ picked up a minor shoulder injury. Clijsters’ 17 match winning streak was finally ended by Svetlana Kuznetsova. Playing next at the WTA German Open Clijsters defeated Yuliana Fedak and Dinara Safina in straight sets before hurting her right knee and retiring against Patty Schnyder. Clijsters recovered in time to play in the French Open. Playing in the French Open for the first time in two years, Clijsters defeated Meilen Tu, Cervanová and Daniela Hantuchová to advance to the fourth round where she lost to Davenport.

Clijsters got off to the best possible start of her grass court season at the Hastings Direct International Championships by winning the tournament. Clijsters defeated Jelena Janković, Conchita Martínez, Mashona Washington, Kuznetsova and Vera Dushevina to claim her third title of the year. At Wimbledon Clijsters defeated Katie O'Brien, Marissa Irvin Roberta Vinci before facing Davenport in the last 16 for the second slam running. The result was the same as the French Open with the American winning.

After Wimbledon Clijsters went on an amazing run of form where she lost just once between July and October. Clijsters’ run began at the Bank of the West Classic against Ai Sugiyama, and defeated Hantuchová, Anna-Lena Grönefeld and Venus Williams to win her fourth title of the year. Clijsters’ streak continued in San Diego as she defeated Marta Domachowska and Janković before suffering her one and only defeat in this run to Shuai Peng.

After the defeat to Peng, Clijsters continued the run as she went on an amazing winning streak, winning twenty two matches in a row, collecting four straight titles along the way, including her maiden Grand Slam title. The twenty-two-match-streak started against Karolina Šprem, and victories over Safina, Nadia Petrova, Francesca Schiavone, saw Clijsters collect her fifth title of the year. The streak continued in Toronto as Clijsters beat Virginie Razzano, Ana Ivanović (via a walkover), Flavia Pennetta, Anastasia Myskina and Justine Henin-Hardenne to win the Rogers Cup. After winning three of her four US Summer Hard court tournaments, Clijsters won the US Open Series, which links all the US summer hard courts together and doubles the winners prize money at the US Open. Giving Clijsters a chance to double the $1.1 million US Open winners prize to $2.2 million.

Clijsters won her first Grand Slam singles title at the US Open, after having reached four Grand Slam finals previously. Clijsters started by defeating Martina Müller, Fabiola Zuluaga, Ai Sugiyama and María Vento-Kabchi in straight sets to reach the quarter finals. There, Clijsters defeated tenth-seeded Venus Williams in the quarter-finals 4–6, 7–5, 6–1, winning 11 of the last 13 games after being down 6–4, 4–2. Clijsters also needed three sets to defeat top-seeded Sharapova in the semi-final. In her fifth attempt, Clijsters won her first Grand Slam final, defeating Mary Pierce in straight sets. By winning the US Open Series Clijsters doubled her US$1.1 million in prize money she received for winning the US Open, to US$2.2 million. The pay check was the largest payday in women's sports history.

On 15 September, a week after her US Open victory, it was announced that Clijsters and her coach, Marc Dehous, had parted company, which was due in part to her paying him only $9,000 of her $2,200,000 US Open winnings.

Clijsters’ hot streak continued as she extended her streak to 21 wins, even without a coach at the Fortis Championships. Clijsters beat Klara Koukalová, Schiavone, Dechy and Lena Groenefeld all without dropping a set to win her eighth title of the year. The title was Clijsters’ fourth consecutive title. At the Porsche Grand Prix Clijsters defeated Šprem for her twenty second consecutive match win before Dementieva ended the streak.

Clijsters then won her ninth and final tournament of the year at the Gaz de France Stars, defeating Schiavone in the final, to go the whole tournament without dropping a set. Clijsters defeated Ekaterina Bychkova, Šprem, Julia Schruff and Safina to make the final.

At the year-ending Sony Ericsson Championships, Clijsters was eliminated in the group stage. Clijsters lost her first match, a rematch of the US Open final, to Pierce 6–1, 4–6, 7–6 and her second match to Mauresmo 6–3, 7–6. This left the Belgian needing to win and hope that the results in the other matches went her way. Although results did not go her way and Clijsters was eliminated with one match still to play, she finished her season by defeating Dementieva in straight sets. Clijsters ended the year ranked World No. 2.

2006

Clijsters started the year by winning an exhibition tournament, the Watson Water Challenge, in Hong Kong. On her way to the title she defeated Jie Zheng, Elena Dementieva, and top ranked Lindsay Davenport. Clijsters then withdrew from her semi-final match at the WTA tournament in Sydney, citing a left hip muscle strain.

At the Australian Open, Clijsters defeated former champion Martina Hingis in the quarter-finals 6–3, 2–6, 6–4 before retiring from her semi-final match with Amélie Mauresmo. Despite the loss, the ranking points she accumulated were enough to regain the World No. 1 ranking, a position she last held on 9 November 2003. She was the first tennis player, male or female, to rise from outside the Top 100 (World No. 134) to World No. 1 in less than a year. Clijsters' loss to Mauresmo in the Australian Open semi-final was due to an ankle injury. Although she had been expected to miss at least eight weeks to recover, Clijsters returned two weeks later at the Proximus Diamond Games in Antwerp. She lost the final of that tournament to Mauresmo in three sets.

Clijsters won her first title of the year at a clay court event in Warsaw, defeating Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final. At the French Open in May, Clijsters reached the semi-final without losing a set, defeating Hingis in the quarter-finals 7–6, 6–1. However, she lost to Justine Henin in the semi-final 6–3, 6–2 on her 23rd birthday. She was seeded second going into Wimbledon but was again eliminated in the semi-final by Henin, also in straight sets, 6–4, 7–6(4).

Clijsters collected her second title of the year as the top seed in Stanford, defeating Patty Schnyder in the final. Clijsters then reached the final in San Diego, falling to second-seeded Maria Sharapova in straight sets. This was her first loss to Sharapova in five career meetings.

On 16 August, after receiving a first round bye at the Tier I Rogers Cup in Montreal, Clijsters faced Canadian Stéphanie Dubois in the second round. Having won the first set 6–1 and trailing 2–3 in the second set, Clijsters slipped and fell on her left wrist and was forced to retire from the match. On 18 August 2006, Clijsters announced on her official website that the condition of her wrist was worse than she had expected and that she would be unable to defend her title at the US Open. She also missed the Fed Cup final against Italy, which Italy won 3–2.

Playing in Paris at the Gaz de France Stars tournament, her first event in more than two months, Clijsters successfully defended her title by beating qualifier Kaia Kanepi in the final. At the year-ending WTA Tour Championships, Clijsters lost a semi-final to Mauresmo 6–2, 3–6, 6–3 after defeating Dementieva and Kuznetsova and losing to Sharapova in the round robin phase of the tournament.

2007: Retirement

2007 was to be Clijsters’ final year on tour as she had planned in 2005 to retire at the end of the 2007 season. Clijsters started the year by winning an exhibition tournament, the Watson Water Challenge, in Hong Kong. On her way to the title, she defeated Zheng Jie, Patty Schnyder, and top ranked Maria Sharapova. Clijsters then won the Medibank International in Sydney, defeating Nicole Pratt, Shahar Pe'er, Li Na and Jelena Janković to claim the title after being match point down in the final.

At the Australian Open Clijsters was the fourth seed. The Belgian started by giving a double bagel to Vasilisa Bardina before going on to defeat Akiko Morigami, Alona Bondarenko, and Daniela Hantuchová in straight sets. Clijsters then defeated sixth seed Martina Hingis in three sets before losing to Sharapova in the semi-finals.

Clijsters next played in Belgium at the Proximus Diamond Games after pulling out of the Open Gaz de France with a hip injury. While Clijsters said that she was fit she hinted that she may miss the French Open. Clijsters defeated Olga Poutchkova, Ana Ivanović and Tatiana Golovin to reach the final without dropping a set, though she lost there to Amélie Mauresmo.

After this event Clijsters confirmed that she would miss the French Open and US Open, making Wimbledon her last Grand Slam event. The Belgian also added that her last two tournaments would be in Luxembourg and at the WTA Tour Championships in Stuttgart.

At the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, Clijsters lost in the fourth round to Li Na in three sets after beating Akiko Morigami and Sam Stosur. A month later in her first clay tournament of the year, at Warsaw Clijsters failed to defend her title when she lost to Julia Vakulenko 7–6(3), 6–3.

On 6 May 2007, citing injuries, Clijsters announced on her official website that she was cutting short her season and bringing forward her plans to retire from professional tennis. Clijsters decided to retire immediately from the sport.

2009: Comeback

Almost two years after her retirement and one year after the birth of her daughter in February 2008 it was announced that Clijsters, along with Tim Henman, Steffi Graf and Andre Agassi, would play an exhibition event on Wimbledon's Centre Court in May, in order to test the new roof on centre court.

While preparing for the exhibition at Wimbledon, Clijsters called a press conference on the 26 March and then announced that she was returning to professional tennis. She said that she had been inspired when preparing for the Wimbledon roof event during January 2009. Clijsters stated that she had asked for wildcards for the Cincinnati and Toronto tournaments. Additionally, Clijsters had also asked for a wildcard at the US Open, after which she planned to evaluate the comeback in terms of success and the feasibility of combining it with her family life. Clijsters also stated that she preferred to think of it as a "second career" instead of a comeback, because so many factors (marriage, a baby, the recent death of her father) were different compared to her first career.

At the Wimbledon exhibition Clijsters and Henman won 7–6 in a tiebreak against Graf and Agassi. Clijsters also played a singles rubber against Graf, winning 6–4. Clijsters said at the event she had been practicing for a month from January and had started to feel good again at the start of February, then Wimbledon was confirmed and that is what pushed her to commit to pro tennis again. In July, she won both of her doubles matches with the St. Louis Aces of World Team Tennis.

Clijsters started her second career at the Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open in Cincinnati, following the acceptance of her wildcard. She defeated World No. 13 Marion Bartoli in the first round 6–4, 6–3. In her next two matches, she defeated World No. 20 Patty Schnyder 6–2, 7–5 and World No. 6 and reigning French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova 6–4, 4–6, 6–2. In the quarterfinals, she lost to World No. 1 Dinara Safina 6–2, 7–5.

Following Cincinnati Clijsters played at the Rogers Cup in Toronto on another wildcard. She defeated British qualifier Elena Baltacha in the first round. In the second round, she defeated World No. 9 Victoria Azarenka 7–5, 4–6, 6–1 but lost to World No. 4 Jelena Janković in the third round 1–6, 6–3, 7–5, after serving for the match at 5–3.

She then received a wildcard to play in the main draw of the US Open. She won her first round match over Viktoriya Kutuzova 6–1, 6–1. She won her second round match, defeating World No. 14 Marion Bartoli for the second time in three weeks 5–7, 6–1, 6–2. She then defeated compatriot Kirsten Flipkens 6–0, 6–2 in the third round. She went on to upset World No. 3 Venus Williams in the fourth round 6–0, 0–6, 6–4. This was only Clijsters' 11th competitive match since coming out of retirement. Clijsters beat 18th seed Li Na in straight sets 6–2, 6–4 to reach the semi-finals where she faced defending champion and World No. 2 Serena Williams, winning 6–4, 7–5 after Williams was given a point penalty on match point after a dispute with an official over a foot fault call. Clijsters became the first unseeded finalist at the US Open since Venus Williams in 1997, and the first wildcard to ever reach the US Open final. With her victory over Serena, Clijsters became the only player to have beaten both Williams sisters in the same tournament twice. In the final she defeated ninth seed Caroline Wozniacki 7–5, 6–3 to win her second US Open title. Her US Open victory placed her in the top 20 in the world rankings. She also became the first Wild Card champion in US Open history and the first mother to win a Grand Slam title in the Open era since Evonne Goolagong Cawley won Wimbledon in 1980. Clijsters is popularly known as one of the "comeback queens" of tennis. Clijsters then received a wildcard to play at the 2009 BGL Luxembourg Open in Luxembourg, as the second seed. She eased through her opening match 6–2, 6–2 against Meghann Shaughnessy but fell to Patty Schnyder in a close second round encounter 4–6, 6–3, 6–7.

Playing an exhibition match in Antwerp, Belgium on 10 December, Clijsters defeated rival Venus Williams 6–1, 7–5. She finished the year ranked 18th.

In March 2010, Clijsters won her first Laureus World Sports Award, for her remarkable 2009 US Open comeback. She also won the WTA Comeback Player of the Year and the Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award for the seventh time.

2010

Clijsters started her 2010 campaign at the Brisbane International in Australia as the top seed. She defeated Tathiana Garbin and Alicia Molik in the first two rounds without dropping a set. She then defeated Lucie Šafářová in three sets to advance to the semifinals where she defeated Andrea Petkovic to set up a final with her rival and compatriot Justine Henin. Clijsters led 6–3, 4–1 before Henin won eight consecutive games to take the second set and lead 3–0 in the final set. Clijsters trailed 5–3 saved two match points before breaking back and forcing a final set tie break defeating her rival 6–3, 4–6, 7–6(6).

Clijsters' next tournament was the 2010 Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the season where she was seeded 15th. Clijsters advanced to the third round with straight sets wins over Valérie Tétreault and Tamarine Tanasugarn. In the third round Clijsters lost to the World No. 20 Nadia Petrova winning just one game in the worst defeat of her career.

Clijsters did not play competitively again until March at the 2010 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. She was seeded 14th but fell to the 23rd seed Alisa Kleybanova in the third round, losing a final set tie break. Clijsters found form at the 2010 Sony Ericsson Open as she went on to win the title. As the 14th seed, she only dropped three games while defeating Petra Kvitová and Shahar Pe'er. Clijsters then defeated the defending champion Victoria Azarenka, losing just four games. Next she defeated the World No. 10 Samantha Stosur in the quarter-finals and Justine Henin in a final set tie break to reach the final. Clijsters went on to beat Venus Williams in straight sets in the final, ending the American's fifteen match unbeaten streak. As a result of winning the title for the second time, Clijsters' ranking rose to World No. 10.

Playing her first clay tennis match in three years at the Andalucia Tennis Experience as the third seed, Clijsters advanced to the second round after beating Alexandra Dulgheru in three sets. However in the second round Clijsters lost to the World No. 258 Beatriz García Vidagany. Clijsters played in Belgium's Fed Cup tie against Estonia, easily defeating Maret Ani 6–4, 6–2 in her opening singles match. However, it was discovered that she had torn a muscle in her left foot, causing her to pull out of her next match against Kaia Kanepi. Doctors ruled the Belgium out for six weeks but Clijsters hoped to make an early recovery She later announced in a press conference that she would have to withdraw from the rest of the clay court season, including the 2010 French Open.

Clijsters returned to action at the start of the grass-court season in Eastbourne as part of her Wimbledon warm-up where she was victorious in 2005. Clijsters, as the fifth seed, defeated compatriot Yanina Wickmayer and Šafářova to reach the quarter finals losing just three games, before losing in straight sets to Victoria Azarenka. Despite this loss Clijsters’ ranking rose to World No. 8 and she was seeded 8th at her first Wimbledon Championships since 2006. She started well with a straight sets wins over Maria Elena Camerin, Karolina Šprem and Maria Kirilenko to set up a fourth round clash with 17th seed Justine Henin. Clijsters came back from a set down to beat Henin 2–6, 6–2, 6–3. Clijsters lost in the quarterfinals to 21st seed and eventual finalist Vera Zvonareva in three sets.

In between Wimbledon and the US hard court season, Clijsters participated in the record breaking Best of Belgium- an Exhibition extravaganza. Clijsters defeated Serena Williams in straight sets, improving her head-to-head record since her comeback against the Williams Sisters to 5–1 (3–1 against Venus who won against Clijsters at the Billie Jean Cup 2010, 2–0 against Serena).

Clijsters played her next event at the 2010 Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open held in Cincinnati where she had made her comeback the previous year. This was her first event of the 2010 US Open Series. After a first round bye, Clijsters, as the 4th seed, defeated former World No.1 Dinara Safina, Christina McHale and Flavia Pennetta in straight sets to reach the semi-finals. In the semi-finals, Clijsters was leading 2–1 when her opponent, Ana Ivanović, had to retire due to a foot injury. In the final, Clijsters faced 10th seed Maria Sharapova and after losing the first set, Clijsters found herself down 5–3 in the second set. She managed to save three championships on her own serve before rain interrupted play. Clijsters came back to take the second set into a tie-break and despite being down 0–3, she came back to win the tie-break and then went on to claim a 2–6, 7–6(4), 6–2 victory. This win propelled her ranking to World No. 4 with her 38th singles title of her career.

Clijsters played her final event of the US Open Series in Montreal at the 2010 Rogers Cup where she was seeded 5th. After coming back from 6–4, 4–1 down in the opening round to defeat Bethanie Mattek Sands, Clijsters reached the quarterfinals before losing to Vera Zvonareva in three sets.

Clijsters then competed in the 2010 US Open where she was the No. 2 seed. Clijsters advanced to the quarter finals without dropping a set defeating Gréta Arn, Sally Peers, Petra Kvitová and Ana Ivanović. There Clijsters came from a break down in the third set to defeat 5th seed Samantha Stosur 6–3 in the final set to advance to the semifinals. In the semis Clijsters faced Venus Williams, winning the match in the final set to extend her US Open match winning streak to 20, second only to Chris Evert's 31-match winning streak from 1975–1979 and tying with Venus and Monica Seles. In the final, Clijsters faced seventh seed Vera Zvonareva in a rematch of their Wimbledon quarterfinal meeting. Clijsters won, only dropping three games, to defend her US Open title, winning it for the third time and her second as a mother. The win also extended her US Open winning streak to 21 matches and was her 27th victory of her last 28 matches at the tournament, the only loss came from compatriot and rival Justine Henin in the '03 final. By winning US$2.2 million, she equalled her own 2005 record of the largest payday in women's sports history. Injury then kept Clijsters out until the WTA Championships. At the year-end championship, Clijsters advanced to the final, after defeating Janković and Azerenka to qualify for the semi final. Clijsters lost her final group game to Zvonareva. In the semi finals Clijsters beat Stosur in straight sets after surviving a car crash. In the championship match Clijsters faced World No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki in a rematch of the 2009 US Open final. Clijsters finished the year at World No. 3 after defeating the Dane in three sets, to clinch her third WTA Championship and fifth title of the year. Clijsters final match of 2010 was a repeat of what the Best of Belgium should have been, a match against Justine Henin. The match took place at the Diamond Games in front of a Belgian crowd. Clijsters came out the winner, winning the match tie breaker 10–5.

For her performance during the season, Clijsters received the WTA Player of the Year award for the second time (first one in 2005), the first player ever to win this award in the year following the win of the Come Back Player of the Year.

2011

Clijsters' first competitive outing of the year was the Medibank International Sydney in Australia. In the first round, Clijsters defeated Alexandra Dulgheru in two sets, 6–1, 6–2. She then defeated Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová, Victoria Azarenka and Alisa Kleybanova to advanced to the final where she was defeated by World No. 11 Li Na from China, 7–6(3), 6–3, despite leading 5–0 in the first set.

Clijsters started her strong campaign at the 2011 Australian Open at Melbourne Park as the tournament's favorite with an emphatic 6–0, 6–0 victory over former World No. 1 Dinara Safina in the first round. This was the first time in tennis' open era that a former World No. 1 player received a double bagel loss in a grand slam tournament. Clijsters then defeated Carla Suárez Navarro 6–1, 6–3 and Alizé Cornet 7–6(3), 6–3, before winning a fourth-round match against Russia's Ekaterina Makarova 7–6(3), 6–2. In the quarterfinals, Clijsters continued her progress without dropping a set by beating the twelfth seed Agnieszka Radwańska 6–3, 7–6(4).thumb|left|Clijsters in Paris, 2011 She defeated World No. 2 Vera Zvonareva 6–3, 6–3, guaranteeing her accession to World No. 2, her highest ranking since her return to the tour. Clijsters won the 2011 Australian Open singles by beating Li Na 3–6, 6–3, 6–3; It was her first major win outside the US and her fourth overall. Clearly emotional, Clijsters declared that she finally had earned the title "Aussie Kim".

Clijsters next traveled to play at the indoor tournament in Paris. After defeating Jelena Dokić in the quarterfinals, Clijsters returned to the top of the WTA rankings for the first time in almost five years, overtaking Caroline Wozniacki. Clijsters eventually progressed to the final of the competition, but was beaten by third seed Petra Kvitová in straight sets, 6–4, 6–3.

Up next for Clijsters was the Indian Wells Masters in California, where she was seeded 2nd. After receiving a bye in the first round, she faced Alla Kudryavtseva of Russia and defeated her 6–2, 6–0. In the third round, she beat the Italian Sara Errani in three sets, 6–3, 2–6, 6–4. Clijsters had to retire in her next match against Marion Bartoli at 6–3, 1–3 with a shoulder injury.

Clijsters was the defending champion at Miami and the No. 2 seed. After defeating Anastasiya Yakimova 6–1, 6–2 and María José Martínez Sánchez 6–4, 4–6, 6–3 in the second and third round, respectively, she came back from 1–5 0–40 in the final set against Ana Ivanović in the fourth round, winning the match 7–6(4), 3–6, 7–6(5). She eventually lost in the quarterfinals to Victoria Azarenka in straight sets, 6–3, 6–3.

On 21 April 2011, Clijsters was elected number 16 on the Time Top 100 list of most influential people, the first sports person on the 2011 listing. Her sportsmanship, involvement in charity, success as a mother combined with her anti-diva no-nonsense attitude led to her election.

Clijsters suffered an ankle injury while dancing at a wedding and missed most of the clay court season before the 2011 French Open. Clijsters was the second seed in the Roland Garros draw. She was defeated by Arantxa Rus in the second round, 3–6, 7–5, 6–1, after leading 6–3, 5–2 and having two match points. Clijsters suffered a further ankle injury in the UNICEF Open, which forced her to withdraw from the 2011 Wimbledon Championships.

Clijsters returned to the tour at the 2011 Rogers Cup. She received a bye into the second round where she played qualifier Zheng Jie. She won the first set 6–3 but retired three games into the second due to an abdominal injury. The injury caused her to pull out of the 2011 Western & Southern Open and then the 2011 US Open where she was the two-time defending champion. She also added on her blog that she will drop the rest of the season to fully recover in order to get ready for 2012, year of the Olympic Games. She will probably come back in December in Antwerp for the Diamond Games.

Coaches

1992–1996: Bart Van Kerckhove

1996–2002: Carl Maes

2002–2005: Marc Dehous

2009–2011: Wim Fisette

2011–present: Carl Maes & Wim Fisette

Records

2001

Clijsters became the first person from Belgium to reach a Grand Slam singles final in the Open Era.

2003

Clijsters became not only the first Belgian—man or woman—to be ranked World No. 1, but also did so without winning a Grand Slam tournament. Clijsters is one of only six women to have been ranked World No. 1 in singles and doubles simultaneously (the others being Martina Navratilova, Martina Hingis, Serena Williams, Arantxa Sánchez Vicario and Lindsay Davenport). Clijsters compiled a 90–12 singles record. Her singles win total was the highest single-season total by any woman since Navratilova in 1982. Clijsters was the first woman to play more than 100 singles matches in a year since Chris Evert in 1974.

2005

Following Clijsters's victory in the US Open Series and the subsequent US Open, she collected US$2.2 million in prize money, the largest single purse ever won by a female athlete. To that date, she held a North American hardcourt win-loss record of 36–1.

Clijsters had a 22-match winning streak from August to October. During the streak, she won tournaments in Los Angeles, Toronto and Luxembourg, and the US Open.

First player ever to win the WTA Player of the Year Award in the same year of winning the WTA Come Back Player of the Year trophy

2006

In returning to the World No. 1 ranking after the Australian Open in January, Clijsters broke a rankings record. She was ranked as low as World No. 134 in March 2005, so her return to the top spot in a ten-month span was the fastest and biggest leap in women's tennis history.

2009

Third unseeded and first unranked female champion of a Grand Slam title by winning the 2009 US Open. Clijsters also became the first mother to win a major since Evonne Goolagong Cawley won the Wimbledon title in 1980, and the first mother to win the US Open since Margaret Court in 1973. She defeated Danish Caroline Wozniacki 7–5, 6–3 in the US Open final.

Returned to WTA rankings at number 19, equaling the highest debut ever that was set by Andrea Jaeger in 1980.

Won the WTA Come Back Player of the Year trophy despite only playing three months effectively.

2010

First woman to retain the US Open title since Venus Williams in 2001.

Second woman in the Open Era to win three successive US Opens in which she played (she did not play in the 2006, 2007 and 2008 tournaments). Chris Evert won four U.S. Open Championships in a row:(1975–1978)and two additional titles in 1980 and 1982 for a total of six U.S. Opens. Martina Navratilova reached the final after two successive wins in 1985, but lost the third final to Hana Mandlíková. Steffi Graf reached the finals after two consecutive wins in 1990, but lost the third final to Gabriela Sabatini.

21 consecutive US Open match victories, second all-time to Chris Evert's 31 from 1975–1979.

Third woman to win two Grand Slams as a mother, one shy of the record by Margaret Court.

Repeated her own 2005 feat of earning a women's sport record paycheck of approximately US$2.2 million by winning the US Open, after ending the US Open Series as second after Caroline Wozniacki.

Won the Masters (WTA Tour Championships) for the third time joining a very select group of players, consisting of Martina Navratilova, Monica Seles, Chris Evert and Steffi Graf.

Broke the US$20 million mark in career prize money at the same Masters.

Became WTA year prize money leader with more than US$5 million in earnings

First player ever to win the WTA Player of the Year Award in the year following the win of the WTA Come Back Player of the Year trophy ''(see also 2005)'' Both Serena Williams (2004–2008) and Amélie Mauresmo (2003–2006) became Player of the Year after having been the Comeback Player of the Year but they did not achieve this feat in consecutive years.

Became most time winner of the Karen Krantzcke WTA award for fair play (7)

2011

Inflicted the first time ever double bagel loss at a Grand Slam since the start of the open era on a former World No. 1 player – Dinara Safina – during the first round of the Australian Open.

By becoming Australian Open champion, completed a consecutive winning string of the four most important hardcourt tournaments within a year: Miami Masters ("The Fifth Slam") 2010, US Open 2010, WTA Tour Championships 2010 and the Australian Open 2011. Steffi Graf (November 1987–1988 ) and Monica Seles in 1991 had accomplished this series before.

Equalling the record of Margaret Court of winning three Grand Slams as a mother

Received for the third time a women's sport record paycheck of approximately US$2.2 million by winning the Australian Open

Became number 1 in the WTA rankings for the fourth time in her career on 14 February 2011 after the 2011 Open GDF Suez in Paris, nearly five years after being at the #1 spot in early 2006. It is also the first time Clijsters is number one in the same calendar year of winning a Grand Slam.

Became the first mother to hold the number 1 ranking since the inception of the computer rankings in 1975.

Ranked 16 on the Time Top 100 list of most influential people, the first sports person on the 2011 listing.

Awards

1999

Belgian Sportswoman of the Year

WTA Most Impressive Newcomer

2000

Belgian Sportswoman of the Year

Flemish Giant Award

2001

Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award (for 2000)

Belgian Sportswoman of the Year

Flemish Giant Award

2002

Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award (for 2001)

Belgian Sportswoman of the Year

2003

Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award(for 2002)

Belgian Sports Personality of the Year(for 2002)

2004

WTA Player Service Award (for 2003)

Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award(for 2003)

2005

ITF World Champion

WTA Tour Championships Race winner

US Open Series Winner

Belgian Sportswoman of the Year

International Tennis Writers Association (ITWA) Player of the Year

International Tennis Writers Ambassador for Tennis

WTA Player of the Year

2006

WTA Player of the Year (for 2005)

WTA Comeback Player of the Year (for 2005)

Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award (for 2005)

Member of the Belgian Sporting Team of the Year (Fed Cup – Team)

WTA Humanitarian of the Year

2007

Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award (for 2006)

2009

VTV Tennis Performance of the Year

Belgian Sportswoman of the Year

2010

Laureus World Comeback of the Year (For 2009)

WTA Comeback Player of the Year (for 2009)

Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award (for 2009)

Best Comeback Athlete ESPY Award (for 2009)

VTV Tennis Performance of the Year

Flemish Giant Award

Belgian Sportswoman of the Year

2011 WTA Player of the Year (for 2010) WTA Player Service Award (for 2010)

Career statistics

Singles

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See also

List of female tennis players

List of Grand Slam women's singles champions

Clijsters–Henin rivalry

References

External links

Kim Clijsters' Profile

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Category:1983 births Category:Living people Category:Australian Open (tennis) champions Category:Belgian female tennis players Category:Flemish sportspeople Category:French Open champions Category:Order of the Crown (Belgium) recipients Category:People from Bilzen Category:United States Open champions (tennis) Category:Wimbledon champions Category:World No. 1 tennis players Category:French Open junior champions Category:United States Open junior tennis champions

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