Anne Keothavong

Country	Great Britain
Residence	Hackney, London
Born	(1983-09-16) 16 September 1983 (age 28) Hackney, London
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight	62 kg (140 lb)
Turned pro	2001
Retired	Active
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Career prize money	US$1,100,105
Official web site	annekeothavong.co.uk
Singles
Career record	399–286
Career titles	0 WTA (19 ITF)
Highest ranking	No. 48 (23 February 2009)
Current ranking	No. 81 (28 May 2012)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	2R (2011)
French Open	1R (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012)
Wimbledon	2R (2004, 2008, 2011)
US Open	3R (2008)
Doubles
Career record	98–139
Career titles	0 WTA (8 ITF)
Highest ranking	No. 94 (18 April 2011)
Current ranking	No. 118 (28 May 2012)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open	2R (2009)
French Open	1R (2009)
Wimbledon	2R (2008)
US Open	1R (2008)
Mixed Doubles
Career titles	0
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results
Australian Open	–
French Open	–
Wimbledon	2R (2008)
US Open	–
Last updated on: 28 May 2012.

Anne Viensouk Keothavong (born 16 September 1983) is a British professional tennis player. She is a former long-standing British number 1, however she is the current British number 2, behind Elena Baltacha and is ranked 81st in the world (as of 28 May 2012).^[1] So far in her career she has won a total of 19 International Tennis Federation singles titles, 8 ITF doubles titles and reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 48 (achieved 23 February 2009).^[2] She has also reached the semifinals of four International tournaments on the main tour and the semifinals of one Premier tournament.^[3]

In terms of Grand Slam success, Keothavong's best result so far came at the 2008 US Open, where she reached the third round. She beat Alexa Glatch in the first round^[4] and followed this up with a victory over the No. 25 seed, Francesca Schiavone, a woman ranked 60 places above her.^[5] She faced world No. 6, Elena Dementieva, in round three and was defeated.^[6] Anne has also managed to reach the second round of Wimbledon on three occasions: in 2004, 2008 and 2011. In 2004 she beat Nicole Pratt in the first round^[7] and lost to Maria Sharapova, the No. 13 seed, in straight sets in round two.^[8] The 2008 tournament saw her beat Vania King in round one^[9] but she went on to experience a second round loss to Venus Williams.^[10] In 2011 Wimbledon, she had a first round win over fellow Brit Naomi Broady, in straight sets. The score was 6–2 6–4 for Keothavong. She went on to face lefty Czech, and eventual champion, Petra Kvitova in the second round. She lost in straight sets, 2–6 1–6.

Personal life[link]

Anne was born in Hackney in London, to parents who had fled from their wartorn home country of Laos in the 1970s.^[11] Her father, Somsak, is an employee in a bank and encouraged all of his children to play short tennis from an early age.^[12] Her mother's name is Vathana and she has two brothers: James, who is a tennis umpire,^[13] and Mark. Keothavong's younger sister, Lena, also played tennis on the ITF tour briefly with limited success. Anne attended Kingsland High School^[14] and earned seven GCSEs and an A-level in maths.^[12]

Keothavong grew up playing park tennis on Hackney Downs and Highbury Fields.^{[citation needed]} Her preferred surface is hard, though she has also enjoyed success on clay, carpet and grass. She is coached by Jeremy Bates^[15] and trains at the LTA's National Tennis Centre at Roehampton, South-West London, where her fitness regime is overseen by the LTA's team of trainers and physiotherapists.^[2][16]

Playing style[link]

Keothavong's greatest strength is her powerful forehand which she uses to try to dominate play from the baseline and she adds as much topspin as possible to increase the probability of the ball landing in court.^[17] As well as her forehand, she can rely on her first-serve to get her some easy points as she often has a high first-serve percentage and usually wins the majority of points on her first-serve. She rarely has a match where she serves no aces at all and in her second round match at the 2008 US Open she served a total of seven aces throughout the match.^{[18][19][20][21][22][23]}

Career[link]

Junior (1996–2001)[link]

Anne played her first match on the junior ITF tour in February 1996, at age 12, and her last in August 2001. In singles she won one title at the LTA Junior International Tournament – Bisham Abbey where she beat compatriot Elena Baltacha in the final. She also reached a total of three semifinals (one of which was at the 2001 Wimbledon girls' tournament where she was beaten by Dinara Safina^[24]) and ten quarterfinals. She finished her juniors career with a singles win–loss record of 44–40 and a career-high ranking of world No.60 (achieved 3 January 2000).^[25]

In junior doubles she won one tournament, the 13th Salik Open and lost in the final of two others: the LTA International Junior Tournament – Bisham Abbey and the 11th Malaysian International Junior Championships. All three of these were in 1999 and all three were partnering Elena Baltacha. Her career-high doubles ranking was world No.93 (achieved 2 January 2001) and her doubles win–loss record was 27–34.^[25]

1998–2001[link]

Anne played her first professional match on the ITF circuit in April 1998, at age 14, when she fell in the first round of qualifying for the $10,000 tournament in Birmingham. That year she played only two more matches (in the qualifying tournaments for the $10,000 ITF events in Hatfield and Felixstowe) and lost both of them. She finished the year without a world ranking.^[26]

During May 1999, Anne played in a total of five ITF tournaments with her best result being in the $10,000 event in Sunderland where she won three matches to qualify and then reached the second round. In the other four events, she either lost in the first round or qualifying stages. Her final ranking of the year was world No.702.^[26]

In 2000, Keothavong played ten ITF tournaments, losing in the qualifying stages in one, round one in three others, the second round four times (once as a lucky loser) and the quarterfinal in the $50,000 tournament in Cardiff. The other tournament she entered was the qualifying event for Wimbledon in which she participated courtesy of a wild card. She beat Eva Martincova in round one of qualifying before losing to Yuka Yoshida. She improved her ranking to world No. 377.^[26]

2001 started well for Anne; in her first tournament of the year she won the title by beating compatriot Emily Webley-Smith in the quarterfinals and Elodie Le Bescond in the final. She then reached the quarterfinals of her next tournament, the $10,000 event in Tipton. In February she reached the semifinals in Sutton ($25,000) as a qualifier. She played in the Fed Cup for the first time in April and lost all three of her singles rubbers in straight sets. In June she was given wild cards into the qualifying draws for the DFS Classic (where she was beaten in the first round of qualifying) and the Britannic Asset Management International Championships (where she reached the second round of qualifying) and the main draw of Wimbledon. She faced Janet Lee in round one and lost. In September and October she reached three ITF quarterfinals (one $50,000, one $25,000 and one $10,000) and one semifinal ($25,000). Her world ranking at the end of 2001 was world No. 268.^[26]

2002[link]

Anne's 2002 season started slowly; she played in thirteen ITF tournaments and did not pass the second round in any. In June, she was given a wild card into the qualifying draw for the DFS Classic where she lost in round one. She also attempted to qualify for the Britannic Asset Management International Championships and was again beaten in the first round. She next competed in the main draw of Wimbledon where in the first round, she lost to Virginie Razzano.^[27] Immediately after Wimbledon she headed to Felixstowe to participate in a $25,000 ITF tournament where she reached the quarterfinals. In August and September, she reached four consecutive ITF finals, winning three. She won the first in Bath beating Hannah Collin in the final. She was victorious in London when she defeated Yvonne Doyle but lost in the third final in Glasgow to Selima Sfar. In Sunderland, her fourth consecutive final of August and September, she won by again beating Hannah Collin. She competed in three more $25,000 ITF tournaments that year and reached the semifinals in two of them. Her final ranking of 2002 was world No.233.^[26]

2003[link]

The first tournament of 2003 for Anne was the qualifying event for the Moorilla Hobart International where she lost to Tiffany Dabek in the first round. Keothavong then headed to the Australian Open in order to attempt to qualify and she again lost in the first round to Sandra Kloesel. After this she headed to the ITF circuit and won the $25,000 event in Belfort by defeating Nathalie Vierin in the final. Two weeks later she reached the quarterfinals of a $25,000 ITF in Redbridge and the week after that lost in the final of yet another $25,000 ITF in Ostrava. In March she reached the quarterfinals of Redding ($25,000) and in April she headed to Portugal to represent Great Britain in the Fed Cup. She won two of her four singles rubbers. May saw Anne reach the second round of qualifying for the French Open. In her next tournament (Surbiton $25,000) she reached the semifinals but had to withdraw before the match. Keothavong did not compete again until mid-June when she was given a wild card into the main draw of the Hastings Direct International where she was defeated by Japanese veteran, Ai Sugiyama. A second consecutive wild card gave her entry into the main draw of Wimbledon where she had to withdraw during her first round match against Katarina Srebotnik with the score at 2–6 0–4. After Wimbledon she reached the final round of qualifying for the US Open and lost to Maureen Drake but had no more notable results that year. She finished the year with a singles ranking of world No. 177.^[26]

2004[link]

2004 began well for Anne as she started off by qualifying for the tier V, Moorilla Hobart International, beating Kaia Kanepi along the way. In the first round she faced world No.69, Rita Grande, from Italy but was beaten. This was followed by an attempt to qualify for the first Grand Slam of the season, the Australian Open. She was beaten in the first round of qualifying by Stephanie Gehrlein. In February she reached the quarterfinals of ITF events in Sunderland ($25,000) and St Paul ($50,000), beaten by Lisa Stanciute and Jill Craybas respectively. The next month she won the sixth ITF title of her career by beating Mashona Washington in the final of the $25,000 event in Redding. In late April and early May, she represented Britain in the Fed Cup and won all three of her singles rubbers, but lost her one and only doubles match with partner, Elena Baltacha, before going on to lose in the first round of qualifying for the French Open to Květa Peschke. In the run up to Wimbledon, Anne was given a wild card into the main draw of the DFS Classic where in the first round she faced, world No.60, Marta Marrero, who she managed to beat in three sets. Keothavong came up against world No.56, Maria Sánchez Lorenzo (the 16th seed) in the second round and lost in three sets. She headed to the main draw of the Hastings International Direct, a tier II event after whis and faced No.8 seed, Magdalena Maleeva and was again beaten in three sets. A wild card granted Anne entry to the main draw of Wimbledon for the fourth consecutive year where she won her first round match, beating Nicole Pratt, the world No.41, in a performance assisted by a rain delay when Keothavong was 3–1 down in the first set.^[7] The eventual champion, Maria Sharapova, beat her in the second round.^[8] After Wimbledon, Anne played in two $50,000 ITF event in the United States reaching the second round in one and the quarterfinals in the second, in Lexington where she had to withdraw due to sustaining serious ligament damage^[28] with the score at 5–7 3–5. She did not play again that year and finished the year with a ranking of world No. 175.^[26]

2005[link]

Anne recovered well from her injury and returned to action ahead of schedule in March at the $10,000 ITF tournament in Sunderland where she suffered a three set, first round defeat to Verdiana Verardi. She then immediately reached three successive $10,000 ITF finals; the first in Bolton and the second two in Bath. She won the first two by beating Veronika Chvojkova and Claire Peterzan respectively and lost the third to compatriot, Melanie South. The first of the two tournaments in Bath was also the only time Anne competed with her sister, Lena, in doubles on the ITF tour. They reached the quarterfinals together. In late April, Anne competed in the Fed Cup and helped Britain avoid relegation from the Africa/Europe Zone Group I by beating Caroline Wozniacki to help Britain beat Denmark. This meant that although they lost ties against Serbia and Montenegro and Slovenia, they avoided a place in the relegation play-offs for another year.^[29] In May she reached the semifinals of a $25,000 ITF event in Monzón where she lost to Angelique Kerber. She was then given a wild card into the main draw of the DFS Classic where she lost to Laura Granville in the first round. The was followed by a wild card into the Hastings Direct International qualifying tournament where Arantxa Parra Santonja defeated her in the first round. After this, another wild card allowed Anne entry into the main draw of the Wimbledon Championships where she faced Mariana Díaz-Oliva in the first round and lost in straight sets.

After Wimbledon, Anne competed on the ITF circuit for the rest of the year (except when she reached the second round of the tier III event, the Bell Challenge, where she lost to Sofia Arvidsson) and won two more titles. The first was in Nottingham, a $10,000 event, where she beat Karen Paterson in a three set final and the second was a $25,000 tournament in Lagos where she defeated Maša Zec Peškirič to win the title. She also reached one more $25,000 ITF final this year, also in Lagos, where she lost to Petra Cetkovská in three sets. Her year-end ranking for 2005 was world No. 239.^[26]

2006[link]

Anne started her 2006 season by losing in the first round of qualifying for the Brisbane International (tier III), the final round of qualifying for the Moorilla Hobart International (tier IV) and the second round of qualifying for the Australian Open. In February, Keothavong returned to Britain and reached the final of the ITF tournament in Jersey where she beat Ana Vrljić to win the title. She then entered the $25,000 ITF tournament in Sunderland where she beat four compatriots; Melanie South, Rebecca Llewellyn, Sarah Coles and Katie O'Brien in straight sets to reach the final where she was beaten by Elise Tamaela. Later in February, Anne reached the quarterfinals of an ITF tournament in Orange ($25,000) and one month later, in March, she reached another ITF final, again $25,000. In April she reached the semifinals of the $25,000 ITF event in Patras and competed for Great Britain in the Fed Cup where she won one of her three singles rubbers. She qualified for the Internationaux de Strasbourg, a tier III tournament, where she lost to Anna Smashnova in the first round.

Keothavong competed in four tournaments in June: a $25,000 event in Surbiton, the DFS Classic, the Hastings Direct Championships and Wimbledon. She was beaten by Laura Granville in the semifinals, Eleni Danilidou in round one, Vera Dushevina in the first round and Karolina Šprem in the first round respectively. During her American hard court season, she reached the quarterfinals of a $50,000 ITF tournament in Lexington where she fell to Camille Pin of France. In August, Anne lost in the first round of qualifying for the US Open and followed this up with three consecutive first round losses in WTA events. She then returned to the ITF circuit playing $25,000 tournaments and won one more title, in Přerov. She also reached two semifinals (Glasgow and Opole) and a quarterfinal in Jersey. She ended the season with her world ranking at No. 168.^[26]

2007[link]

The 2007 season began in the same way as the 2006 for Anne; she again started her year by falling in qualifying for the WTA events in the Moorilla Hobart International and the Australian Open. In February she reached two consecutive ITF semifinals in Tipton ($25,000) and St. Paul ($50,000) before going on to lose in qualifying for the Cellular South Cup and in qualifying for Indian Wells in March. Keothavong again represented her country in the Fed Cup in April and won one of her three singles matches. In May she reached the semifinals of an ITF $25,000 in Antalya and lost in the second round of the French Open qualifying tournament to María Emilia Salerni. As in 2006, June saw Keothavong lose in the first round of the DFS Classic, the Hastings Direct International and Wimbledon after she was given a wild card into each of these events. Elena Baltacha was her conqueror in the Hastings Direct whereas Jelena Janković was the victor over Anne in Wimbledon.

After Wimbledon Anne reached two consecutive finals of $50,000 ITFs in Lexington and Vancouver, facing Stéphanie Dubois in the finals of both and winning once. Following this she lost in qualifying for the Rogers Cup, the US Open and Bali before going on to reach her first ever WTA Tour semifinal in the Sunfeast Open, a tier III tournament held in Kolkata. She did this by defeating Sara Errani^[30] in the first round, Sunitha Rao in round two^[31] and Tzipi Obziler in the quarterfinals.^[32] She lost to Mariya Koryttseva in the semifinals. In October she reached the quarterfinals of the $25,000 ITF in Rockhampton and her year-ending singles ranking was world No. 122.^[26]

2008[link]

Anne's 2008 campaign began when Anne failed to qualify for the tier II tournament, the Medibank International. She then attempted to qualify for the Australian Open and won her first match against Jorgelina Cravero^[33] before losing her second to Monica Niculescu.^[34] February saw her join compatriots, Melanie South, Katie O'Brien and Elena Baltacha, to represent Britain in the Fed Cup. Despite Anne winning each of her three singles matches in the round robin stage, Britain was forced to fight relegation from the Europe/Africa Group I by playing Portugal. They won 2–0 thanks to yet another victory in singles from Anne and a singles victory from O'Brien.^[35] For the remainder of February, Keothavong competed on the ITF circuit and reached the quarterfinals of a $25,000 event in Stockholm and won a $25,000 title in Capriolo. In early April she lost in the final of a $50,000 ITF; this one in Patras where Magdaléna Rybáriková defeated her in straight sets. Continuing competition on the ITF tour, she won a $50,000 ITF in Jounieh, Lebanon, despite break outs of fighting between Shia and Hezbollah militia less than ten miles away in Beirut. This tournament win propelled Anne into the top 100 for the first time in her career and guaranteed her a place in the main draw of Wimbledon for the first time in her career; the first time a British woman had entered Wimbledon on merit since 1999.^[36] She then fell in the first round of qualifying for the French Open before reaching another $50,000 ITF final (in Surbiton).

In the run up to Wimbledon, Anne lost in the first round of the DFS Classic to Kateryna Bondarenko and in the first round of the Ordina Open to Sara Errani. In her first round match in Wimbledon, she faced American, Vania King, and lost the first set. She regrouped during a toilet break at the end of the first set and came back to win the match in three sets despite being 2–0 down in the deciding set.^[9] She then lost to the eventual champion, Venus Williams, in the second round.^[10] After Wimbledon Anne made a successful start to her American hard court season by winning three matches to qualify for the tier II event in Stanford. She then defeated Sania Mirza in the first round before giving Marion Bartoli a tough time in round two in a match which she eventually lost in three tight sets. In August she entered the US Open for the first time in her career and faced Alexa Glatch in round one. She won the match^[4] and then went on to beat Francesca Schiavone in the second round in three sets.^[5] However No.5 seed, Elena Dementieva, proved to much for Keothavong in the third round; Anne lost.^[6] After the US Open, Anne won two more ITF events: Barnstaple ($50,000) and Kraków ($100,000) and as a result, her year end ranking was world No.61.^[26]

2009[link]

Anne began her 2009 season by launching her official website, www.annekeothavong.co.uk, before heading to the ASB Classic where she reached the semifinals. En route she defeated Mirjana Lučić, No.8 seed Carla Suárez Navarro and Ayumi Morita before falling in a three hour, three set battle to Elena Vesnina.^[37] This was only the second time in her career that she reached the semifinals of a WTA Tour event. Anne then competed in the Moorilla Hobart International where she faced a tough draw in round one against world No.25, Ágnes Szávay. Nevertheless Anne came through without too much difficulty, beating Szávay in two sets.^[38] She lost to Virginie Razzano in the second round. Anne then headed to the main draw of the Australian Open for the first time in her career where she came up against Anna Chakvetadze, who was the 17th seed. She lost in a controversial match where a mistake by the umpire allowed Chakvetadze to serve first in the final set, an advantage which should have gone to Keothavong.^[39] Anne was the fourth seed in her next tournament, the Cellular South Cup, and she followed up on this seeding by reaching the semifinals of a WTA event for the second time in 2009. She defeated Maria Elena Camerin, Michelle Larcher de Brito and No.5 seed Marina Erakovic on the way to being demolished by top seed Caroline Wozniacki in the semifinals.^[40] Despite this crushing defeat, a semifinal run was enough to help Anne make the hop from world No.52 to world No.48, her debut in the top 50.^[41] Anne then endured three consecutive first round defeats in the BNP Paribas Open,^[42] the Sony Ericsson Open^[43] (both Premier Mandatory tournaments) and a $100,000 ITF tournament in Tourhout, Belgium, where she was forced to retire due to a viral illness.^[44]

Following this, Keothavong began her clay court season by defeating Maret Ani to reach the second round of the Grand Prix SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem^[45] where she was defeated by Lourdes Domínguez Lino. This was followed by another first round defeat in a Premier event in the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, this one at the hands of Carla Suárez Navarro. In the Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open she beat Mariana Duque Marino in round one^[46] before losing to Lucie Šafářová in the second round. In her very next tournament she reached the fourth WTA Tour semifinal of her career and her third in 2009 in the Warsaw Open. She faced No.7 seed, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, in round one, American veteran Jill Craybas in the second round, qualifier Ioana Raluca Olaru in the quarterfinals and was beaten by 8th seed Alona Bondarenko in the semifinals. Nevertheless, in reaching the semifinals she became the first British woman to reach the semifinals of a WTA clay court event since Jo Durie reached the semis of the 1983 French Open, 26 years before.^[3] She then came up against reigning World No.1, Dinara Safina, in the first round of the French Open and endured the dreaded "double bagel" when she was defeated, 0–6 0–6.^[47] Anne began her grass court season on home turf with a victory over Sofia Arvidsson in the first round of the AEGON Classic before losing to eventual semifinalist, Sania Mirza, in round two.^[48] She was then defeated in the first round of the AEGON International by world No.28, Sybille Bammer, but saw off a mugger in central London who tried to snatch her handbag^[49] before heading to Wimbledon, where she experienced a first round loss to world No.80, Patricia Mayr.^[50]

After this, Anne played the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford, California, where she lost in the opening round of the singles to Elena Dementieva. Anne also played in the doubles with Ayumi Morita against Julie Coin and Marie-Ève Pelletier, trailing 4–6 5–3 when she attempted to run down a drop shot and, in trying to avoid a collision with the net post, suffered a serious knee injury, rupturing her left anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus, a similar injury to the one she suffered in 2004 in her right knee. This injury ended Anne's year and as a result, her year-end ranking dropped to world No.84.^[26]

2010[link]

After six months out of action due to her knee injury, Keothavong returned to competitive action in February 2010 at the Fed Cup. She faced Patricia Mayr of Austria in her first match back and was beaten in straight sets. She partnered Sarah Borwell to take on Mayr and Yvonne Meusburger in the doubles and again lost in straight sets. However Keothavong did manage to claim victory in her other two singles ties against players from Belarus and the Netherlands.

Anne then returned to the tour at the Dow Corning Tennis Classic in Michigan, USA in the 100k event. Anne battled past Croatia's Ivana Lisjak in 3 sets before only dropping 2 games in a drubbing of Daniilidou of Greece. She then faced Marta Domachowska of Poland and went down in 3 sets after she won the first.

At the Cellular South Cup in Memphis, Anne reached the semi finals, on her return to the main tour. By defeating Kristina Barrois, Michelle Larcher De Brito, and Karolina Šprem in 3 impressive wins, all in straight sets. She then fell in three sets to Sofia Arvidsson in the semifinals, after battling back from a set down lost she lost the decider.

Anne then competed in 2 Premier tournaments, the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells and Sony Ericsson Open in Miami. Anne crashed out in R1 in both tournaments. To Anna Chakvetadze of Russia in 3 sets after winning the first to continue her losing record against her in Indian Wells. And in sad circumstances in Miami as she lost in straight sets to Tamira Paszek and said afterwards "Frankly tennis didn’t seem that important today"^[51] after receiving news before the match that her grandmother had passed away.

Less than a week after her loss in Miami, Anne bounced back in a 75K event in Monzón, Spain. She reached the quarter finals after beating two Asian players, Yurika Sema of Japan in straight sets and Thailand's Tamarine Tanasugarn in 3 after losing a tight first set. She bowed out to Maria Elena Camerin of Italy in straight sets.

Anne then moved on to Torhout, Belgium for a 50K event. She made it to the semifinals after taking out Shapatava of Georgia, Ukraine's Kristina Antoniychuk and Canada's Valérie Tétreault in straight sets. In the semi she faced another Canadian, Rebecca Marino, Anne lost.

At Wimbledon she was defeated in the first round by Anastasia Rodionova.

Keothavong entered the 2010 Luxembourg Open using a protected ranking and reached the semifinals after beating Virginie Razzano Patty Schnyder and Iveta Benešová but was beaten by Roberta Vinci, preventing Anne from making her first WTA tour final.

2011[link]

At the beginning of the year in Australia, Anne reached the second round of the 2011 ASB Classic in Auckland losing to Kateryna Bondarenko 5–7, 3–6 and the second round of the 2011 Australian Open, where she qualified, losing to 30th seed Andrea Petkovic 6–2, 5–7, 0–6.

Anne then played several ITF Circuit events with limited success. She then entered the second Grand Slam event of the year, the 2011 French Open, but lost a closely fought match in the first round to Vesna Dolonts 6–3, 6–7(5), 4–6.

Anne then moved onto grass in her home country and won a round at the $100,000 ITF event in Nottingham before losing to Stephanie Dubois. At Eastbourne, Anne entered the qualifying round, defeating 8th seed Alize Cornet 6–4, 6–2 and Sorana Cirstea 6–3, 6–3 before losing in the final round to Mirjana Lucic 5–7, 1–6. At the 2011 Wimbledon Championships, Anne defeated fellow Brit Naomi Broady in the first round 6–2, 6–4 before losing in the second round to No.8 seed and eventual champion Petra Kvitova.

Anne had little success during the US hard court series, but the majority of her successes for 2011 came during the European hard court series towards the end of the year. Anne successfully qualified and reached the second round of the 2011 Generali Ladies Linz, losing a close match to No.3 seed Jelena Jankovic 6–3, 2–6, 1–6. Anne then successfully qualified again and this time reached the semi-finals of the 2011 BGL Luxembourg Open, defeating Ana Ivanovic 6–3, 6–2 along the way before losing a close match to Monica Niculescu 5–7, 6–4, 3–6.

Anne then won back-to-back ITF events. She won the $75,000 event in Barnstaple, defeating Marta Domachowska in the final 6–1, 6–3 and she also won the doubles event with Eva Birnerova. She then won the singles title in the $50,000 event in Ismaning, defeating Yvonne Meusburger in the final 6–3, 1–6, 6–2 and again winning the doubles title as well, this time with Kiki Bertens.

2012[link]

Anne played her first event of the 2012 season at the 2012 ASB Classic in Auckland where she is the top seed in the qualifying tournament. She defeated Australian wildcard Emily Fanning 6–3, 6–4 in the first round, and followed this with a 6–3, 6–3 victory over Varvara Lepchenko of USA. In the third round Anne lost 6–1, 6–4 to Jamie Hampton of USA.

Anne went straight into the main draw at the 2012 Australian Open, but had to retire due to illness from her first round match after losing the first set to Mona Barthel.

Anne was selected for the GB Federation Cup Team to play in the Europe/Africa Group 1 match at Eilat, Israel on 1–4 Feb 2012. In the group stages she played singles, defeating opponents from Portugal^[52], and Israel in the group stages but losing to The Netherlands^[53]. The team qualified for a play-off against Austria in which Anne beat Patricia Mayr-Achleitner 7–6 6–3 and Great Britain won 2–0 to secure a place in the World Group II play-off to be held in April 2012.^[54]

Anne lost in straight sets in the first round of the 2012 French Open.

ITF Career Finals[link]

Singles: 29 (19–10)[link]

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Winner	1.	02001-01-2222 January 2001	Jersey, Great Britain	Hard (i)	Elodie LeBescond	6–3, 6–2
Winner	2.	02002-08-055 August 2002	Bath, Great Britain	Hard	Hannah Collin	6–0, 7–6(7–5)
Winner	3.	02002-08-1212 August 2002	London, Great Britain	Hard	Yvonne Doyle	6–4, 7–6(7–1)
Runner-up	1.	02002-09-1616 September 2002	Glasgow, Great Britain	Hard (i)	Sfar, SelimaSelima Sfar	6–7(5–7), 6–2, 6–7(8–10)
Winner	4.	02002-09-2323 September 2002	Sunderland, Great Britain	Hard (i)	Hannah Collin	6–0, 6–1
Winner	5.	02003-01-2727 January 2003	Belfort, France	Hard (i)	Vierin, NathalieNathalie Vierin	5–7, 7–6(7–3), 6–4
Runner-up	2.	02003-02-2424 February 2003	Ostrava, Czech Republic	Hard (i)	Ondraskova, ZuzanaZuzana Ondraskova	4–6, 6–7(1–7)
Winner	6.	02004-03-2222 March 2004	Redding, California, United States (1)	Hard	Washington, MashonaMashona Washington	6–3, 2–6, 7–6(7–3)
Winner	7.	02005-03-1616 March 2005	Bolton, Great Britain	Hard (i)	Veronika Chvojkova	3–6, 6–1, 6–1
Winner	8.	02005-03-3030 March 2005	Bath, Great Britain	Hard (i)	Clare Peterzan	6–1, 6–1
Runner-up	3.	02005-04-066 April 2005	Bath, Great Britain	Hard (i)	South, MelanieMelanie South	4–6, 6–4, 4–6
Winner	9.	02005-08-3030 August 2005	Nottingham, Great Britain	Hard	Paterson, KarenKaren Paterson	1–6, 7–6(7–4), 6–4
Runner-up	4.	02005-10-1010 October 2005	Lagos, Nigeria	Hard	Cetkovská, PetraPetra Cetkovská	6–3, 3–6, 2–6
Winner	10.	02005-10-1717 October 2005	Lagos, Nigeria	Hard	Zec Peškirič, MašaMaša Zec Peškirič	6–3, 7–6(9–7)
Winner	11.	02006-02-011 February 2006	Jersey, Great Britain	Hard (i)	Vrljić, AnaAna Vrljić	6–2, 6–1
Runner-up	5.	02006-02-088 February 2006	Sunderland, Great Britain	Hard (i)	Tamaela, EliseElise Tamaela	6–7(6–8), 3–6
Runner-up	6.	02006-03-2121 March 2006	Redding, California, United States (2)	Hard	Diana Ospina	3–6, 6–3, 1–6
Winner	12.	02006-11-1515 November 2006	Přerov, Czech Republic	Carpet (i)	Kerber, AngeliqueAngelique Kerber	6–4, 7–5
Runner-up	7.	02007-07-2424 July 2007	Lexington, Kentucky, United States	Hard	Dubois, StephanieStephanie Dubois	6–4, 3–6, 3–6
Winner	13.	02007-07-3131 July 2007	Vancouver, Canada	Hard	Dubois, StephanieStephanie Dubois	7–5, 6–1
Winner	14.	02008-02-1818 February 2008	Capriolo, Italy	Carpet (i)	Manasieva, VesnaVesna Manasieva	6–1, 2–6, 6–3
Runner-up	8.	02008-03-3131 March 2008	Patras, Greece	Hard	Rybáriková, MagdalénaMagdaléna Rybáriková	3–6, 5–7
Winner	15.	02008-05-055 May 2008	Jounieh, Lebanon	Clay	Dominguez-Lino, LourdesLourdes Dominguez-Lino	6–4, 6–1
Runner-up	9.	02008-06-022 June 2008	Surbiton, Great Britain	Grass	Erakovic, MarinaMarina Erakovic	4–6, 2–6
Winner	16.	02008-10-077 October 2008	Barnstaple, Great Britain	Hard (i)	Brianti, AlbertaAlberta Brianti	6–4, 6–2
Winner	17.	02008-11-033 November 2008	Kraków, Poland	Hard (i)	Niculescu, MonicaMonica Niculescu	7–6(7–4), 4–6, 6–3
Runner-up	10.	02010-09-1010 September 2010	Tallinn, Estonia	Hard	Bovina, ElenaElena Bovina	4–6, 1–4 ret.
Winner	18.	02011-10-2929 October 2011	Barnstaple, Great Britain	Hard (i)	Domachowska, MartaMarta Domachowska	6–1, 6–3
Winner	19.	02011-11-066 November 2011	Ismaning, Germany	Carpet	Meusburger, YvonneYvonne Meusburger	6–3, 1–6, 6–2

Doubles: 10 (8–2)[link]

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponent	Score
Winner	1.	02005-05-1515 May 2005	Tenerife, Spain	Hard	Amanda Janes	Babilon, JuliaJulia Babilon Barna, AdrianaAdriana Barna	7–6(7–5), 3–6, 6–3
Winner	2.	02005-09-011 September 2005	Nottingham, Great Britain	Hard	Clare Peterzan	Lindsay Cox Rebecca Fong	6–1, 6–1
Runner-up	1.	02005-09-2222 September 2005	Glasgow, Great Britain	Hard (i)	Paterson, KarenKaren Paterson	Baltacha, ElenaElena Baltacha Ruutel, MargitMargit Ruutel	3–6, 7–6(7–2), 2–6
Runner-up	2.	02006-02-1414 February 2006	Stockholm, Sweden	Hard (i)	Surina De Beer	Bacsinszky, TimeaTimea Bacsinszky Védy, AurélieAurélie Védy	4–6, 4–6
Winner	3.	02007-01-3131 January 2007	London, Great Britain	Hard (i)	Curran, ClaireClaire Curran	Hlaváčková, AndreaAndrea Hlaváčková Katarina Kachlikova	4–6, 6–4, 6–2
Winner	4.	02007-04-1414 April 2007	Gran Canaria, Spain	Clay	Piedade, FredericaFrederica Piedade	Marrero, MartaMarta Marrero Suárez Navarro, CarlaCarla Suárez Navarro	W/O
Winner	5.	02010-11-011 November 2010	Nantes, France	Hard (i)	Anna Smith	Jugić-Salkić, MervanaMervana Jugić-Salkić Jurak, DarijaDarija Jurak	5–7, 6–1, [10–6]
Winner	6.	02011-09-2626 September 2011	Clermont-Ferrand, France	Hard (i)	Jugić-Salkić, MervanaMervana Jugić-Salkić	Ivanova, EkaterinaEkaterina Ivanova Lykina, KseniaKsenia Lykina	4–6, 6–3, 6–2
Winner	7.	02011-10-2929 October 2011	Barnstaple, Great Britain	Hard (i)	Birnerová, EvaEva Birnerová	Klemenschits, SandraSandra Klemenschits Malek, TatjanaTatjana Malek	7–5, 6–1
Winner	8.	02011-11-066 November 2011	Ismaning, Germany	Carpet	Bertens, KikiKiki Bertens	Barrois, KristinaKristina Barrois Meusburger, YvonneYvonne Meusburger	6–3, 6–3

Singles performance timeline[link]

This table is current through the 2012 French Open.

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Anne Keothavong

• Official Website
• Anne Keothavong at the Women's Tennis Association
• Anne Keothavong at the Fed Cup
• Anne Keothavong at the International Tennis Federation
• Anne Keothavong at the International Tennis Federation Junior Profile
• Anne Keothavong on Twitter

v t e Women's Tennis Association: Top ten British female singles tennis players as of 28 May 2012 Elena Baltacha (68 1) Anne Keothavong (81 5) Heather Watson (110 1) Laura Robson (126 ) Naomi Broady (199 4) Johanna Konta (208 4) Melanie South (277 4) Tara Moore (339 4) Samantha Murray (362 5) Emily Webley-Smith (407 4)

v t e Women's Tennis Association: Top ten British female doubles tennis players as of 28 May 2012 Anne Keothavong (118 18) Heather Watson (143 4) Naomi Broady (188 2) Melanie South (190 2) Samantha Murray (255 1) Anna Fitzpatrick (270 2) Jade Windley (342 2) Johanna Konta (364 3) Emily Webley-Smith (383 6) Lisa Whybourn (419 7)

Kim Clijsters

Kim Clijsters at the 2011 Open GDF Suez
Country	Belgium
Residence	Bree, Belgium
Born	(1983-06-08) 8 June 1983 (age 29) Bilzen, Belgium
Height	1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight	68 kg (150 lb; 10.7 st)
Turned pro	17 August 1997
Retired	6 May 2007 Returned 11 August 2009
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Career prize money	US $24,271,348 (3rd in overall earnings)
Singles
Career record	513–124
Career titles	41 WTA (10th in overall rankings) 3 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 1 (11 August 2003)
Current ranking	No. 47 (28 May 2012)[1]
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	W (2011)
French Open	F (2001, 2003)
Wimbledon	SF (2003, 2006)
US Open	W (2005, 2009, 2010)
Other tournaments
Championships	W (2002, 2003, 2010)
Doubles
Career record	131–54 (70.81%)
Career titles	11 WTA, 3 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 1 (4 August 2003)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open	QF (2003)
French Open	W (2003)
Wimbledon	W (2003)
US Open	QF (2002)
Mixed Doubles
Career titles	0
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results
Wimbledon	F (2000)
Last updated on: 28 May 2012.

Kim Antonie Lode Clijsters^[3] (Dutch pronunciation: [kɪm ˈklɛistərs] ( listen); born 8 June 1983) is a Belgian professional tennis player. As of 28 May 2012, Clijsters is ranked no. 47 in singles. Clijsters is a former world no. 1 in both singles and doubles.

Clijsters has 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,^[4] 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.^[5] 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.^[6]

In June 2011, TIME magazine named her one of the "30 Legends of Women's Tennis: Past, Present and Future".^[7] According to Forbes in August 2011, she became the fifth highest-paid female athlete over the past year.^[8]

Playing style[link]

Clijsters is recognized for her powerful groundstrokes, as well as for her backhand slices and drop shots.^[9] She is also recognized for her all-court defense, characterized by her speed, slides, and athleticism.^[10] 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".^[11]

Personal life[link]

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 lung cancer on 4 January 2009.^[12] Clijsters says that she inherited footballer's legs from her father and a gymnast's flexibility from her mother.^[13] 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.^[14] 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.^[4] 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.^[15]

Clijsters gave birth to daughter, Jada Elle, on 27 February 2008, at 1:35 pm at the Vesalius hospital in Tongeren, Belgium.^[16]

Tennis career[link]

Junior career[link]

Clijsters was an accomplished junior player. In singles, she finished as runner-up in the 1998 Wimbledon junior event,^[17] finishing 11th in the year-end singles ranking.^[18] In the same year in doubles, Clijsters won the French Open title with Jelena Dokić, defeating Elena Dementieva and Nadia Petrova in the final,^[19] as well as the US Open with Eva Dyrberg, defeating former partner Dokic in the final.^[20] Clijsters ended the season as no. 4 in the International Tennis Federation junior doubles world ranking.^[18]

1999[link]

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 match point.

Playing through the qualifying rounds at Roehampton, she made it to the main draw of Wimbledon.^[21] Clijsters won six matches in a row, while only losing 25 games. She defeated no. 10 Amanda Coetzer en route to the fourth round, during which Clijsters lost to her childhood idol,^[22] Steffi Graf, in straight sets, in difficult rainy circumstances.^[21] 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 in Luxembourg. She followed up with her first WTA doubles title in 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[link]

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, 10–12, 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: Ascent to No. 1[link]

Clijsters started her season at the Adidas International, where she won her first tournament of the year, defeating Lindsay Davenport in straight sets in the final.^[23] Clijsters reached the final after defeating Patty Schnyder,^[24] Chanda Rubin^[25] and Justine Henin.^[26] At the Australian Open, Clijsters lost in the semifinal to Serena Williams 4–6, 6–3, 7–5, after leading 5–1 in the final set and holding two match points.^[27][28] On the way to the semis Clijsters lost just fifteen games beating Samantha Reeves^[29] and completing a double bagel (wherein the opposing player fails to win a single game) against Petra Mandula.^[30] She then continued by winning in straight sets against Tatiana Poutchek,^[31] Amanda Coetzer, and Anastasia Myskina.^[32] At the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California, she defeated Lindsay Davenport in the final.

Clijsters in 2003

Clijsters reached the final of the WTA German Open, after defeating Jennifer Capriati 6–4 in the final set.^[33] In the final, she played Justine Henin and squandered three match points to lose the final set, 5–7.^[34] To compound the day, Clijsters also lost the doubles final 4–6 in the final set.^[35]

Clijsters’ third title of the year came at the Telecom Italia Masters in Rome, where she defeated Amélie Mauresmo in the final.^[36][37] Clijsters had defeated Myskina^[38] and doubles partner Ai Sugiyama to make the final.^[39]

At the French Open, Clijsters reached the final for the second time in three years, after defeating Nadia Petrova.^[40] In the final, Clijsters lost to Henin 0–6, 4–6,^[41] and again at the US open, 5–7, 1–6. She also lost in the semifinal 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 no. 1 ranking in singles and doubles simultaneously. By 2010, only Serena Williams had 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.^[42] Even though Clijsters won that match, she finished the year ranked world no. 2, just behind Henin.

2004[link]

Clijsters started 2004 by playing in the Hopman Cup. During the tie against Australia, Clijsters injured her ankle against Alicia Molik.^[43] Clijsters was on crutches for a few days and feared she might need surgery. Clijsters pulled out of the Adidas International due to the injury.^[44] Clijsters did recover in time to reach her fourth career Grand Slam final at the Australian Open, where she lost once more to Henin.^[45] After defeating Marlene Weingärtner, Maria Elena Camerin (with a double bagel),^[46] Dinara Safina,^[47] Silvia Farina Elia,^[48] Anastasia Myskina (during the match Clijsters aggravated her ankle injury),^[49] 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.^[50] To reach the final, Clijsters defeated Maria Sanchez Lorenzo,^[51] Farina Elia,^[52] and Safina.^[53] 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 before her second match with the injury described as a bruised bone.^[54] Clijsters withdrew from the event in Miami the next week^[55] Clijsters then appeared six weeks later in her home town of Bree to play in a Fed Cup tie against Croatia,^[56] winning both of her rubbers. Clijsters returned to the tour in Berlin and needed three sets to see Marta Marrero off.^[57] Clijsters then pulled out of her second match and then was told to rest for five weeks, causing her to miss the French Open.^[58] Clijsters then had surgery to remove a cyst, causing her to miss three months of the tour, including Wimbledon and the US Open.^[59][60] Clijsters also missed the Olympics, but she had already decided not to play the tournament after a dispute about clothing sponsors.^[61] Clijsters returned to the Tour at the Gaz de France Stars.^[62] She made the semifinals, defeating Iveta Benešová^[63][64] and Magdalena Maleeva,^[65][66] before pulling out in the second set against Elena Bovina.^[67][68] Clijsters had aggravated the injury and although she did not need surgery, she was out for the rest of the season.^[69] She played down fears that the injury might force her retirement from tennis.^[70]

2005: First Grand Slam title[link]

Clijsters missed the Australian Open due to injury.^[71] In February, after four months out, Clijsters returned to the tour by participating in the Proximus Diamond Games in Antwerp. Her first match back was against Jelena Kostanić, which she won in straight sets,^[72] before losing to Venus Williams in the quarterfinals.^[73][74]

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. The Belgian began by beating Nicole Pratt,^[71] Shinobu Asagoe,^[75] Anna Chakvetadze,^[76] and Evgenia Linetskaya,^[77] all without dropping a set. In the semifinals, Clijsters defeated world no. 5 Elena Dementieva in straight sets^[78] and world no. 1 Lindsay Davenport in the final in three sets.^[79] 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,^[80] Amy Frazier,^[81] Nathalie Dechy,^[82] Anastasia Myskina,^[83] Elena Dementieva, Amélie Mauresmo,^[84] and Maria Sharapova,^[85] 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,^[86] Maria Kirilenko,^[87] and Elena Bovina. Against Bovina, Clijsters’ picked up a minor shoulder injury.^[88] Clijsters’ 17 match winning streak was finally ended by Svetlana Kuznetsova.^[88] Playing next at the WTA German Open Clijsters defeated Yuliana Fedak^[89] and Dinara Safina in straight sets before, hurting her right knee^[90] and retiring against Patty Schnyder.^[91] Clijsters recovered in time to play in the French Open.^[92] Playing in the French Open for the first time in two years, Clijsters defeated Meilen Tu,^[93] Cervanová, and Daniela Hantuchová^[94] to advance to the fourth round, where she lost to Davenport 1–6, 7–5, 6–3 after leading 3–1 in the second set.^[95]

Clijsters got off to the best possible start for her grass-court season at the Hastings Direct International Championships by winning the tournament. Clijsters defeated Jelena Janković,^[96] Conchita Martínez, Mashona Washington,^[97] Kuznetsova^[98] and Vera Dushevina to claim her third title of the year.^[99] At Wimbledon, Clijsters defeated Katie O'Brien,^[100] Marissa Irvin,^[101] and Roberta Vinci,^[102] before facing Davenport in the round of 16 for the second Grand Slam in a row. The result was the same as the French Open, with the American winning.^[103]

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,^[104] and she defeated Daniela Hantuchová,^[105] Anna-Lena Grönefeld, and Venus Williams to win her fourth title of the year.^[106] Clijsters’ streak continued in San Diego, as she defeated Marta Domachowska^[107] and Janković,^[108] before suffering her only defeat in this run to Shuai Peng.^[109]

After the defeat to Peng, Clijsters continued the run, as she won 22 matches in a row, collecting four straight titles along the way, including her maiden Grand Slam title. The 22-match streak started against Karolina Šprem,^[110] with victories over Safina, Nadia Petrova,^[111] and Francesca Schiavone.^[112] Clijsters collected her fifth title of the year.^[113] The streak continued in Toronto as Clijsters beat Virginie Razzano,^[114] Ana Ivanovic (via a walkover),^[115] Flavia Pennetta,^[116] Anastasia Myskina^[117] and Justine Henin-Hardenne to win the Rogers Cup.^[118] 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.^[119]

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,^[120] Fabiola Zuluaga,^[121] Ai Sugiyama^[122] and María Vento-Kabchi^[123] 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.^[124] Clijsters squandered five match points in the second set of her semi against Sharapova but eventually won 6–2, 6–7(4), 6–3.^[125] 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.^[126][127] The pay check was the largest payday in women's sports history.^[128]

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.^[129][130]

Clijsters’ hot streak continued as she extended her streak to 21 wins, even without a coach at the Fortis Championships. Clijsters beat Klara Koukalová,^[131] Schiavone,^[132] Dechy and Lena Groenefeld all without dropping a set to win her eighth title of the year.^[133] The title was Clijsters’ fourth consecutive title.^[134] At the Porsche Grand Prix Clijsters defeated Šprem^[135] for her twenty second consecutive match win before Dementieva ended the streak.^[136]

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.^[137] Clijsters defeated Ekaterina Bychkova,^[138] Šprem,^[139] Julia Schruff^[140] and Safina^[141] 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^[142] 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.^[143] Although results did not go her way and Clijsters was eliminated with one match still to play,^[144] she finished her season by defeating Dementieva in straight sets.^[145] Clijsters ended the year ranked World No. 2.

2006[link]

Clijsters in 2006

Clijsters started the year by from her semifinal 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 quarterfinals, 6–3, 2–6, 6–4, before retiring from her semifinal 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 semifinal 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 semifinals without losing a set, defeating Martina Hingis in the quarterfinals, 7–6, 6–1. However, she lost to Justine Henin in the semifinal, 3–6, 2–6, on her 23rd birthday. She was seeded second going into Wimbledon, but was again eliminated in the semifinal by Henin, also in straight sets, 4–6, 6–7(4).

Clijsters at 2006 Wimbledon

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.^[146]

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-end WTA Tour Championships, Clijsters lost a semifinal to Mauresmo, 2–6, 6–3, 3–6, after defeating Dementieva and Kuznetsova and losing to Sharapova in the round-robin phase of the tournament.

2007: Retirement[link]

2007 was to be Clijsters’ final year on tour, as she had planned in 2005 to retire at the end of the 2007 season.^[147] 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,^[148] Shahar Pe'er,^[149] Li Na, and^[150] Jelena Janković to claim the title, after being match point down in the final.^[151]

Clijsters at the 2007 J&S Cup

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,^[152] Alona Bondarenko,^[153] and Daniela Hantuchová^[154] in straight sets. Clijsters then defeated sixth seed Martina Hingis in three sets,^[155] before losing to Sharapova in the semifinals.^[156]

Clijsters next played in Belgium at the Proximus Diamond Games, after pulling out of the Open Gaz de France with a hip injury.^[157] While Clijsters said that she was fit, she hinted that she might miss the French Open.^[158] Clijsters defeated Olga Poutchkova,^[159] Ana Ivanovic,^[160] and Tatiana Golovin^[161] to reach the final without dropping a set, though she lost there to Amélie Mauresmo.^{[162][163][164]}