[peemovvie]

Clijsters to quit after US Open
ESPN staff
May 22, 2012

Kim Clijsters has confirmed that this year's US Open will be her last tournament before hanging up her tennis racket for a second time.

Having returned to world No. 1 earlier last year, Clijsters has slipped to No. 44 in the world rankings after a series of injury setbacks.

The four-time grand slam champion, who suffered a muscle tear in her hip in March, will miss the French Open but is targeting a return to action ahead of Wimbledon, before bidding to add Olympic gold to her collection in London this summer.

An ankle injury hampered her preparations for last year's French Open and she subsequently missed Wimbledon, while an abdominal strain prevented her from defending her US Open title in New York last year.

Clijsters, 28, returned to the sport in 2009 after a two-year absence. In only her third tournament back, the Belgian won her second US Open title as a wildcard, becoming the first mother to win a major since Evonne Goolagong in 1980.

Clijsters, who had already confirmed that 2012 would be her last season, revealed at a press conference on Tuesday that Flushing Meadows would be her final swansong.

"Everything is going well with me," Clijsters said. "All my injuries are in the past and I am two weeks away from playing tennis again."


http://www.espn.co.uk/tennis/sport/story/151943.html

[botagozzz]

Hope she stays healthy for this final run.

[trowUrillioth]

I hope she retires in style, 2 GS titles and an olympic medal!

[CorpoRasion]

Of course this makes me a little sad, but I can't help but be happy for her.

For purely selfish reasons, I can't hope that she goes on the kind of high note morct and Moose want, but I can hope it's positive and satisfying for her.

[Vomephems]

US Open can't come fast enough so we can be done with her retirement drama.

[trowUrillioth]

US Open can't come fast enough so we can be done with her retirement drama.

Charming.

[AK47rulz]

US Open can't come fast enough so we can be done with her retirement drama.

That's baiting. Do it again and I'll ban you.

[Vomephems]

That's baiting. Do it again and I'll ban you.

Whenever someone retires, non-fans comment all the time in the thread and posts often start with with "I'm not a fan...".

Secondly, ever since Clijsters got injured last year, we've seen a lot more of "is she going to play, is she going to withdraw, is she going to retire" than great tennis from her. Do you not recall the false alarm of her retiring just a few months ago? In fact I posted in that thread that I have a friend who is BFF with Clijsters and has told me she is not retiring prior to the French.

There has been constant drama surrounding Clijsters injuries, withdrawals and retirement for over a year now. That is an accurate statement.

This is no different than when Serena commits to smaller tournaments and then we all joke and take bets on when she will withdraw. Should that be off limits too?

My post was my reaction, and not aimed at anyone.

[tsamprasxx]

It's always sad to see someone who was a part of the old guard go .

Ditto what Dry said. Hope she ends on a high note!

[poonnassunlix]

It always pains me to see one of the "old guard" decide to hang up their racquets. I was one of those who called her "Saint Kim" because of her public persona but one of the first close encounters with a tennis player I had was with Kim. She was walking behind me on one of the outer courts at Flushing Meadows and being a typical New Yorker I was too cool to ask for her autograph.

She will be missed.

[peemovvie]

It always pains me to see one of the "old guard" decide to hang up their racquets. I was one of those who called her "Saint Kim" because of her public persona but one of the first close encounters with a tennis player I had was with Kim. She was walking behind me on one of the outer courts at Flushing Meadows and being a typical New Yorker I was too cool to ask for her autograph.

She will be missed.

I met her in King of Prussia when she played WTT against the Freedom. She could not have been more gracious, and along with my initial enounter with PEHK, it is the top moment of my tennis fandom.

I still wear the USO T-shirt she signed for me - right across my chest

She's my all time favorite female player. But I don't think I'll miss her like others have mentioned. The ups and downs with her physical health have made following her very tough these past few years. And with the Slam wins that came along with her comeback, I'm almost content to say "goodbye, Mrs. Lynch. Thank you so much for a great run".

I do hope she has lots more kids. From her pictures and interviews, she seems devoted to motherhood.

[ViagraFeller]

After I became a tennis fan in 2004, Kim was the first player I chose as a favorite when I read about her coming back at Indian Wells in 2005. It was thrilling to watch her win that and Miami.

I wish her well in her family life.

All that said, I share the exasperation of Miles. It will be a relief when she retires for good, and I can't particularly root for someone to go out with a slam win when she already has 4, hasn't played a full schedule (giving a middle finger to the entire clay season, in my opinion), and doesn't seem particularly enthused in general.

Ala Agassi, I hope for an exciting final match, perhaps in the 3rd or 4th round, followed by a heartfelt speech.

[ViagraFeller]

US Open can't come fast enough so we can be done with her retirement drama.

That's baiting. Do it again and I'll ban you.

I decided a while back to make more of an effort to solve things through PMs, but since this is posted publicly I feel that's the best way to respond.

I find this beyond unnecessary. Miles had a sensitive moment on a board that prides itself on being over-the-top, beyond all reason sensitive. While I don't think there was anything else to do other than ask Moose to clarify in that thread, this response makes it clear just how unappreciated and obviously unacceptable it is for Miles to have a sensitive moment.

The chimps deal with their aggression through war and violence. Male bonobos release their aggression through sex. After a tussle over a female or brightly colored fruit, they get together for what is known as "scrotal rubbing."

You're all big strong, intelligent, likeable guys, with testosterone levels currently through the roof. My hope, as friends of you all, is that you ignore the example of the immature chimp, and instead honor the tradition of the mighty bonobo. Flights and grooming may need to be scheduled first, but I think it is worth it so we can all be friends again.

[peemovvie]

Nice write up from Deadspin, which kept its tradional heavy snark a little in check:

Kim Clijsters Is Retiring (Again)
By John Koblin
May 22, 2012 6:05 PM

Tennis's good girl Kim Clijsters says she's retiring after this year's U.S. Open. This will be the second time that Clijsters will retire, and even though retiring and unretiring is sort of a fad in the women's game, this will probably be it for her.

Clijsters came back in 2009 from a two-year hiatus (as a new mother!) and rewrote her legacy. In her first stint, she was the sweet, amiable talent who just couldn't seal the deal (despite her immense talent and her ability to do some mind-ripping splits, she only won one Grand Slam tournament—the 2005 U.S. Open). After her return—she came back only 18 months after her baby was born—she won twice at Flushing Meadows and became a sort of Payne Stewart of women's tennis. She always brought her best game to the U.S. Open. It makes sense that she'll hang it up in Queens.

But being the nice girl on tour can go only so far. Even though Clijsters's 2009 Open run was one of the most incredible feats in the history of the women's game—it was only her third tournament in 27 months—her victory was overshadowed by Serena Williams. In their semifinals match, it was Serena who shouted down a lineswoman—"If I could, I'd take this ******* ball and shove it down your ******* throat"—in a pretty epic meltdown. Everyone remembers that scene. Clijsters's win? Probably not.

Clijsters was the one of the best things about a painfully dull era of women's tennis. She knew something was missing from the sport, too.

"I remember Justine [Henin], she was one who could mix her game up even if she was not playing well," Clijsters said in 2009, shortly after returning. "Someone like [Amelie] Mauresmo, even Venus and Serena, were hard hitters, they can still work their way through matches even when they're not playing their best tennis. I'm not saying everybody's like that, but I haven't seen a lot of girls change their game up a little bit."

The result? An era defined by grunters and No. 1 players who don't deserve to be No. 1. An era in which the women's game lost a lot the variety that it had in such ample supply a decade ago. Clijsters was a rebuke to the general drift of her sport into dull slugging. She was both fast and strong where women's tennis players are usually one or the other. She had an insane forehand to go with a scrambling pair of legs, and now she's scrambling straight out of the game that needs many more like her. See ya, Kim


http://deadspin.com/5912455/kim-clij...retiring-again