Eight years later, Clijsters returns to the US Open

Kim Clijsters decided to hang up her racquets in 2012 and eight years later she's eager to take the court in New York. Fans or no fans, the wild card entry is excited to compete in Flushing Meadows, a place where she has raised three US Open trophies.

"It's always a pleasure for me to come to the US Open, whether it is for legends or for commentary or whatever," Clijsters told press. "So to be here as a player is even more special."

In 2005, Clijsters scaled the railing to join her coaches and family in her player's box after defeating Mary Pierce in the US Open final. That night she captured her first Grand Slam title, but some of her most-cherished moments in New York were long before her first major triumph.

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"I remember one of the most, for me, big first moments was playing Serena, I think it was 1999, when I qualified," she said. "I played her I think first or second round. It was on the old Louis Armstrong stadium."

Clijsters fell to Serena Williams in the third round in three close sets on that occasion.

"It was an incredible match. The atmosphere was great," Clijsters said. "For me, that kind of I think started the energy that I feel here when I play here. Any night match that you get to play here at the US Open on Arthur Ashe is incredible. It's nothing like anything else anywhere else."

She would memorably win the US Open in 2009 and '10 after the birth of her daughter Jada. The Belgian has since had two more children, sons Jack and Blake.

The energy will be extremely different this year to what she's used to as players rally in empty arenas. The electric crowd energy will not be present and Clijsters is interested to see how it will affect players and herself.

"I'm sure it will have somewhat of an impact. We've seen in the past, many moments where the crowd, the energy of the crowd, the momentum changes because of one rally or something," Clijsters said. The 37-year-old is finding the positives in the unusual state of the sport. Last week, Clijsters withdrew from the Western & Southern Open due to a pulled abdominal muscle, which began bothering at World TeamTennis in July.

Although, she was a perfect 5-0 at last month's World TeamTennis event, she was also forced to pull out of the singles portion due injury.

"I felt in World TeamTennis my level really went up to where I want it to be, where I've been training for getting in to it," she said.

Her many days spent in West Virginia and New York have provided a great opportunity for her watch live tennis in an intimate setting. She has been spotted courtside for numerous matches.

"I've never been able to watch so many live tennis matches as in the last week at the site here, just walking around from court to court," she said. "There's always room to sit down. It's been nice to be up close and to follow it live."

On Tuesday, she'll go from watching to playing in a tough opening round against No. 21 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova.