10 things to know about Kim Clijsters as she comes out of retirement

On Thursday, one of the most accomplished—and popular—players in the history of women’s tennis, Kim Clijsters, announced her return to professional tennis for the upcoming 2020 season.

“For the past seven years, I’ve been a full-time mum. And I love it. I really, really do,” she said. “But I also love being a professional tennis player. And honestly, I miss that feeling. So… what if I tried to do both? Could I be a loving mum to my three kids and the best tennis player I can possible be?

“Let’s do this. Let’s come back one more time. See you in 2020.”

As a former WTA World No. 1, Clijsters will receive unlimited wildcards at WTA events.

With 41 career WTA titles, Clijsters will re-enter the list of active players with the most career WTA titles in third place, after Serena, who has 72; and Venus, who has 49. With four career Grand Slam titles she’ll be in fourth place after Serena, who has 23, Venus at seven and Sharapova at five.

And renewed Grand Slam success wouldn’t be unheard of for Clijsters—at 36 years and 96 days, she’s still younger than Martina Navratilova and the Williams sisters when they reached their most recent Grand Slam finals, and she’s younger than Roger Federer was when he won his record 20th Grand Slam title at the Australian Open last year. Ken Rosewall holds the record for oldest player to win a Grand Slam title in the Open Era, capturing the 1972 Australian Open when he was 37.

As we await the return of one of the all-time greats, here are 10 things to know about Clijsters’ career.

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She broke through as a 16-year-old in 1999. Clijsters made a splash in her first year on the pro tour in 1999, starting with a breakthrough run that would be replicated 20 years later by Cori “Coco” Gauff—Clijsters reached the fourth round of Wimbledon as a qualifier in her first Grand Slam, falling to Steffi Graf. She also reached the third round of the US Open, where she nearly put an end to the first of Serena Williams’ 23 Grand Slam title runs—she led 5-3 in the third set but fell just short, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5.

She reached her first Grand Slam final as a 17-year-old. A day before her 18th birthday, Clijsters battled back from 6-2, 4-2 down to edge countrywoman Justine Henin, 2-6, 7-5, 6-3, in the semifinals of the 2001 French Open. The first Belgian ever to reach a Grand Slam final, she would play another epic match on Court Philippe Chatrier two days later, finishing runner-up to Jennifer Capriati, 1-6, 6-4, 12-10.

She became No. 1 in the world for the first time on August 11, 2003. After a 12-month stretch that saw her reach 15 finals, win nine titles and 92 of 105 matches, Clijsters rose to No. 1 on the WTA rankings on August 11, 2003, snapping Serena Williams’ 57-week reign at the top spot. Among the nine titles she won in that stretch was the 2002 WTA Finals, where she beat Serena in the final.

She won her first Grand Slam title at the 2005 US Open. After finishing runner-up in her first four Grand Slam finals—to Capriati at the 2001 French Open and to Henin at the 2003 French Open, 2003 US Open and 2004 Australian Open—Clijsters finally captured her first Grand Slam title at the 2005 US Open, beating Venus Wlliams, Maria Sharapova and Mary Pierce in the last three rounds.

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She won majors and reached No. 1 in doubles, too. Clijsters won Roland Garros and Wimbledon in 2003 with Japan’s Ai Sugiyama, and even spent four weeks at No. 1 on the doubles rankings—she even accomplished the rare feat of holding the top spot in both singles and doubles for three weeks.

She spent more than two years in retirement between 2007 and 2009. Clijsters announced on May 6, 2007 that she was retiring from professional tennis. During her time away she married American professional basketball player Brian Lynch and gave birth to a daughter, Jada, in 2008.

She came back in 2009 and won the US Open in her third tournament back. Having announced her comeback earlier in the year, Clijsters took the tour by storm in the summer of 2009, beating Top 10 players in her first two tournaments back in Cincinnati and Toronto before going all the way to the title at the US Open, beating both Williams sisters en route to the final and Caroline Wozniacki for the title. She wasn’t just the first mom to win a Grand Slam title since Evonne Goolagong in 1980; she was also the first wildcard ever to win a major. She reappeared on the rankings at No. 19 afterwards.

The 2009 US Open marked the second time Clijsters has beaten both Williams sisters at the same event—she also did it at the 2002 WTA Finals. To this day no one else has achieved the feat twice.

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She won a total of three Grand Slam titles as a mom. Following her triumph at the 2009 US Open, Clijsters would pick up another two majors as a mom. She successfully defended her title at the US Open in 2010, beating Russia’s Vera Zvonareva in the final, and she then won her first Australian Open title in 2011, beating China’s Li Na in the final. She also won the WTA Finals in 2010.

She's the only mom ever to reach No. 1. It was only for one week—the week of February 14, 2011—but Clijsters was the first and so far only mom ever to reach No. 1 on the WTA rankings. It was her 20th career week at No. 1—she spent 12 weeks at No. 1 in 2003 and another seven in 2006.

She went back into retirement at age 29 after the 2012 US Open. After some injury struggles—she missed three of the four majors between Wimbledon in 2011 and the French Open in 2012 due to ankle, abdominal and hip injuries—Clijsters went back into retirement after the 2012 US Open. Since then she has had two more children, Jack in 2013 and Blake in 2016. She was also inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2017 and has done commentary for the BBC and Eurosport.