Kim Clijsters' Hasselt Blog - 網球 Tennis

October 30, 2006
Kim Clijsters' Hasselt Blog


HASSELT, Belgium - One of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour's most celebrated
players makes her return from injury this week, at her home event no less.
Kim Clijsters is the top seed and defending champion at the Gaz de France
Stars in Hasselt, taking the court for the first time since hurting her left
wrist at Montreal in August. Although she has missed over two months, the
former No.1 comes on a high, having just secured her spot among the elite
eight-player field at next week's Sony Ericsson Championships.

Come along for the ride this week as she brings you the latest Sony Ericsson
WTA Tour Player Blog!

-----

Monday, October 30, 2006

Hello everyone!

I am very excited about this week. It's been almost two months since my most
recent tournament. I like getting back into tournament rhythm, and seeing how
these things work again. I'm happy to be back, and feel lucky that I can
restart here in Hasselt!

Missing the last few months was very hard. There have been a lot of ups and
downs. The biggest down for me was missing the US Open. After not being able
to go back and defend my title, it was hard to get my motivation back. If
there was something I was really looking forward to this year it was
defending the US Open, and playing in the Fed Cup final. But, these things
happen, and you have to just solve your problems. You just recover and
recharge your batteries.

I'm excited about qualifying for the Sony Ericsson Championships. I didn't
think it was going to be possible because I missed so much time! It's a
tournament that I take very seriously; after winning the Sony Ericsson
Championships twice, it's important for me to go back. I have a lot of
respect for that tournament. I think it will be very hard for me to compete
with all of the top players straight away, but I will look at it as a
challenge and do my best.

I live only 20 minutes away from Hasselt, so I go home every day to spend
time with my fiancee, Brian, and his dad. I try to take care of them as well
as possible, and plan the rest of my schedule with them in mind - training,
massages, even going to the supermarket (so I can have my fridge full at all
times!) I like having people over at my house. It's fun.

One thing I've been able to do over the last few months is spend a lot of
time with Brian. He plays basketball, and I've been able to go to a few of
his games, also some of his away games. I really enjoy it. It's a very nerve-
wracking sport! But it's fun and I enjoy watching it. It's also a great
atmosphere afterwards; you go out, have a few drinks, relax. This is not
always possible in the tennis world!

Last night we had a good night. We went to dinner and my bulldog Neo was in
the car, and he gets so excited when a window is opened. He goes crazy! He
starts biting at the wind coming through, or trying to catch it - if you let
him he'll probably break a window! He's crazy. There were about six of us in
the car and everyone was laughing so hard they were all in tears. He was
attacking the air. Bulldogs have lots of wrinkles on their cheeks and it
looked so funny. Saliva was flying everywhere! So, I guess the next time I
have a few hours free, that'll be my job - cleaning the car.

I am very much looking forward to writing the blog this week. I think it's a
great initiative. On my Web site, I always try to let people know the latest
news of what I'm doing. Sometimes, things get a lot more attention than I
expect them to, though. Last week, I fell over my dog in my garden and hurt
my tailbone. My great dane just completely slammed me over! Anyway, I thought
it would be fun to have that on my site, because it was just funny, but it
went all over the world! I have friends in Dubai, and they saw it in the
paper there!

Again, I'm very excited to be back and I will talk to you all tomorrow!!

Kim






















--