The Atlantic Club Congratulates Kim Clijsters, 2009 US Open Champion.

Kim Clijsters grabs U.S. Open women’s title
By Zach Levine  
BELMAR — From Belgium to Belmar, millions of people had their eyes firmly fixed on center court of the Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, Queens, N.Y., as Kim Clijsters, 26, completed a comeback for the ages, returning from an early retirement to win the U.S. Open Women’s Tournament on Sunday and collect the $1.6-million grand prize.

This past March, however, Clijsters decided that she wanted to come back to the sport of tennis, and as part of her practice to get back into game shape, she spent a large amount of time at The Atlantic Club in Manasquan.
The Atlantic Club’s tennis pro, Clayton Taylor, noted that as he watched Clijsters work hard at the club in preparation for her comeback, he remembers thinking she might be able to complete a seemingly insurmountable comeback and actually win the U.S. Open.“I was 75 to 80 percent comfortable that Kim could win this,” he said.
He explained that Clijsters came to the club consistently for the past several months, sometimes even practicing twice a day. Mr. Taylor said when Clijsters began practicing at the club, he could tell that she still had some work to do after not playing competitively for several years.

“When she first started off training, she was still hitting the ball ridiculously hard, but she was a little bit inconsistent,” he said. However, Clijsters quickly regained the form that led her to a No. 1 ranking in 2003, and she got back in shape for another run at the U.S. Open. “She really is one of the hardest-working women I’ve been around,” Mr. Taylor said. He went on to say that throughout the past two weeks that the U.S. Open has been underway, everyone at the club had been pulling hard for Clijsters to do well.

“The entire club, we’re just so elated for Kim that she was able to do what she wanted to do,” he said. “I’m sure she really didn’t think she had a shot to win the U.S. Open, but now her ranking went back into the top 20. She is back, and we just wish her the best, and we’re here to help in any way we can.”

Excerpt reprinted from The Coast Star 09/17/09

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