Kim Clijsters' women's doubles career over, too

Just a day after her singles career was brought to a close with loss to Laura Robson in the second round of the US Open, Kim Clijsters is saying goodbye to doubles as well, falling in the first round of the US Open women's doubles. She played with Kirsten Flipkens, and Chuang Chia-jung and Zhang Shuai took them out 6-3 6-4.
In her career Clijsters won 11 doubles titles. The US Open was her most successful tournament in singles, that's why she decided to retire on its courts, but in doubles she didn't win a title in New York, while she lifted the winner's trophy in Roland Garros 2003 and Wimbledon 2003, both with Ai Sugiyama.
Still, it's not completely over yet! Clijsters is playing mixed doubles as well. Teamed up with Bob Bryan, she will hit the courts on Friday against Irina Falconi and Steve Johnson. In mixed doubles Clijsters played the final of Wimbledon in 2000 with ex-fiancé Lleyton Hewitt. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)




Kim Clijsters will likely end her career with a perfect 6-0 record against fellow Grand Slam champion and former No.1 Ana Ivanovic. In their today's encounter at the London Olympics, Clijsters won 84% of points on first serve (69% of her first serves got in) and defeated the 11th-seeded Ivanovic 6-3 6-4 in just 58 minutes, despite hitting 10 winners less than the Serb. The third-round victory came pretty smoothly to Clijsters and only in the beginning of the second set she faced bigger challenges, when double faults at 0-1 eased Ivanovic's way to break points. However, Clijsters saved them, held her serve and finished the match without losing service games.


