Who would have thought back in June that Kim Clijsters would win the 2009 US Open? Well, neither did her coach Wim Fissette when he said to Kim at the exhibition in Rosmalen: "If you win the US Open I'll shave my head." Kim won the bet, and her coach has lost his hair.

Look at Kim’s little daughter Jada with a soother at 2:40. I know I’m repeating this all the time, but she’s so cute.

Info: You should click through to watch this video on YouTube, because the administrators of Kim's profile have disabled embedding (don't ask me why).

Magnificent 2009 US Open champion Kim Clijsters arrived at Brussels Airport and was welcomed by a crowd of people.

The world No.19 Clijsters was willing to sign some autographs and later thanked everyone via Twitter.

Arrived back home this morning, after three months! Its good to be home again! Thanks to all the fans for the welcome at the airport x

(source: Down the Line)

Newly-crowned US Open champion Kim Clijsters, who has from an unranked player amazingly propelled to No.19 in the rankings, showed off her trophy in New York’s Times Square, joined by husband Brian Lynch and super cute daughter Jada.

The former world No.1 Clijsters has never looked better, and why wouldn't she, her US Open triumph is highlighting the whole tennis season.

Just to mention: Kim’s fellow Belgian and great champion Justine Henin used her official website to congratulate Kim on this great success.

Dear Kim,

Congratulations with your magnificent victory.
Once again, Jada can be very proud of her mama. Your achievement is just fantastic! Warm applause to you and your whole family.

Best regards,
Justine

(photos via Down the Line)

What a way to start a comeback! Playing only her third tournament after taking a two-year break and starting a family, wildcard Kim Clijsters went all the way to the US Open title, and from an unranked player she'll soon become No.19, according to projections.

I suppose that everyone, except Denmark, rooted for the 2005 US Open champion Clijsters in this final, and despite her ranking and lack of match play, the Belgian was favored to defeat the first time Grand Slam finalist, No.9 seed Caroline Wozniacki. That was exactly what happened, and Clijsters clinched title with a 7-5 6-3 victory.

Nevertheless, congrats to the 19-year-old Wozniacki for making the finals and becoming the first Dane, man or woman, to reach the finals of a Grand Slam in the Open Era.

On route to the title Clijsters defeated Viktoriya Kutuzova, No.14 seed Marion Bartoli, Kirsten Flipkens, No.3 seed Venus Williams, No.18 seed Li Na, No.2 seed Serena Williams and finally No.9 seed Caroline Wozniacki.

The 26-year-old Clijsters has become the first mother to win a Grand Slam title since Evonne Goolagong Cawley, who won Wimbledon in 1980. (photo via Life.com)

I fell asleep and missed the much-awaited semifinal between former No.1 and 2005 US Open champion Kim Clijsters and current world No.2 and 11-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams, to wake up with the news that Clijsters progressed (wow!) and that the victory was quite controversial.

Since I didn’t watch the match, I have to say that for me the fact that wildcard Clijsters reached the final leaves a much greater impression than the controversy. I mean, who could put their money on Kim prior to the US Open? We all knew she was a great champion, and had a great potential even after child-birth and playing just the third tournament of her 2009 comeback, but a Grand Slam final is a very high goal. Not to mention that the title is not far away for Kim, having in mind her opponent will be world No.8 Caroline Wozniacki, who had never before went further than the fourth round at a Grand Slam.

Now let’s see what brought about the controversy. Serving at 5-6 15-30, the second-seeded Williams was called for a foot fault on a second serve, giving Clijsters two match points. The outraged Williams said a lot of things to the lineswoman, which resulted in a penalty and losing the point and the match.

"I swear to God I'm… going to take this… ball and shove it down your… throat, you hear that? I swear to God," said Williams, who will now not overtake Dinara Safina at the top of the rankings.

"It's unfortunate that a match I was playing so well in had to end that way," said Clijsters after a 6-4 7-5 victory. "The normal feelings of winning a match weren't quite there, but when everything sunk in a little bit and what happened got explained to me, it became easier to understand, not to celebrate, but at least to have a little joy."

The Belgian is the first player ever to beat both Williams sisters at the same tournament twice, having also done it at the Sony Ericsson Championships in 2002 (at the 2009 US Open she beat Venus in the fourth round).

If Clijsters wins the final, she will enter the Top 20 and become the first women's wildcard to win a Grand Slam singles title, and if she loses she will rise to around No.30 in the rankings.

Let's just give some space to the other semifinal as well. Apparently, there will be no all-Belgian final at this US Open, as Danish Caroline Wozniacki defeated unseeded and error-prone Belgian Yanina Wickmayer 6-3 6-3 in the other semifinal. The surprise semifinalist Wickmayer made 40 unforced errors, compared to Wozniacki's 14. (sources: Reuters, Sony Eriscsson WTA Tour, videos via Forty Deuce)