Tennis world en n 49 Tennis World issue 49 | Page 40

Kim Clijsters, 2009 US Open
Following her announcement to make a would crown her the WTA World No.1.
Halep won the first set but Ostapenko was
comeback from her retirement, Kim Clijsters
was awarded a wildcard which landed her resilient and fought back hard to win the next
two sets and stun Halep to become the first
straight in the main draw of the US Open
2009. ever Latvian to win a Grand Slam.
A very controversial match against Serena Sloane Stephens, 2017 US Open
Williams in the Semi-finals saw the Belgian
reach the finals where she faced Dane Once considered to be a future star when
she reached the semi-finals of the 2013
Caroline Wozniacki.
Clijsters defeated Wozniacki 7-5, 6-3 to Australian Open, Sloane Stephens’ form
suffered a dip in form due to inconsistencies
become the first female wildcard winner of a
Grand Slam and only the second player to do
so after Goran Ivanisevic at the 2001
Wimbledon Championships. and injuries.
She returned to the Top 100 of the WTA
rankings, having been ranked 957th in July,
by reaching the semi-finals of the Cincinnati
Jelena Ostapenko, 2017 French Open
Latvian Jelena Ostapenko became the player
from her nation to reach a Grand Slam final
when she defeated Timea Bacsinszky in a
clash of the birthday girls in her semifinal
match at Roland Garros.
The 20-year old’s opponent in the final was
Simona Halep who was in her second
French Open and Grand Slam final and a win Masters.
Defeating some seasoned campaigners en
route to the title including the likes of Venus
Williams, Roberta Vinci and Dominika
Cibulkova, Stephens beat her close friend
and 15th seed Madison Keys and lost only
three games to clinch her maiden Grand
Slam title.