Thursday 3 September 2020 17:11, UK
Kim Clijsters discusses her return to the US Open and what has been the most challenging part of her comeback so far.
The former world No 1 and winner of 41 career singles titles, faced 21st-seed Ekaterina Alexandrova in the first round this year at Flushing Meadows.
Despite taking the first set 6-3, and being just five points from the first win of her comeback, she fell 6-3 5-7 1-6 to the Russian.
The defeat was obviously not the outcome the three-time US Open champion wanted, but the 37-year-old put it into perspective.
"It felt really nice. I mean, just being here. I've been here for a while now without playing a match," she said. "That was long, a long time to practise and be in the bubble for almost two weeks without playing a match.
"Out of the three matches I've played officially on Tour, I think this, by far, was my best one. Looking at that, I think that's the most positive thing.
"It's looking at the things that have to be better and keep building on the positive things," she added. "I think that you look at a loss in a little bit more of a mature way in a sense, than maybe 10 years ago."
It's a process. That's what I told myself at the start when I took this challenge on, [I knew that] it was going to take a lot of hard work and losses. That's part of it.
Clijsters has made her return to the WTA Tour after a seven-year hiatus, which included the birth of her two sons, and she was open about the most challenging aspect of her return.
"I think the hardest is getting into a match rhythm," Clijsters said.
"I think that's been the hardest. I felt like when I was playing World TeamTennis, I felt like there, being able to play a lot of sets, singles, doubles, mixed doubles, really made me improve a lot. It was really clear for me that that's really what I need," she said.
"That's probably the biggest challenge - whenever I'm out there on the practice court trying to somehow train your brain or put it in your mind that you try to make it a little bit more serious than other practice at times, to put some variety in there, to change it up a little bit."
As a former US Open champion, she was able to enjoy the benefit of a suite at Flushing Meadows and, like the others who have been handed that privilege, she said it added to the event.
"The whole experience has obviously been very different. I have to say the USTA has done incredibly well, first of all safety-wise, to make sure that everything is as safe as possible.
"Just the convenience for me [of having it], I wasn't seeded, but to receive a suite was obviously a big bonus.
"We felt very thankful to be up there and to watch the tennis the last couple of days. We've been able to watch everybody practise out there. That's always a lot of fun, too. It's been a nice bonus to have for sure."
When it comes to the next steps in her comeback, Clijsters has not fully formulated a path forwards, due in part to the current global situation.
"We'll see what's up next. To be honest, I'm not sure at the moment," she said.
"It's been a strange year obviously. When I started in Dubai and Monterrey, I was excited to play more tournaments, have the family travel with me. But that obviously didn't happen. We'll see what the future holds."
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