This past July, during the heat of the World TeamTennis season I had a late night call from Ilana Kloss, my longtime partner and the CEO of WTT.  Ilana had just witnessed Kim Clijsters’ return to tennis as a member of the 2009 St. Louis Aces and she predicted Clijsters will be back in the top five before you know it.

Ilana has been around tennis long enough to know a good player when she sees one and as we have all seen during this year’s US Open, Kim Clijsters is back . . . and back with that same strong game, committed attitude and friendly personality.

There is also a calmness about Clijsters this season.  After taking an 18-month detour from pro tennis, losing her father to cancer and giving birth to her first child, you would think she would have her hands full.  I’m sure she does.  But she not only found time for tennis in her life, she made the commitment to return to the sport at a high level. 

After her match Tuesday against Li Na, I heard her say in a post-match interview she wanted to use 2009 to set the stage for her real return to a full season on the WTA Tour in 2010.  Based on what we have seen so far, I would say she is ahead of schedule.

Clijsters and Melanie Oudin are definitely the feel-good stories of this year’s US Open.  In a New York Times story, Roger Federer called Kim’s comeback, “a beautiful story” and Stacey Allaster, the new CEO of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour said Kim’s return is “a fantastic story for women’s tennis”.  The fans in New York are cheering for her, the players and the tour are welcoming her back and Kim Clijsters is just calmly going about her business, winning matches and cherishing the moment.

We are so happy Kim played WTT this year.  One of the greatest moments was when she and her husband Brian Lynch came to Philadelphia for a match against the Freedoms.  Brian played college basketball at Villanova and he spent part of their time off showing Kim around the area.  It really showed us she has balance in her life.