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Clijsters to play in Brisbane next year

SYDNEY: US Open champion Kim Clijsters will headline Australia’s Brisbane International in January 2010, organisers said Friday.

Fresh from her second Grand Slam victory in New York after two years in retirement, Clijsters’ debut in Brisbane will add “another dimension” to the tournament line-up, said director Steve Ayles. “We are particularly excited to have her in the tournament after her unbelievable return to women’s tennis at the US Open, where she had stunning victories over both the Williams sisters,” said Ayles in a statement. “I am sure she is going to be a crowd favourite at the Queensland Tennis Centre and a very strong competitor to watch out for.”

Affectionately known as “Aussie Kim” here for her five-year relationship with, and engagement to, Australian tennis ace Lleyton Hewitt, the 26-year-old Belgian said she was looking forward to returning Down Under. “Australia is a home away from home for me and I am thrilled to be coming back in January for the Brisbane International,” she said. Her 7-5, 6-3 victory on Sunday against Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki in the US Open final was her second career Grand Slam title, just five weeks after she returned to the game after retiring to start a family.

For three weeks in August 2003 she was world number one for both women’s singles and doubles, and has won 35 singles titles and 11 doubles titles. Clijsters has been a finallist at two US Opens, two French Opens and one Australian Open. afp

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