Kim Clijsters

“I remember that night just getting back to my hotel room and just sitting in my hotel room by myself. Like, I, you know, wasn't married yet. Like, I didn't have Jada or anything. It was just me in my hotel room, and everybody, like, from the team went to their to their room. And, I just sat there and started packing because I was flying home the next day and just sitting there. And I was like, is this what it was like for Steffy? That that serious flare, like because as a little girl, I was like, I wanna win a grand slam like she did, and I want you know, wanna become number one one day. And then I sat there, and I was like, this is it. Like, I won. And look at me. Like, I have my dirty clothes here.”

“she was talking about watching Carlos Alcaraz and the wonder and amazement she experiences seeing him enjoy both the wins and seemingly the losses. Like, obviously, he doesn't like to lose, but but you know what she's talking hard for a lot of players hard for a lot of players to wrap their minds around. And I sort of knowing the answer to this, I followed up just for a fact. I said, you know, that's not how you felt on the court. And her answer was, you know, absolutely not. For for her, it was, you know, such a a sort of a mental grind, and she's been really honest about that, you know, probably during and after her career. She was never able to to maybe fully enjoy the process.”

“Probably the the two that stick out to me, number one was when Denis Shepovalov wrapped in his post match interview, at Indian Wells, I believe, 2019. And the way that that came about was, you know, I'm on Stadium 3, which is not getting many, you know, round of 16 or or quarter final matches. I said, no. No. No. No. Like, we're not gonna we're I wouldn't do that to you, but can you make a promise to us? If you come back to this court and win, will you rap? And he said, yeah. I'll I'll rap. Well, imagine my surprise when he was on the schedule two days later to come back to Stadium 3. He proceeds to tell me. He's, like, he has a rap prepared.”

“I know back in the day, the Bollettieri Academy, reached out to to my parents. I was like, hey, we wanted, you know, we wanna move you guys to Florida. And, and you guys come live here and we'll get you a house. And and, my dad was like, you know, so down to earth. He was, like, like, why? Like, the the court's the same size here as it is, you know, back in Florida. And, and she wants to hang out with her, you know, go see her grandparents and and just do it, like, normal life and and just have that be just as important as what I was doing on tour.”

“to me, it's like movement is what, like, got me to get rid of the nerves and the stress. And so if it's, like, jumping around or if it's, even just bouncing with the racket, like, and the ball and the racket, like, just bouncing it really quickly just to kinda get that energy flowing from being stuck in certain limbs or I don't know. Like, I think to me, that was the most important thing. It was to try to keep, to keep moving. And, it's funny because I see it with Jaida now too. It's like, when she plays games or when she has as as a as a game or, and when she's nervous, I see that she gets, like, a little bit stuck with her feet. And I always say, like, keep moving your feet.”

“That's happened, I think, on some of the back courts in San Diego. I think we were you know, back in the day, when you're ranked lower, you have to you know, you share the court. And I didn't have a player to play with. And I wasn't even planning really on playing doubles, I think. her and her mom just, you know, came up to me. He's like, hey. Do you wanna play doubles? our first match together, we've they actually put us it was, like, on a later, it was dark. her and I, I and me, had a misunderstanding. I think first or second game, our opponents lob us in the middle of the court, and I yell, I. And she thinks that I'm the one that's trying to, you know, like, tell her to take it. So we run into each other”

“I think my boys only realized that, like, a few year few years ago when we when I took them to the US Open. And they, had I was doing I had to do something for Babblet and and, Bob, my agent, who's one of my closest friends too, took Jack while we were waiting, took Jack to see my plaque that's out there. And, and he came back. He's like, mom, I didn't know you were this good. Like, he like, he came back from that. He's like, mom, like, you were kind of a big deal. Like, there's pictures of you everywhere here. And I was like, check. It's okay.”

“Blair, I had one moment in my career that I will never forget, and that was, I think, the ninety nine US Open where I played Serena in the second round. I qualified and I got to play Serena. I was up five two in the third. And she and I pick up my racket from the change events. I pick it up from next to me. And all of a sudden, this racket feels so heavy. Like, literally, like, I was doing great, like, five two up. Like, I was moving well. I was, you know, hitting the ball clean. And all of a sudden, the racket and my arm just just felt off. I was in the locker room fifteen minutes later. I lost seven five.”