Kim Clijsters returned to the Top 10 this week and this will surely be a good place for her with only a couple of weeks to go before the US Open. As the defending champion, being world no. 7 will keep her out of players like Venus Williams, Serena Williams, and Samantha Stosur in the early stages of the draw.
Nevertheless, the Belgian is only thinking about having a good run at every tournament she plays instead of worrying about the ranking.
“I’ve always said from the start that rankings aren’t really my goal,” Clijsters said. “I don’t play as much obviously as a lot of the other girls do. It’s nice if you focus on tournaments and if you do well, the points come automatically. But the ranking is never really my main focus.”
Clijsters is back this week in Cincinnati after a month of rest since losing in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon.
“It’s been a while,” she said. “I’m looking forward to playing a match. It doesn’t matter who I play.”
She will be taking on Dinara Safina in the second round. Clijsters lost to the Russian last year during her comeback.
Strangely, this year, it is the other way around with Safina trying to get on the comeback trail after back problem.