By Chris Oddo

"A story should have a beginning, a middle, and an end, but not necessarily in that order."
-- Jean Luc Godard

We've come nearly to the end of what might actually be the beginning for the legendary Kim Clijsters, and while many of us who have come to love Clijsters for her affable, down-to-earth sensibilities and her hell-bent, power-based brand of tennis are going to be stricken with emotion the moment her final ball is struck at the US Open (okay, for every ball she strikes in New York), the truth of the matter is that Clijsters' last ball should also be seen as a celebration, a letting go...yes, freedom!

Tonight Clijsters moved one step closer to that eventual freedom with a 6-3, 6-1 drubbing of a bright-eyed bushy-tailed 16-year-old American named Victoria Duval, and even though the match itself was a dud, the sight of Clijsters moving in for one of her classic post-match chicken soup for the soul hugs was a classic highlight. Even in this, her farewell Slam, Clijsters is unselfishly looking out for the emotional well-being of the other women in the locker room.

“Obviously my goal in my career was obviously to be the best tennis player that I can be, but at the same time not be, you know, antisocial and not spend 15 years on tour, and when you step away from the sport not having any friends at the end of the day,” said Clijsters after tonight‘s victory.

Clijsters has always been known as one of the more well-liked women in the locker room, and fans have found her easy-going, friendly demeanor alluring too.
    
“I think, you know, it's not like I started on tour when I was 25 and I built up kind of a normal friendship base when I was home,” she said. “My friends were girls from tour.  You know, I have a few friends at home, but I think a lot of the girls I was close with, a lot of the girls, we went through puberty together, boyfriends on tour, and I think it's something that we shared and talked about.”

As sad as so many are that Clijsters is retiring again at just 29, we should all be very thankful. Clijsters’ return to tennis after a nearly two-and-a-half year retirement didn't have to be this good in the first place. All we need to do is turn our attention to Justine Henin's quickly abandoned comeback to realize that. While Henin's comeback -- a year-long exercise in frustration that began in 2010 and saw her go 0-3 against Clijsters and win zero Slams -- showed that some players are better off staying retired, Clijsters' revival has demonstrably proved that some people just play better when they've been given time to mature and earn a sense of perspective in the world.

From the moment that Clijsters returned to the tour the magic was obviously on her side of her court. In her very first match on tour in Cincinnati she saved 8 of 10 break points against Marion Bartoli, who was fresh off a landmark title of her own in Stanford that year,  proving that not only was Clijsters ready to mix it up with top players and hit big, she was also ready to bear down with her newfound belief and a certain “motherly magic” to win big matches.

“Motherly magic” has clearly been the difference in Clijsters, post-comeback. If the Belgian, who retired in May of 2007 ranked No. 4 in the world, had earned a reputation for falling short at big moments in her first career, her second career was about erasing that stigma with each and every confidently-earned triumph that would come.

It didn't take long for triumphs to start coming. The third tournament of Clijsters’ comeback, the 2009 US Open, saw Kimpossible reel off mammoth victories against world-class foes in pretty much every round. Marion Bartoli, Venus Williams, Li Na, Serena Williams and Caroline Wozniacki all tried to derail the Clijsters bandwagon, to no avail.

After the final, Kim's frolicsome victory dance with daughter Jada and the US Open trophy left an indelible impression on us all. This was grade "A" fairy-tale material, and as Clijsters was experiencing a renewal in faith, in fortune, and in oh-my-goodness ball-striking, the rest of the tour could only hope to have their chances against her when she finally cooled down.

In the meantime, Clijsters' newfound belief seemed to be propelling her to new heights.

Pressure? What pressure?

She became the first mother since Evonne Goolagang (1980) to win a Grand Slam title, and she didn't really seem to be too concerned about it either. Other players were living and dying by their results, while the older, more centered Clijsters could take it or leave it. Was that the secret? Better tennis through not really caring about the end result?

Whatever it was, it was working. Clijsters saved three match points against Maria Sharapova to win the Cincinnati title in 2010 and then took off on another wild ride in New York to claim her third US Open title (Clijsters’ lone Grand Slam triumph in her first career came at the 2005 US Open) when she absolutely outclassed Vera Zvonareva in a one-sided final.

Four months later Clijsters tripled the Grand Slam total of her first career when she outwitted Na Li in an Australian Open final that was a shining example of how far Clijsters had come as a player and as a person in her second career. Faced with an early onslaught from the hard-hitting Li, Clijsters rebounded, changing her game to throw Li off rhythm and bearing down under pressure to cap off a remarkably cool-headed comeback.

A month later, Clijsters became the first mother to ever hold the No. 1 ranking.

It was fitting, just as her star had ascended to the tippy-top of the tennis firmament, that this significant milestone marked the peak for Clijsters.

Injuries started to limit her mobility (hip, shoulder, abdomen -- you name it), and as she missed time it seemed that each time she returned for a big event a new injury would crop up. Eventually a malaise set in. The reality was -- for better or for worse -- that Clijsters didn’t have the time or the energy to commit to staying fit for the rigors of the hyper-physical WTA Tour. In spite of all her ground-breaking success between 2009 and 2011, the Belgian now more than ever realized that where she really belonged was at home with her family.

Still, her brief yet compelling return to higher form has served to electrify the women's game. What she needed to prove has been proven; to herself, to her friends and foes on the tour, and to those who both doubted and believed in her.

When that final ball is struck in New York, win or lose, there will be the realization that Clijsters has won on so many levels, and that magic may be an elusive and often unquantifiable entity in tennis, but that it does exist.

Clijsters is living proof of that.

(Photo Credit: Andy Kentla)