Elke Clijsters
| Country (sports) |  Belgium |
|---|---|
| Residence | Bree, Belgium |
| Born | 18 January 1985 Bilzen, Belgium |
| Turned pro | 2000 |
| Retired | 2004 |
| Plays | Right (two-handed backhand) |
| Prize money | $47,951 |
| Singles | |
| Career record | 53–54 (49.5%) |
| Career titles | 1 ITF |
| Highest ranking | No. 389 (15 September 2003) |
| Doubles | |
| Career record | 52–23 (69.3%) |
| Career titles | 7 ITF |
| Highest ranking | No. 244 (6 October 2003) |
Elke Clijsters (born 18 January 1985) is a former professional tennis player from Belgium.
Career[edit]
Elke won the 2002 girls' Wimbledon Championships doubles title with Barbora Strýcová, and the girls' US Open doubles title with compatriot Kirsten Flipkens.[1][2] Her highest singles ranking was 389, a ranking she achieved on 15 September 2003. She played in the Belgium Fed Cup team in 2002, 2003 and 2004, losing all four matches, of which one was a singles match. In 2004, she reached the finals of two ITF singles tournaments, winning the one in Bournemouth. In the same year, she also reached the finals of two ITF doubles tournaments, of which she also won one. She retired in 2004 due to a persistent back injury.[3]
In 2021, Clijsters participated in the Belgian version of The Bachelorette.[4]
Personal life[edit]
Her father was the Belgian football player Lei Clijsters (1956–2009) and her sister is former world No. 1 tennis player, Kim Clijsters (born 1983). Elke married footballer Jelle Van Damme on 31 May 2008 in Bree, Belgium.[5] They had their first child in 2009, a boy.[6] She gave birth to their second child, a girl in November 2010. Their marriage ended in 2016.
ITF Circuit finals[edit]
| $100,000 tournaments |
| $75,000 tournaments |
| $50,000 tournaments |
| $25,000 tournaments |
| $10,000 tournaments |
Singles: 4 (1 title, 3 runner-ups)[edit]
| Result | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 1. | 7 April 2003 | ITF Torre del Greco, Italy | Clay |  Raffaella Bindi
|
4–6, 2–6 |
| Loss | 2. | 11 August 2003 | ITF Koksijde, Belgium | Clay |  Lenka Snajdrová
|
4–6, 2–6 |
| Win | 3. | 1 May 2004 | ITF Bournemouth, United Kingdom | Clay |  Melanie South
|
3–,6 6–1, 6–2 |
| Loss | 4. | 8 May 2004 | ITF Edinburgh, United Kingdom | Clay |  Ekaterina Kozhokina
|
1–6, 4–6 |
Doubles: 10 (7 titles, 3 runner-ups)[edit]
| Result | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 1. | 21 August 2000 | ITF Westende, Belgium | Clay | Caroline Maes
|
 Natasha Galouza Anouk Sterk
|
1–6, 0–6 |
| Win | 2. | 3 September 2001 | ITF Pétange, Luxembourg | Clay |  Jaslyn Hewitt
|
 Natallia Dziamidzenka Kika Hogendoorn
|
6–1, 6–3 |
| Win | 3. | 5 August 2002 | ITF Rebecq, Belgium | Clay | Jaslyn Hewitt
|
Leslie Butkiewicz Tessy van de Ven
|
3–6, 6–3, 6–4 |
| Win | 4. | 3 November 2002 | ITF Stockholm, Sweden | Hard (i) |  Marta Domachowska
|
 Jenny Loow Suzanne van Hartingsveldt
|
6–1, 6–1 |
| Loss | 5. | 21 January 2003 | ITF Hull, United Kingdom | Hard (i) |  Borka Majstorović
|
Irina Bulykina  Galina Voskoboeva
|
6–4, 6–7, 3–6 |
| Win | 6. | 2 February 2003 | ITF Tipton, United Kingdom | Hard (i) |  Liana Ungur
|
Zuzana Černá Iveta Gerlová
|
6–3, 6–2 |
| Win | 7. | 18 May 2003 | ITF Casale Monferrato, Italy | Clay |  Leanne Baker
|
Jolanda Mens  Stefanie Weis
|
6–3, 6–4 |
| Win | 8. | 11 August 2003 | ITF Koksijde, Belgium | Clay | Kirsten Flipkens
|
Zuzana Černá Vladimíra Uhlířová
|
6–2, 6–4 |
| Loss | 9. | 2 March 2004 | ITF Buchen, Germany | Hard (i) | Caroline Maes
|
Lucie Hradecká Eva Hrdinová
|
1–6, 4–6 |
| Win | 10. | 29 March 2004 | ITF Napoli, Italy | Clay |  Mandy Minella
|
Michelle Gerards Mariëlle Hoogland
|
6–1, 6–0 |
References[edit]
- ^ "2002 Wimbledon Wrapup and Analysis". About.com. 10 July 2002. Archived from the original on 16 January 2013. Retrieved 20 January 2013.
- ^ Fayat, Serge (10 September 2002). "US Open - Elke Clijsters et Flipkens". La Libre Belgique (in French). Retrieved 20 January 2013.
- ^ Belga (15 June 2004). "Elke Clijsters met fin à sa carrière". La Libre Belgique (in French). Retrieved 20 January 2013.
- ^ Callens, Florian (5 May 2021). "'De Bachelorette': Kim Clijsters geeft zus Elke laatste raad voor beslissende roosceremonie". Newsmonkey (in Flemish). Retrieved 15 January 2022.
- ^ "Elke en Jelle in alle stilte getrouwd". Het Belang van Limburg (in Dutch). 2 June 2008. Retrieved 20 January 2013.
- ^ "Zoontje voor Jelle Van Damme en Elke Clijsters". De Standaard (in Dutch). 13 October 2009. Retrieved 8 April 2011.
External links[edit]
- Elke Clijsters at the Women's Tennis Association
- Elke Clijsters at the International Tennis Federation
- Elke Clijsters at the Billie Jean King Cup
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