World No.51 Sorana Cirstea has confirmed the appointment Kim Clijsters as her new coach following her first round win at Wimbledon.
Cirstea, 28, knocked out 19th seed and 2017 semifinalist Magdaléna Rybáriková at the tournament on Monday. Hitting 24 winners to secure the 7-5, 6-3, win after 90 minutes of play. This year’s grand slam mark the start of Cirstea’s partnership with Clijsters, who won three US Open titles as well as one at the French Open.
“I’m extremely excited, because Kim was my idol and when I asked (her to be) my coach, it was my first choice, my first thought.” Cirstea told treizecizero.ro.
“I’m so glad she could make it, and I’m so excited to have her, to have her on the tour, look at her in the important moments, and see how she encourages me. It is enormous for me and I am very excited for the future.”
Clijsters isn’t the only new addition to the team. Also joining is Carl Meas, who coincidentally coached Clijsters on the tour between 1996-2002 and 2011-2012. Maes, who previously held the position of Belgian Fed Cup captain, has a close partnership with the former world No.1. He is the head of coaching at Clijsters tennis academy in Bree.
Under the new partnership, Cirstea will work with the Belgian during certain weeks of the year. Concerning the day-to-day running, she will be mentored by her team, including Maes. The agreement was struck with the help of Enrique Molina, who is Cirstea’s agent.
“We have a number of weeks a year that we have set up, and the rest I have a coach who will work day by day.” She explained.
“At the moment, we’re focusing on this tournament and then we will get things done.”
Cirstea has been ranked as high as 21st in the world back in 2013. Her sole title to date on the WTA Tour occurred back in 2008 at the Tashkent Open in Uzbekistan. Since then, she has reached two additional finals on the tour with the last occurring back in 2013. At the grand slams she reached the quarter-finals of the 2009 French Open and the fourth round of the 2017 Australian Open.
At Wimbledon, Cirstea will play Evgeniya Rodina in the second round on Wednesday.
