Serena Williams' serve, Iga Swiatek's mental strength, Martina Navratilova's volleys: Kim Clijsters builds her perfect player
Former World No. 1 Kim Clijsters picked Serena Williams' serve, Iga Swiatek's mental strength and Martina Navratilova's volleys while building her perfect tennis player.
The Belgian, who has won four Grand Slam singles titles, spoke on the US Open podcast about what traits should want to see in her perfect player.
"Serena's," the 39-year-old said, when asked about whose serve she would take.
For returning serves, the Belgian picked herself, saying that she simply trusted her instinct of reading the opponent's serve, which was something she was very comfortable with.
"Maybe I'll take mine. That's maybe the one. I just trusted my instinct of reading my opponent's serve, which is something I felt very comfortable with. So let me just keep that confidence in that shot," Clijsters said.
When asked about whose forehand she would pick, Clijsters first spoke about Ashleigh Barty, saying that the Aussie came close to being the perfect tennis player. She eventually opted for Steffi Graf's forehand and said that that was the shot she wanted to hit during her childhood.
"I mean Ashleigh Barty, to me, comes close to the perfect tennis player," Clijsters said, adding, "Let me just go, maybe back a generation and I'm going to go with Steffi's forehand because in my childhood, that was like the shot that I wanted to hit. I wanted to have the footwork to run around. So I'm going to use Steffi's forehand."
Clijsters picked her compatriot Justine Henin's backhand, saying that it would be really fun to rip a one-handed backhand cross court.
"Maybe Justine's one-hander, I think it would just be really fun to rip like a one-handed backhand cross court," Clijsters said.
When asked about net play, Clijsters opted for Martina Navratilova's volleys.
"I played legends and I played doubles against Navratilova. I mean, she was already older when I played her and was still incredible. I will pick Martina's volleys," Clijsters said.
She finished by picking Iga Swiatek for mental toughness, hailing the current World No. 1's dedication, passion, motivation and mental strength.
"I think I'm going to take, just to have like a current player, I'm going to take Iga," Clijsters remarked. "Yeah just with what she's been doing, for the last year, especially recently. Just the mental aspect of her improving her game to where it is now and how much dedication and how much passion and motivaton and everything that takes, and mental strength that takes. She just has it together there right? And yes, I'll take that part of her."
Good luck beating @Clijsterskim's perfect player 😵
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Iga Swiatek has won 44 out of 47 matches so far this season
Iga Swiatek has been in sensational form so far this season, winning 44 out of 47 matches. The 21-year-old won her sixth successive title by triumphing at the French Open. This is her 35th consecutive win and it will be interesting to see how she fares at Wimbledon.
INVINCIBLE IGA 
@iga_swiatek defeats Gauff 6-1, 6-3 to claim her second career #RolandGarros title with a 35th consecutive victory!
🏆 INVINCIBLE IGA 🏆
🇵🇱 @iga_swiatek defeats Gauff 6-1, 6-3 to claim her second career #RolandGarros title with a 35th consecutive victory! https://t.co/V99DalzqH3