After Kim Clijsters won the Australian Open in 2011 she told a packed Rod Laver Arena: “I finally feel like you guys can call me ‘Aussie Kim’”.
Australian fans had adopted the Belgian as one of their own when she dated local star Lleyton Hewitt early in her career and it was a moniker that stuck.
The popular Belgian who didn’t drop a set as she swept into the final, defeated China’s Li Na in an entertaining 3-6 6-3 6-3 title match to win the Australian Open for the first time, an emotional victory given her affection for the country.
Clijsters’ victory also made her the first mother to win the title since Australian Evonne Goolagong Cawley in 1977.