かねてから引退を表明していたクライスターが引退した。
彼女からのテニス・ファンあてのメーッセージがＷＴＡから届いた。
原文を紹介します。

I am extremely proud of what I have achieved in my career.
If someone told me nine years ago I would have accomplished all that I did, I would have said you were joking.
Tennis has been an amazing journey for me all over the world and I’m very happy to have met the people that I did.
That’s always been the most important to me, forget the trophies and material things, friends are truly the most important.
I couldn’t have done all that I did, without the support of my family and coaches who worked with me, and to them I’m truly grateful.
I am also thankful to all the encouragement from the fans over the years and the media’s support in following my career.

I couldn’t have asked for a better farewell than I did in Antwerp this year and trying to play after that was proving even more difficult, with the injuries that wouldn’t go away and knowing life after tennis was drawing nearer, it became harder to push myself to compete.

Tennis-wise, winning the US Open and season-ending Sony Ericsson Championships twice were obvious high points.
The matches that I’ll never forget were the 1999 US Open match with Serena (Williams) when I was 5-3 up in the third.
I had such goose-bumps it was incredible.
I remember playing Amelie (Mauresmo) in Filderstadt one year from match-point down to win but the tennis we both played that day was amazing.

I hope people won’t be too sad now that I’ve decided to stop playing tennis.
A new chapter in my life is about to begin and I hope I’ll see everyone somewhere down the line.
Remember what ever you do, do it with a smile on your face.

「いつも笑顔で」とクライスターは締めくくる。

クライスターの最後のグランドスラム大会は07年の全豪オープン
シャラポワとの対戦だった
勝っても負けてもいつも笑顔

キム、笑顔をありがとう！！

（写真　CANON EOS 1D Mk2 田中康志 TJapan）