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As if juggling motherhood with grand slam tennis duties is not enough, now Kim Clijsters is taking on the greatest challenge of them all.
Trying to conquer Venus and Serena Williams in the very same week to keep her US Open dream alive.
The Belgian super-mum – officially ranked No.9999 in the world after two years out of the game – will take on defending champion Serena in a blockbuster semi-final on Saturday (AEST) after continuing her Cinderella run in New York with a quickfire 6-2 6-4 dismissal of China’s Li Na.
But now the odds are really stacked against the 26-year-old former No.1.
Only Martina Hingis at the 2001 Australian Open and Justine Henin at Flushing Meadows two years ago have managed to upstage both Williams sisters, who boast a combined 18 major titles, at the same grand slam tournament.
Still not convinced she’s up against it?
How about the fact Clijsters trails Serena 7-1 head-to-head, and has never beaten the 11-times grand slam champion on a hard court.
“But that doesn’t mean that you don’t get chances when you get to play her,” Clijsters said defiantly on Wednesday.
“Every player always has a moment in a match where, whether it’s either one or two games, where they just kind of lose that aggressiveness a little bit, or just lose focus.
“It’s up to the other player to kind of feel that and step it up then at that time.
“So that’s something that I’m going to be really focused on – (trying to) play aggressive tennis and dominate, to try to dominate a lot of points.”
Clijsters is no longer “Our Kim” – despite London’s Daily Telegraph this week rather embarrassingly headlining her as “Australian” after beating third seed Venus to reach the quarter-finals – but clearly the 2005 Open champion still shares the same never-say-die fighting spirit of her former fiance Lleyton Hewitt.
But she will need to, with the second-ranked Serena 23-1 at the majors this season and the reigning Australian, Wimbledon and US titleholder.
“She’s always been able to step it up at the grand slams,” Clijsters said.
“Serena, I’ve seen her play here, and she has that face where she’s like, ‘okay, I’m here to do business’.
“But then, still, I think the one who keeps the unforced errors down, I think, is going to get through here.”
Despite Serena’s dominant record over Clijsters, the two haven’t actually squared off since 2003.
Serena, though, goes back even further to recall why she needs to be wary, remembering the pair’s very first meeting, in New York in 1999.
The American escaped 4-6 6-2 7-5 in a third-round triller before going on to land her maiden major.
“I just remember no-one really knew her and she gave me a run for my money,” Serena said after confirming their semi-final date with a 6-4 6-3 win over Italy’s 10th seed Flavia Pennetta.
“I had seen her in the locker room a lot and I had seen her play a lot. I just knew her face and I felt like that was actually a turning point in both our careers.
“Yeah, she’s a really good player. She plays tough. She plays hard.
“And now it’s like a totally different level because she has absolutely nothing to lose.
“I think that’s when you can play your ultimate best tennis.”
Whoever prevails will be the heavy favourite to walk off with the trophy, with the wide open top half of the draw featuring four first-time quarter-finalists.
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