Clijsters win both ITWA awards

The International Tennis Writers' Association has given both its 2005 Player of the Year award and its 2005 Ambassador for Tennis award to U.S. Open champion Kim Clijsters of Belgium. Clijsters, who had been in numerous Grand Slam finals but had never won one before this year, was out most of 2004 with a wrist injury. She had to have two surgeries for it, and at one point, she was told she might not ever play tennis again. She swept the 2005 hardcourt season, much as Lindsay Davenport had swept it the year before, and completed the sweep with her win at Flushing Meadows.

A huge fan favorite, Clijsters bought everyone in her hometown of Bree a beer after she won her first Grand Slam.