No Thanks

Reuters

That's what Kim Clijsters said to Tim Phillips, the All England Club chairman, when he offered her a wild card to play at the Championships this year.

She's not ready yet. Though she is excited about coming back to professional competition:

“A lot of questions popped into my mind, mostly about rules and regulations, how much I’d need to play, who might I turn to for help, how much at ease I would feel about coming back,” Clijsters said. “I never used to be much of a planner, I took everything pretty much as it came, but now there’s when to eat, when to sleep, when to feed.

“I don’t want to be seen as a powerful woman who is doing anything superhuman, but it is nice to show it is possible to have children and still have a professional sports career. The old-fashioned image is of a mother staying at home to take care of the children, but things are changing. I know there will be a lot of attention because of the career I had and I suppose people are bound to compare. I’m just intrigued as to how much I’ll enjoy it.

“In the 2½ years I have been away, I was married, fell pregnant, my daughter was born, my dad became sick. I didn’t have a chance to miss it. I would not change much of what has happened, I was so happy my dad got to see his grandchild, that was very special. I got to read James Blake’s book [Breaking Back - How I Lost Everything and Won Back My Life], which talks so vividly about how he coped with the loss of his father. It was incredible to find out so much more about someone I saw a lot but didn’t really know at all.”

Getty

Clijsters was on the grounds for the exhibition Wimbledon: Celebrations that's on ESPN Classic live now and will re-air tonight on Tennis Channel at 7:00 pm EDT. She'll be featured along with Steffi Graf, Andre Agassi and Tim Henman. They'll be playing for the first time in history under the covered lawns of Centre Court's new retractable roof.

Should be fun.