Clijsters to play all four grand slams in 2010

Kim Clijsters will play about 16 tournaments next year including all four grand slams, the 26-year-old Belgian said yesterday.

"I try to spread out my trips abroad. The most important thing is that it remains do-able as a family," Clijsters told reporters.

The US Open champion will play only one more tournament this year, in Luxembourg next month, and will start her 2010 season in Brisbane, Australia, followed by the Australian Open.

Clijsters, who rose to world number one in 2003, plans to play the first round of the Fed Cup in Poland in February before heading to the United States.

After Roland Garros and Wimbledon, Clijsters will travel to Beijing and Doha in October.

With 12 scheduled tournaments in four continents, plus three to four which could be added at a later date, Clijsters's schedule could appear punishing for a young mother.

"It takes a lot more planning than a few years ago. For a tennis player I don't think it's that busy. I've taken out a lot of tournaments that I used to play when I wasn't a mother," she said.

"It was up to me to say, with Jada, our daughter, how long I want to travel, where I want to travel to and where not," she added.

Clijsters went from a player with no ranking to number 19 in the world list thanks mainly to her spectacular win at the US Open this month.

She won her only previous grand slam event at Flushing Meadows four years ago before retiring in 2007.

Meanwhile, Clijsters hailed the return of compatriot Justine Henin to professional tennis as "brilliant".

"I think that Justine's comeback is good news for women's tennis but even better news for Belgium in general," Clijsters said.

"Justine worked really hard in the past to achieve great results that she recorded in her first career. For tennis it is brilliant that she's back."

Henin, who announced her retirement 16 months ago, is expected to make her comeback at the start of the 2010 season in Australia.