Ranked 134th in the world seven months ago, Kim Clijsters [Images] is tantalisingly close to ending a dream year as the best player in the world.

The likeable Belgian could dislodge Maria Sharapova [Images] from the top spot this week and if she achieves the feat she will become the first woman to climb from outside the top 100 to the world number one ranking in a calendar year.

It will indeed be a remarkable achievement for a player who just a year ago was struggling with a wrist injury and was unsure if she would ever pick up a racket again.

"It's like a second career, the feelings I've had winning tournaments," US Open winner Clijsters said at this week's Filderstadt Grand Prix, where she is seeded second behind defending champion Lindsay Davenport [Images].

"Winning Indian Wells and Miami [Images] was very comparable to winning my first tournament when I was younger. It feels so big and that was so great to have again, those feelings. It was unbelievable.

"It means a little bit more now after the injury.

"I knew that if I worked really hard then I would be able to play good tennis again but I never expected everything that's happened this year."

Clijsters has certainly come a long way in 12 months.

Despite trailing Russian world number one Sharapova by 364 points in the rankings, the Belgian is in pole position to end the year on top of the 12-month standings.

WRIST SURGERY

While Sharapova and world number two Lindsay Davenport have points to defend at several tournaments, Clijsters will enter each of her remaining events with clean sheets as her 2004 season had ended abruptly last October.

Having undergone wrist surgery in June 2004, Clijsters's comeback from a five-month injury layoff lasted just three matches at the Belgian Open before she suffered another injury in the same area.

Although some experts feared the problem could cut short her career, the 22-year-old defied the odds to return to the tour in February. She has since enjoyed a run in which she finally captured her first Grand Slam crown at Flushing Meadows last month.

Despite her resurgence, Clijsters reiterated that she had no intention of competing on the tour beyond 2007.

"Nothing will make me change my mind," said Clijsters, who has won eight titles in 2005.

"With the matches that I've played over the last few months, the matches are getting a lot tougher and I feel it on my body.

"I'm not recovering as quickly as I did when I was an 18 or 19-year-old.

"Maybe that sounds hard to believe but I don't have the body of a normal 22-year-old. I have a lot of cartilage problems...and that is something you have to think about and consider."

REPEAT VICTORY

Clijsters's announcement comes as she is enjoying tennis more than at any time since she lifted her first title in Luxembourg six years ago, a victory she repeated last week.

Her trail began in March when she astonished herself and everyone else by winning back-to-back titles in Indian Wells and Miami.

For Clijsters, putting together a 14-match winning streak at two of the biggest tournaments outside the four majors proved to be the turning point in her career.

It finally gave Clijsters, who had come away empty-handed from four previous Grand Slam final appearances, the confidence she needed to get rid of the tag of being the best women player without a major title.

But after the pounding her body took during the American hardcourt season, she believes she cannot take the constant wear and tear for ever.

"I would have loved to have had a few more weeks off after the Open, just to get my body back into shape because I felt really tired," she said.

"That's one of the main reasons why I think in two years I'll stop. If I can keep it up at this level, it will be a very big strain on my body.

"I've never said that tennis is the most important thing in my life. I think there's a lot of other things too. That's something I'm really looking forward to."

(Additional reporting by Pritha Sarkar)

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