Clijsters makes most of Australian Open win

Kim Clijsters wore the glow of a Grand Slam winner and the perspective of a working mother who worries about spending too much time on the road.

The 27-year-old Belgian wore a white designer dress and hoisted her trophy for the cameras Sunday for a day-after photo shoot at Melbourne's Brighton beach, where she posed in front of historic huts and dipped her toes in the bay on a hot summer's day.

The night before, Clijsters defeated China's Li Na to win her first Australian Open and her fourth major - her third since returning from a 2 1/2-year break from tennis to start a family.

Her daughter, Jada, who turns 3 next month, accompanies her on tour, along with husband Brian Lynch and other members of her family.

The unique situation has raised questions about juggling the many demands, whether she might stop to have more children, and how her daughter handles life on the road.

It's the kind of world Clijsters, whose father was a professional soccer player and whose mother was a Belgian gymnast, has long known, and one she doesn't want for her daughter.

''I know in our situation, because my dad was a little famous, that it was a little hard sometimes,'' Clijsters said Sunday. ''People have a prejudgement and that's something that I felt when I was younger, and I used to get teased in school and it was very bad at some points.

''So those are things that I don't want her to go through,'' she said of Jada.

Clijsters said 2011 will probably be her final full year on tour, though she would like to play at the London Olympics in 2012 and told the crowd after winning her title in Melbourne that she'd like to come back and defend it. She also said she would like to have another baby, though there are no firm plans.

For Jada, her mother winning the Australian Open is no big thing.

''To her it really doesn't matter,'' Clijsters said. ''I mean, she's always excited. Although when she saw the trophy, she was like, 'Who is that trophy for?' And then she's like, 'Did you win that?' I'm like, 'Yeah.'

''To her, she knows I play tennis, but that's it. She doesn't know everything else that comes with it, winning, losing,'' Clijsters said. ''I mean, she's seen me like a little bit disappointed and stuff. ... I explain to her that I lost. But, I mean, it's not a big deal for her.''

Clijsters' comeback has served as inspiration for many women, including some top players.

''Wow I'm so impressed! Mommy and winner??? U r my hero!! kiss kiss,'' Serena Williams wrote in a Twitter post to Clijsters soon after the final. Serena Williams won the title last year but was unable to defend it due to a persistent foot injury.

Clijsters quit the tour in 2007 after four years in the top five, her first U.S. Open triumph in 2005 and reaching the finals of three other majors. She returned in late 2009, and won the U.S. Open in her third tournament back - becoming the first mother to win a Grand Slam since Australia's Evonne Goolagong Cawley at Wimbledon in 1980.

Now, Clijsters shares the record with Margaret Court of three grand slam titles as a mother.

For all the extraordinary achievement, Clijsters wants a normal life for her daughter, not the one she had.

''I would never really enjoy going to school, but I'm going to try to make it something that is important for Jada,'' she said. ''I didn't finish school, I wasn't able to do the usual birthday parties and all that stuff. I never did anything like that because I was playing tennis and doing a lot of traveling.

''I want to give her all that,'' Clijsters said. ''I want to give her those friendships in school and those friends you grow up with and kind of have that normal kind of lifestyle.''