The 26-year-old Belgian, who beat Caroline Wozniacki 7-5, 6-3 Sunday, moved into 19th place in the WTA rankings after coming into the tournament with no ranking following her 2 1/2-year retirement from the sport.
Clijsters easily moved through the women's field at Flushing Meadows, beating both Serena and Venus Williams en route to her second major title. She became the first mother to win a major title since Evonne Goolagong Cawley in 1980 at Wimbledon.
Dinara Safina of Russia, who has yet to win a Grand Slam title, remained No. 1 in the rankings ahead of Serena and Venus. Two more Russians, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Elena Dementieva, rounded out the top five.
Ronaldo ‘nervous’ of price tagWilliams sisters, Clijsters lead U.S. Open field
