VIDEO: Clijsters caps week as tournament director with singles win

It was a memorable start for Kim Clijsters in her first year as tournament director of the BNP Paribas Fortis Diamond Games in Antwerp, with the retired four-time Grand Slam champion even taking the court to play an exhibition match when the singles final was not played.

With Carla Suarez Navarro withdrawing to give Andrea Petkovic the title, the Belgian found herself having to substitute by playing a set against Petkovic, even defeating the German in front of a crowd of around 5,000. She had only been scheduled to appear in a doubles exhibition.

Clijsters told local media that she did not know what to do at first when she heard of the withdrawal. But the tournament just happened to have a big name on hand—herself. "Petkovic did not know and was warming up in the locker room," she said. "In double time I found myself playing her on court."

The popular Clijsters also had plenty of other things to deal with during the week, including an opening-round defeat for top seed Eugenie Bouchard. "I was running in all directons and had to handle a multitude of problems," she said. "I didn't expect to play singles. But well, I did what I could with the means I had."

But, having already returned from retirement once to win three Grand Slam titles, she was adamant she doesn't plan to make a habit of it. "It was nice to play the final," she said. "I'm not anticipating a comeback." Clijsters won the set 5-3.

Clijsters noted that attendance had been good and the players had reacted well to the return of the tournament, with the WTA set to look at keeping it on the schedule.