With Kim Clijsters’ win over Li Na in the final of the Australian open, she has proven herself as one of the greats of this generation.

And she has shaken up the pecking order of the greats of this generation

Surpassing Serena Williams is still out of the question for someone with just four majors, so that leaves the next two greats of this generation, Venus Williams and Justine Henin.

Realistically, she could surpass them by the end of the year.

A good fortnight at the French Open and Wimbledon would give her all four majors at once, a feat that would elevate her to a status above that of Venus and Justine, not to mention the fact that she would be the overwhelming favourite for the US Open.

Five majors in a row, it would be absolutely incredible, and extremely impressive.

But before I hype up her chances, I don’t believe that she will win either the French Open or Wimbledon, or that she has surpassed Venus with her Australian Open win.

Clijsters reached her first final on clay, and it would seem as if she could repeat the feat when she is, bigger, better, meaner and less prone to choking than before. But I don’t believe so. Clijsters loves to straddle on court (the splits) and on clay; she cannot recover from that straddle as quickly as a hardcourt, so the changes she would have had to make in her defensive game would blunt her effectiveness.

And defending champ Francesca Schiavone is not the one-slam wonder we thought she was. One of women’s tennis’ most fit athletes, Schiavone showed what she was made of in saving six match points against Svetlana Kuznetsova in a marathon four and three quarter hour match, and almost giving Caroline Wozniacki a shock defeat, being a set and a break up. It was a match that I would have expected her to close out had she not have expended all her energy the night before.

We are also not mentioning the clay court machines of Svetlana Kuznetsova and Samantha Stosur, both amazing athletes that could trump any player on clay, on any given day.

And who knows, we might experience the revival of Dinara Safina on her favourite surface, and Ana Ivanovic might return to the form we saw her in when she took the title.

For that reason, I believe a French Open for Clijsters is out of the question.

And grass? She would have a better chance on grass, but Wimbledon is the home of the Williamses, the magic of Wimbledon brought Venus back into the winner’s circle in a miracle run in 2005, and in 2007. I see last year’s fall to Tvetsana Pironkova as something akin to her loss to Karolina Sprem in 2004.

It was a fluke, an in form opponent, and a rusty Venus combining to create a shock defeat.

Venus Williams will experience a revival in Wimbledon.

And by then, Serena Williams would probably be back.

Her injuries are likely to slow her down, and dull her defence.

But she still possesses the world’s best sport’s mentality and never-say-die attitude, she still posses the same GOAT serve, and the fearsome groundstrokes.

And in Wimbledon, Maria Sharapova seemed to surge last year, she was extremely unlucky in drawing without a doubt, the best player of the tournament, world and generation, Serena Williams. Out of everyone else in the draw, she was the only one who I thought would be able to take even a set of Williams.

And she is also the only active player to win Wimbledon without having Williams as her surname.

If she experiences a resurgence in form again this year, she would be my pick as a dark horse.

For these reasons, I do not think that Clijsters would win either of the European Slams.

 But if she does, Clijsters has the potential to surpass Venus and then Henin, certainly.

Henin’s weeks at number one and overall dominance for a period of time elevates her above Venus, but Venus’ seven majors put her in a league of her own compared to Clijsters, a gap she could bridge with just a few more majors and a stint at world number one, extremely likely if she commits to tennis for the next two years.

But at her press conferences she has said that she wants another child, and longs for Jada to have a sibling, which would make this her “last full season on tour.”

If so, this year is her last chance.

Only time will tell.