When Clijsters began her comeback in 2009, she hired Wim Fissette to be her coach. Fissette, who is three years older, had trained with Clijsters under Vanhoudt when they were both juniors. He had also served as her hitting partner from 2005 until her first retirement. With Fissette as her coach, Clijsters won three more Grand Slam singles titles and regained the world No. 1 ranking. In June 2011, she rehired Maes as her coach, leading to Fissette's departure several months later. Clijsters worked with Maes through the end of her career.