Clijsters bids farewell without a tear in sight

MELBOURNE, Jan 25 (Reuters) Kim Clijsters refused to shed any tears after her last appearance at the Australian Open ended with a semi-final defeat by top seed Maria Sharapova.

Affectionately known as ''Aussie Kim'', many had hoped the popular Belgian would sign off from the grand slam with the trophy in her hands on Saturday.

Except the end came two days early.

Instead of following in the footsteps of Andre Agassi, who made emotional farewell speeches after bowing out from Wimbledon and the U.S. Open last year, Clijsters was practical as ever.

''I have mixed feelings at the moment,'' the 23-year-old said after her 6-4 6-2 defeat.

''It's kind of not really sinking in yet. I'm going to come back tomorrow and take my time to say goodbye to everybody, just get everybody's email address, number.

''I've never been the type of person who thinks it's the end of the world when I lose a match.'' But the fourth seed, who spent many months in the country when she was with her former fiance Australian Lleyton Hewitt, said she would never forget how people have embraced her over the years.

''I have so many great memories from here,'' said Clijsters, who will hang up her rackets for good at the end of the season.

''All the friends I made in Australia as well. That to me has been very important, has been a great part of my life, something that will always stay with me.

''Tennis-wise, there's so many. It's so hard to just pick one that stands out. The one that was maybe the most frustrating one, where I was up against Serena (in 2003 semi-final), 5-2 in the third, that one was frustrating at the time.'' Despite her premature exit, Clijsters was glad she had at least not gone out with as scrappy a performance as she gave in her quarter-final victory over Hingis when she produced 62 unforced errors.

''Quarter-final was definitely my worst match,'' she said.

''I always try to look at the positive things and come back stronger. That's what you learn out of those kind of matches.

''I felt like I was playing better today. I was moving better, seeing the ball better. But not good enough today to beat her (Sharapova).'' REUTERS SAM PM1538