Kim Clijsters dropped down on her knees in disbelief, and then looked to the stands to find her golden-locked daughter, Jada, up way past her bedtime so she could see her mother spin a fairy tale.

Clijsters, the 26-year-old wild-card entry from Belgium who was a former No. 1 player, left the game two years ago to start a family and returned to tennis just one month ago. Suddenly on Sunday night, she had captured the 2009 US Open title by dispatching the 19-year-old Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, 7-5 6-3, in 1 hour 33 minutes before an adoring crowd of 23,351 at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Jada flashed on the giant screen in the stadium, pointing and hamming it up with the same infectious joy her mother had supplied to cap the most unexpected women’s Open in memory, one marked by charming upsets, unsettling anger and disruptive rain.

“I can’t believe this has happened, it’s still so surreal, that in my third tournament back I won my second Slam,” Clijsters said after the match. “It’s a great feeling, but it’s confusing in a lot of ways. It happened so quickly.”

It has been four years since Clijsters last played in New York and won her first Grand Slam title. She has played exactly 14 matches in 27 months, and watched as the rest of the women’s field at the Open crumbled under emotions or the weight of expectations she did not carry.

“This has been so exciting for me, it was not really our plan,” she said. “I just wanted to get back into the rhythm of playing tennis. I have to thank the USTA for giving me a wild card for coming here.” It was not until a weak lob from Wozniacki floated above her like a gift on match point that Clijsters knew she could reclaim the title. She slammed the overhead with ease, punctuating her return.

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