Kim Clijsters’ singles career ended where she wanted it to, just not the way she hoped.

The four-time Grand Slam champion lost 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5) to 18-year-old Laura Robson of Britain in the second round of the U.S. Open on Wednesday, and will head into retirement after she finishes playing in doubles at Flushing Meadows.

Clijsters walked away from the sport once before, returning after a 2 1/2-year hiatus in 2009. But now 29 and a mother, the Belgian insisted this season that she means it this time, and decided the U.S. Open — and its hard courts that she conquered on the way to three championships — would be her final tournament.

Wednesday’s loss ended Clijsters’ 22-match winning streak in New York, encompassing titles in 2005, 2009 and 2010.