Kim Clijsters insisted she harboured no grudges against Justine Henin-Hardenne after setting up another all-Belgian Grand Slam final at the Australian Open here on Thursday.
Second seed Clijsters and world number one Henin-Hardenne have been locking horns on tennis courts ever since they were playing at junior level in Belgium in the early 1990s.
Their intense rivalry has taken on an extra dimension in the past season, with Henin-Hardenne beating Clijsters in both the French and US Open finals and finishing the season as the world’s top ranked player.
Last year also saw a war-of-words between the two players’ camps, with Clijsters’ team implying Henin-Hardenne had bulked up her previously waif-like physique by doping. Representatives from Clijsters’ camp later issued an apology over claims Henin-Hardenne had branded ”ridiculous”.
Clijsters was adamant on Thursday that there was no animosity between the two players after defeating Patty Schnyder 6-2, 7-6 (7/2) in her semi-final on the Rod Laver Arena at Melbourne Park.
”I’ve got so much respect for Justine and she’s gone through so much in her life already and I admire her very much for everything she does, on and off the court,” said Clijsters. ”She’s deserved everything that she’s done.
”Maybe, I don’t like her on the court because she’s so quick, and returns all my shots. But nothing else,” joked Clijsters, who has known Henin-Hardenne since playing juniors in Belgium.
”It started when we were playing under-10s in Belgium. We’ve grown up together, shared hotel rooms together when we were playing under-14 tournaments and everything,” said Clijsters.
”It’s incredible — you know how small Belgium is and to have two players come through at such a young age. Every press conference we get asked ‘What’s the secret?’ but we don’t know.
Just hard work, mostly.”
Clijsters leads 9-8 in head-to-head meetings with Henin-Hardenne. However she trails 6-2 to Henin-Hardenne whenever the two have met in finals.
Clijsters rejected suggestions however that Henin-Hardenne had a mental edge over her.
”That’s always something that they’re gonna keep saying, if you lose against her,” the 20-year-old said. ”I definitely don’t think I have a problem. In those matches I knew where the problem was laying and I knew it wasn’t psychological.”
Clijsters cited fatigue as one of the reasons behind last year’s Grand Slam defeats to Henin-Hardenne at Roland Garros and Flushing Meadow.
”Probably in the previous two Grand Slams I would have liked to play a little bit less,” she said. ”With all the doubles and everything I was a little bit exhausted at the end of those two Slams.
”But I’m feeling good now. I definitely don’t feel like I’m tired or anything and I’m just really looking forward to it now. I wish the final was tomorrow in a way,” added Clijsters.
Clijsters said she was not troubled by her ankle injury during the defeat of Schnyder, saying concentrating on competing kept her mind off any pain.
”It pinches sometimes when I’m running around. But when you’re playing and stuff, everything goes so quickly,” said Clijsters, who passed a morning fitness test before playing her semi-final.
”Doctors have reassured me that I’m not going to make it worse by playing. Today I told myself ‘Don’t think about it it, try not to worry about things. Even if you feel stiff just keep going.’ And I did. It felt okay.” – Sapa-AFP