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Lleyton and Kim Match
Sydney Morning Herald January 17, 2001
by Jake Niall
We may have found compelling evidence that Lleyton Hewitt loves himself. No, not the ponytail, the confident demeanor or the self-motivational yelps during matches.
The evidence was provided when his girlfriend, Kim Clijsters, sat with the Hewitt family in the stands on Tuesday night.
Clijsters was seated directly in front of Lleyton's mother, Cherilyn, and sister Jaslyn. If you didn't know who she was - and one Seven commentator did not - you would have guessed she was another Hewitt sister.
She has fair hair, blue eyes and a dimpled chin. Frankly, she looks like Lleyton. People are supposed to be attracted to opposites, or maybe to someone like mum or dad. But if they choose to partner someone who resembles themselves, self-love could be the motivation. Or something else. Explanations are better left to Dr Freud's disciples.
"That's what I've heard," said Clijsters of her uncanny resemblance to her other half. "A lot of people, yeah, say that we could be brother and sister."
Clijsters, 17, and Hewitt, 19, share other traits, admittedly superficial ones. Most obviously, they are damn good players - Clijsters is Belgium's highest-ranked female (18).
Their dads were both professional footballers: Glynn Hewitt played for Glenelg in South Australia and a handful of games for Richmond, while Lei Clijsters was one of Belgium's most famous soccer stars, a World Cup player. (He coaches a third-division club, Diest).
Clijsters, like Hewitt, likes to slug it out from the baseline and doesn't have a huge serve. She, too, relies on nimble feet and has a mean two-handed backhand.
Like her boyfriend, she can win on bad days and doesn't fold in the face of adversity.
Yesterday, after a late evening watching Hewitt's hamstrung heroics, she played well below par - her own estimation - against Russian Alina Jidkova but still won 6-3 7-6 (7-5).
The swirling wind on court two made for ugly tennis. Clijsters had a poor start and, at 0-1 and 30-40, committed an error that is unheard of in grand slam tennis.
On her second serve, she swiped and missed the ball, connecting only with Melbourne air. Double-fault. Game Jidkova. 2-0.
"That's the first time that's ever happened," said Clijsters of her fresh-air shot. "While I was bringing my racket up, the wind just blew the ball away."
In the stands, Hewitt, his coach Darren Cahill and a small entourage provided moral support. Unlike Hewitt, Clijsters did not question any calls, pump the fist or do anything that could be construed as annoying. She quietly took over the match, overcoming the wind and a horrible unforced error count (56 to her opponent's 36).
The media, keen on any sneaky question that introduced the topic of Hewitt, later asked if all the excitement of the previous evening had left her flattened. It hadn't.
"That had nothing to do with that . . . we're both playing," she said. "I'm focusing on my matches. I'm not focusing on his matches. It's good that he wins and I'm happy for him. My main goal is to keep focused."
For the record, Hewitt and Clijsters are said to have met at the Australian Open last year, but the romance didn't bloom until the Ericsson Open in Miami last March. By the French Open, he had been to Belgium to meet the parents. In December, when Hewitt was struggling with a breathing ailment that has since been diagnosed as a sinus problem, he was still prepared to act as warm-up partner for Clijsters before one of her biggest matches, against Martina Hingis in the final at Hilderstadt (she lost).
Clijsters is Flemish-Belgian and thus fluent in three languages: Dutch, French and English. She handled the inevitable questions about Hewitt in the latter tongue fluently, with good grace and without a skerrick of hostility.
Hewitt has his matches, she has hers. Neither will be distracted. But so long as they keep winning, the questions about Lleyton and Kim will keep coming.
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The evidence was provided when his girlfriend, Kim Clijsters, sat with the Hewitt family in the stands on Tuesday night.
Clijsters was seated directly in front of Lleyton's mother, Cherilyn, and sister Jaslyn. If you didn't know who she was - and one Seven commentator did not - you would have guessed she was another Hewitt sister.
She has fair hair, blue eyes and a dimpled chin. Frankly, she looks like Lleyton. People are supposed to be attracted to opposites, or maybe to someone like mum or dad. But if they choose to partner someone who resembles themselves, self-love could be the motivation. Or something else. Explanations are better left to Dr Freud's disciples.
"That's what I've heard," said Clijsters of her uncanny resemblance to her other half. "A lot of people, yeah, say that we could be brother and sister."
Clijsters, 17, and Hewitt, 19, share other traits, admittedly superficial ones. Most obviously, they are damn good players - Clijsters is Belgium's highest-ranked female (18).
Their dads were both professional footballers: Glynn Hewitt played for Glenelg in South Australia and a handful of games for Richmond, while Lei Clijsters was one of Belgium's most famous soccer stars, a World Cup player. (He coaches a third-division club, Diest).
Clijsters, like Hewitt, likes to slug it out from the baseline and doesn't have a huge serve. She, too, relies on nimble feet and has a mean two-handed backhand.
Like her boyfriend, she can win on bad days and doesn't fold in the face of adversity.
Yesterday, after a late evening watching Hewitt's hamstrung heroics, she played well below par - her own estimation - against Russian Alina Jidkova but still won 6-3 7-6 (7-5).
The swirling wind on court two made for ugly tennis. Clijsters had a poor start and, at 0-1 and 30-40, committed an error that is unheard of in grand slam tennis.
On her second serve, she swiped and missed the ball, connecting only with Melbourne air. Double-fault. Game Jidkova. 2-0.
"That's the first time that's ever happened," said Clijsters of her fresh-air shot. "While I was bringing my racket up, the wind just blew the ball away."
In the stands, Hewitt, his coach Darren Cahill and a small entourage provided moral support. Unlike Hewitt, Clijsters did not question any calls, pump the fist or do anything that could be construed as annoying. She quietly took over the match, overcoming the wind and a horrible unforced error count (56 to her opponent's 36).
The media, keen on any sneaky question that introduced the topic of Hewitt, later asked if all the excitement of the previous evening had left her flattened. It hadn't.
"That had nothing to do with that . . . we're both playing," she said. "I'm focusing on my matches. I'm not focusing on his matches. It's good that he wins and I'm happy for him. My main goal is to keep focused."
For the record, Hewitt and Clijsters are said to have met at the Australian Open last year, but the romance didn't bloom until the Ericsson Open in Miami last March. By the French Open, he had been to Belgium to meet the parents. In December, when Hewitt was struggling with a breathing ailment that has since been diagnosed as a sinus problem, he was still prepared to act as warm-up partner for Clijsters before one of her biggest matches, against Martina Hingis in the final at Hilderstadt (she lost).
Clijsters is Flemish-Belgian and thus fluent in three languages: Dutch, French and English. She handled the inevitable questions about Hewitt in the latter tongue fluently, with good grace and without a skerrick of hostility.
Hewitt has his matches, she has hers. Neither will be distracted. But so long as they keep winning, the questions about Lleyton and Kim will keep coming.