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Clijsters Does Not Fear the Other Side of the Medal October 1, 2001 La Libre Belgique Kim Clijsters is, briefly, only dropping in in Belgium. The opportunity to discuss her last victory in Leipzig, her fantastic 2001 season and her career as a player in general. Dressed in a warm turquoise sweater with a roll collar, she seems no longer in touch with our less favourable climate. But she shows a big smile upon arriving at the luxury hotel near Genk, Belgium town close to her home in the Limburg area of Flanders, Belgium. At Leipzig, last week, the young Limburg girl explains, "the Germans prepared a huge welcome for me, given the fact that I was defending my title. And the spectators were also exuberant, even sometimes intrusive." INTRUSION IN PRIVATE LIFE "In Japan, the people seemed more respectful to players, both during encounters as afterwards," confirms Lei Clijsters, her dad, who has been with her during the last two tournaments and who always watches over his protégé. "She remains very young, very playful, but she develops of course. She speaks more about serious projects, as building a house. We discuss each problem that occurs, but it is then up to her to decide what she will do." It’s that the daily life of an international sports star that is not always that easy. "I didn’t realise that it would be that extreme, continues Lei Clijsters. I receive tens of phone calls a day, from medical specialists, psychologists or sophrologists proposing their services to Kim, from magazines for an interview to youngsters who simply want to talk with her. I evidently have to protect her against all of that. I have a bit the bad role, but I need to do that otherwise it will never stop. Lately, at the airport, people kept on asking autographs, continuously . It was impossible to sit down to eat!" The other side of the medal. Since of course, the triumph list and the bank account from the girl from Bree are nicely filled, no matter what her dad says on that, who likes to stress that not all the profit goes into the pocket of his daughter, that one has to pay the travelling, the coach Carl Maes, who by the way has, for the 6th time, his contract prolonged for another year, even though Lei Clijsters has had meetings with other coaches, Belgian and others. "I however haven’t acquired a taste for luxury," says Kim. "I only take a flight in business class in order to better rest during the flight. If I play like this, it is not for the money, but because I love this." A consuming passion for Kim, who estimates that she does not play that well enough to endanger the supremacy of the world top 4, ahead by 1,000 points in the WTA rankings. "I will do everything that is possible to climb up in the rankings, by going for a win, match after match, tournament after tournament, but it will be difficult to have a year 2002 as good as this one." Anyway, as her dad stresses, "Kim is world number 5, very good. But if she falls down to the 6th spot, her passion for tennis would still be intact."