Kim Clijsters reflects upon her past relationship with Lleyton Hewitt and how it impacted her
Belgian former professional tennis player, Kim Clijsters has had an excellent tennis career. She reached the World No. 1 ranking in both singles and doubles, becoming the first Belgian player to attain the peak. She has six major titles, four in singles and two in doubles, to her name. In 2017, Clijsters was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
Recently, Clijsters appeared on The Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast, where she opened up on her past relationship with fellow tennis star Australian Lleyton Hewitt and how it affected her professionally and personally. She said that she “learned a lot” during that phase of her life, especially as a tennis player.
Clijsters specifically talked about the coaches Hewitt worked with and the impact that had on her as a player.“Being in a relationship with Lleyton (Hewitt) was something that, I learned a lot from him, and from the coaches that he was working with. He worked with Darren Cahill, who, to me, is the greatest coach we have in our sport. Even Roger Rasheed,” Kim Clijsters said on the podcast.
She also explained how just being around these coaches helped her immensely. “Just to be on court with those guys and to see how they approached Lleyton and how Lleyton worked, it was all a huge learning process for me as a young teenager,” the 39-year-old further said. She felt grateful for that phase of her life and also heaped praise on Hewitt for his commitment and focus as a tennis player.
Kim Clijsters’ professional career, achievements, personal life
Clijsters made her professional debut when she was only fourteen years old, but could only enter professional tournaments through qualifying since the WTA Tour’s policy did not allow players her age to receive main draw wild cards. On turning sixteen, she entered Wimbledon as the youngest player in the top 200. At the end of 1999, Clijsters was named WTA Newcomer of the Year, having risen to No. 47 in the world.
At the end of the 2001 season, she reached the 5th spot of the ranking and remained in the top 10 throughout 2002. In August 2003 she reached the summit of the rankings, both in singles and doubles. Her four singles Grand Slam wins came at US Open (2005, 2009, 2010) and the 2011 Australian Open. On-court she created great rivalries with Justine Henin and Williams sisters.
Clijsters is married to Brian Lynch, an American basketball coach, and former player. In her early career, she was in a relationship with Australian tennis player Lleyton Hewitt for some time and the couple got engaged before mutually ending their relationship in late 2004. The couple also entered the mixed doubles event at Wimbledon 2000 and reached to the final.
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