Clijsters beat her great rival 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (8/6) in Saturday´s final of the Brisbane International tournament, in a match that both players later described as by far the greatest of their 23 encounters.[break]
All the more remarkable was that Clijsters was playing only her fifth tournament since making a comeback to the sport, and Henin was playing her first after deciding to end her 20-month retirement.
With the year´s first Grand Slam just a week away, Clijsters said it would not be long before both Belgians would be back among the sport´s elite.
"I think with the level that we both played today, I think we are both capable of getting back into the top 10 and I think it won´t take long for Justine to have a crack at that," Clijsters said following her win.
"The level was so high.
"It´s fun to play in a big match when you are both playing good tennis and that´s what it´s all about."
Clijsters noted that this time around it would be a three-pronged attack from Belgium, with the two old-stagers joined by a fresh-faced newcomer in Yanina Wickmayer, 20.
"Belgian tennis is on a very high level today," Clijsters said.
"Yanina Wickmayer won in Auckland today -- so it was a good day for Belgian tennis."
The 26-year-old Clijsters said that in the past she had often been overwhelmed by the occasion when playing Henin, and her tennis had suffered as a result.
"That´s something that really bothered me in the previous meetings against her -- that I wasn´t always able to play my best tennis -- and that´s something today that I feel I definitely improved, and that to me is the most positive thing to come out of this match," she said.
"I hope there will be many more and I think we set the bar very high for the rest of the year."
Henin, 27, who injured her leg late in the third set, said the tournament had given her a big boost ahead of the Australian Open.
"I would say it was the most intense match we´ve played," she said.
"I´m really happy, it gives me the confidence I need before the Open."
Clijsters too will head to Melbourne full of confidence.
"It´s fun to play a match like this," she said.
"There were rallies out there where we were both laughing and both having fun, and that´s what it should be like.
"It´s moments like that make you appreciate one another but also make you appreciate how lucky we are to be playing the sport and being a part of a great match like that."
Related story
Israeli occupation arrests 16 Palestinians in West Bank
_20210113214521.jpg)
