Clijsters Earns Attention but Not for Easy Victory

There are polite ways to ask almost any question--well, almost any question--and they are very good at doing it here when it comes to local anti-hero Lleyton Hewitt.

Hewitt’s girlfriend is 17-year-old Belgian tennis star Kim Clijsters and a source of much interest and amusement at the Australian Open is how much they resemble one another. Clijsters did acknowledge that, yes, people have noticed that after a reporter observed she could have been taken for a member of the Hewitt family in the Friends Box.

Now, the focus has turned to his on-court, emotive behavior. Whether it is truly obnoxious or refreshing appears to be in the eye of the beholder. But the 15th-seeded Clijsters, who defeated Spaniard Nuria Llagostera, 6-0, 6-1, in 45 minutes today, answered seven consecutive questions about Hewitt afterward.

There was a minimum of interest in her fourth-round opponent on Sunday--defending champion and No. 2-seeded Lindsay Davenport--or her overwhelming dominance against the nervous 20-year-old qualifier. Clijsters won 11 consecutive games before dropping one and never faced a break point.

“He is fine. It is fine,” Clijsters said of Hewitt’s loud on-court antics. “That is why I love to see him play tennis. I really enjoy it when he does all those things. I am a little bit like that myself.”

Though it is doubtful one of the respected veterans on the tour would air out Clijsters publicly the way Alex Corretja did late last year in regard to Hewitt. But this is Australia and it is all about Hewitt all the time, especially since Patrick Rafter is threatening to retire.

The reflected attention doesn’t bother the calm Clijsters. Her family has been in the media spotlight long before she hit her first forehand winner. Leo Clijsters, her father, was a sweeper for the Belgian national soccer team in the ‘80s, and went through a very public firing last season as coach of the Belgian club team KV Mechelen.

Her mother, Els, became seriously ill, needing a liver transplant about the time Clijsters was just beginning to make her impact on the tour during the U.S. Open in 1999. In that event, the strong youngster was a game away in the third set from defeating eventual champion Serena Williams.

“The young girls coming up are very good,” said Davenport, who is 2-0 against Clijsters. “They are very fiery, playing a very hard-hitting game. They go for shots and Kim and I, the last two times we played last fall, it was two tough three-set matches and I don’t expect anything different.”

Davenport, after surviving two three-set matches, had an easier time against Silvia Farina Elia of Italy, winning the third-round match, 6-2, 6-1, in 63 minutes. She is also faring well at the roulette wheel, taking away $500 after ousting Jelena Dokic in the first round.

“When the tournament is over, if I have won, I will put a lot more money down,” Davenport said, laughing.