Two Belgians Pursue Grand Return in Paris

You may have spotted Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin-Hardenne at last year’s French Open, but it was more like a faint mirage.

Clijsters got plenty of camera time -- watching her then-boyfriend Lleyton Hewitt -- but no court time, because she was sidelined because of an injured left wrist. Henin-Hardenne, recovering from a debilitating virus, got through one round, wore down and went out in the second.

But the Belgians resurfaced this year with impressive ease. Clijsters won back-to-back hard-court titles. Henin-Hardenne returned strongly on clay, winning three consecutive tournaments.

Full circle? Not quite, on the eve of the French Open, which starts today.

Henin-Hardenne, the 2003 French Open champion who is on a 17-match winning streak, spoke Saturday about the forced inactivity of 2004.

“I was going crazy,” she said, smiling. “I didn’t know if I was going to be at the top again. I’m not. The way is still very long for me now. What happened in the past few weeks gave me a little bit of confidence.

“But when I was home, I was going crazy because I usually have a lot of energy and I’m used to playing a lot of tennis. And I was in my bed, and that was really hard. But you need to accept that. It’s life. You need to take lessons from that, and that’s what I think I did.”

In the first round, Henin-Hardenne plays Conchita Martinez of Spain, and Clijsters, coming off a right knee injury suffered in Berlin this month, today meets qualifier Meilen Tu.

Clijsters is playing her first major since the 2004 Australian Open. She practiced against Tatiana Golovin of France on Saturday and said it was the first time she played some points, acknowledging she felt “a little shaky.”

“That hopefully is going be good enough to win my first match, then sort of build my game each match I get to play,” said Clijsters, a two-time French Open finalist.

And the troublesome, surgically repaired left wrist is fine, she reported. Clijsters has had so many MRI exams, the procedure doesn’t even bother her anymore.

“At the beginning, I didn’t like them, with the noise and everything,” she said. “But now, I even fall asleep in them. It’s no problem.”

One thread running through the pre-tournament interviews was questions about the withdrawal of 2002 champion Serena Williams, who pulled out Friday because of a left ankle injury.

Henin-Hardenne, in French, said: “The tournament doesn’t stop because Serena didn’t come.”

The Williams family member who will be on hand arrived with some added confidence. Venus won her first tournament in a year, taking the title Saturday at Istanbul, Turkey.

Williams hasn’t had many breaks lately, but she received one by landing in a soft part of the draw. Venus, who plays Marta Marrero of Spain today, is in the same section as struggling defending champion Anastasia Myskina of Russia, who has been beset by injuries and reported personal problems. Myskina’s mother, Galina, has been suffering from a serious illness.

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Top-seeded Roger Federer begins the pursuit of the only Grand Slam title to elude him, facing 20-year-old qualifier Dudi Sela of Israel today. Sela has never played in the main draw of a Slam or an ATP tour-level match.

Then Federer’s road would get considerably tougher. Carlos Moya of Spain could loom in the round of 16 and David Nalbandian of Argentina in the quarters. Rafael Nadal of Spain is a possible semifinal opponent.

“Honestly, I don’t see it being such an unbelievably tough draw,” Federer said. “Maybe we see different players in the draw.

“I’m not worried about playing anybody. ... Maybe you think it’s tough because Nadal is in my section. He will be down in the semis, so if I’m there I’ll be quite happy.”