Brisbane International Tennis - Australian Open Series

Inquisitive Clijsters has her eye on Justine

AAP/Image: SMP Images Tuesday 5 January 2010 9 Comments »

Watching from the comfort of her hotel room, Kim Clijsters couldn’t quite tell just how good old rival Justine Henin was in her long awaited comeback match at the Brisbane International.

But she is very keen to find out for herself.

After disposing of good friend Alicia Molik 6-0 6-3 in an hour on Tuesday to book a quarterfinal berth, Clijsters couldn’t help wonder about meeting fellow comeback queen Henin in the tournament decider on Saturday night.

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Clijsters was impressed enough watching Henin’s official tennis comeback on TV on Monday – a clinical straight sets win over second seeded Russian Nadia Petrova.

But the former world No.1 admitted there was only one way to find out if the fellow Belgian really had returned with a vengeance.

“On TV it is hard to tell, once you stand in front of her I think you get a better feel,” Clijsters said after knocking the last Australian woman out of the Brisbane International.

“But she was very impressive I thought.

“She didn’t look like she had left.”

Amazingly the Belgians have met 22 times throughout their glittering careers that are both in comeback mode – with Henin leading 12-10.

After facing the inevitable questions about Henin’s match following her second round cameo, even Clijsters sounded excited about a potential 23rd showdown in Brisbane.

“[Playing Ana] Ivanovic, [Maria] Sharapova, Venus, Serena [Williams] – they are the big matches and obviously Justine now as well,” Clijsters said.

“Even in a tournament like here, if you get through to the semis or final [playing Henin] – those are the matches that you want to do it for.

“This is why we love to play tennis, for those big matches.

“Hopefully we get ourselves into that position whether it be here or Melbourne –[this month's Australian Open].”

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Tags: Alicia Molik, Justine Henin, Kim Clijsters

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