Kim Clijsters, the Belgian tennis sensation and comeback queen opens up about her relationship with fellow national tennis player Justine Henin. The status quo has many talking about their perceived rivalry. Four-time Grand Slam winner Clijsters and compatriot Henin, have had a rather bittersweet relationship throughout their career.

Their rivalry has seen everything. From playing on the same team and representing their country to facing each other in major Grand Slam finals. They have even entered a war of words, which didn’t see any of them mincing their words.

Kim Clijsters And Justin Henin Couldn’t Decide On A Common Language

In a recent podcast on the channel TennisWorthy with Brett Haber, Kim bears it all. She talks about how long her association with Henin has been and even before the so-called rivalry started they were teammates first. “And then we got to play on the same team when we played for our country and under 14 and under 16. And so, having experienced, you know, sharing a room together, and I was trying to get along, not knowing which language should we speak, you know, I didn’t my French wasn’t great. Her Flemish wasn’t great.”

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According to Kim, she and Henin, have shared very crucial and personal moments. “And we played together, we traveled together, you know, saw some of our struggles, you know, after a mom passed away, I was, you know, I was at a tournament with her only a few weeks later.”

Kim says the relationship she has with Henin is something she cherishes, “There’s connections that you built with somebody that goes so much further beyond tennis, that you know, even when I lost the Grand Slam final against her, of course, I was disappointed. And I was more mad at myself that I wasn’t able to compete at a at a high level at that moment.” 

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She adds. “But then when I see her holding up the trophy and like there’s a part of me that was also happy for her. And I guess it’s just the human side of life.” With her peak as a tennis player behind her, Kim speaks more like someone who has taken on bigger roles.

Kim Clijsters Once Accused Justine Henin Of Faking An Injury In A Crucial Match

The two Belgian sensations ruled the courts in the early 2000s. The two crossed paths 25 times in almost 12 years and have 11 Grand Slam Singles titles between them.

Their rivalry heated up when Kim accused Henin of faking an injury to gain an advantage during their face-off in the 2003 Acura Classic final in San Diego. The match was going Kim’s way until Henin called for a medical time-out to change the bandage on her painful blister, although for Kim, Henin’s movement looked just fine.

This further fanned the flames of their rivalry, drawing in befitting reactions from Henin. Do let us know what you think about their rivalry in the comment section.