Clijsters–Henin rivalry
Encyclopedia
Kim Clijsters
Kim Antonie Lode Clijsters is a Belgian professional tennis player. As of 7 November 2011, Clijsters is ranked No. 13 in singles. Clijsters is a former World No. 1 in both singles and doubles....
are professional tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
players who engaged in a long standing rivalry which spanned twenty-five meetings over a twelve-year period, with eight of those meetings taking place in a Grand Slam
Grand Slam (tennis)
The four Major tennis tournaments, also called the Slams, are the most important tennis events of the year in terms of world tour ranking points, tradition, prize-money awarded, strength and size of player field, and public attention. They are the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and...
tournament. Their final competitive meeting came at the 2010 Wimbledon Championships
2010 Wimbledon Championships
The 2010 Wimbledon Championships took place on the outdoor grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom. The tournament ran from Monday 21 June until Sunday 4 July 2010. It was the 124th staging of the Wimbledon Championships, and the third Grand...
in the fourth round, with Clijsters winning in 3 sets, this brought their head to head record to 13–12 in Clijster's favour. The Belgians have met eight times in Grand Slam tournaments, three of which were finals. Henin leads 5–3 in Grand Slam play including winning all their final match ups.
They first met in 1998. 2001 was a historic year for the pair. Their first match was decided in the final set at Indian Wells in the third round which Clijsters won. At the French Open the tournament witnessed Clijsters and Henin facing off in the semifinals, where the winner would create history and become Belgium's first ever singles Grand Slam finalist. Clijsters created history by winning the match in three sets before losing an epic contest to Jennifer Capriati
Jennifer Capriati
Jennifer Marie Capriati is a former world number one ranked professional tennis player, and the winner of three women's singles championships in Grand Slam tournaments. Capriati made her professional debut in 1990 at the age of 14 when she reached the finals of the hard court tournament in Boca...
in the final. Just two weeks later though Henin beat Clijsters in three sets to win the Heineken Open. In November the pair teamed up to bring Belgium its first success in the Fed Cup competition.
Clijsters won in straight sets in both Sydney and the Australian Open quarterfinals at the start of 2002. Henin won only her second match in six meetings against Clijsters in the semifinals of Rome. In their final match of 2002 at the WTA Championships, Clijsters lost just three games to Henin.
At the Adidas International in the first of eight matches between the pair in 2003, Clijsters saw off Henin–Hardenne in straight sets to reach the final against Lindsay Davenport
Lindsay Davenport
Lindsay Ann Davenport is a former World No. 1 American professional tennis player. She has won three Grand Slam singles tournaments and an Olympic gold medal in singles. In 2005, TENNIS Magazine ranked her as the 29th-best player of the preceding forty years...
, which Clijsters won. The pair's next meeting came in the semifinals of their home event, the Proximus Diamond Games
Proximus Diamond Games
The Proximus Diamond Games was a professional tennis tournament held in Antwerp, Belgium. Held since 2002, the tournament takes place in the Sportpaleis, and was played at the beginning of February...
, with Clijsters again winning in straight sets before falling to Venus Williams
Venus Williams
Venus Ebony Starr Williams is an American professional tennis player who is a former World No. 1 and is ranked World No. 101 as of 10 October 2011 in singles and World No. 20 in doubles as of 2011. She has been ranked World No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association on three separate...
in the final. Henin–Hardenne hit back to win her first match of the year against Clijsters in Berlin. As Clijsters wasted three match points as Henin won the match in the final set 7–5. Henin then squared the series up for the year as she lost just four games to Clijsters as she won the French Open. Just two weeks later Clijsters stopped the two game losing streak as Henin retired from the final of the Ordina Open
Ordina Open
The Rosmalen Grass Court Championships, now sponsored by UNICEF and called the UNICEF Open, is a tennis tournament on the ATP Tour and WTA Tour held in 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands.-Singles:-Doubles:-Singles:-Doubles:-External links:*...
. The pair's next meeting was at the Acura Classic with Henin fighting back from a set down to defeat her compatriot. Henin went on to claim her second Grand Slam title of the year, defeating Clijsters in straight sets at the US Open. In their final match of the year the World Number One was at stake as they faced off in Germany. It was Clijsters who was the reigning World Number One who claimed it as she defeated Henin, coming from a set down to do so.
The Belgians met just once in 2004 and 2005, at the opening Grand Slam Tournament of 2004, the Australian Open. Again it was in the final and again Henin triumphed in the final set. It was a year and a half before they met again, this time in the final of the Rogers Cup, and Clijsters defeated Henin-Hardenne, whilst in the middle of a 22-match winning streak. The rivalry came to an end in 2006 as Clijsters retired in 2007, but not before three more matches were played. 2006 witnessed Henin defeating Clijsters in all three matches. Henin won in straight sets at the French Open and at Wimbledon, but needed three sets to get rid of her rival at Eastbourne. Wimbledon was the last match they played and it left Henin winning the series by 12 matches to 10. Also in 2006 Clijsters and Henin guided their nation to the final of the Fed Cup where they lost. Clijsters and Henin only played in the first round together; all other rounds Flipkins played, partnering Clijsters in the semifinals and Henin in the final.
Henin then followed suit and retired in 2008, but in 2009, Clijsters came out of retirement and Henin followed for the start of the 2010 season, reigniting the rivalry. Henin met Clijsters in the final at Brisbane in her first tournament back, which Clijsters finally won in the final set tiebreak. They then met in Miami and shared another match which went to the final set tie-break again. Clijsters then defeated Henin in three sets while at Wimbledon, while Henin injured her elbow during the first set, as Clijsters took the renewed rivalry score to 3–0. The pair were considering putting their fierce rivalry aside to compete together in the doubles of the 2012 Olympic Games. But the rivalry was ended when Henin retired once again, this time on doctors' advice because of the elbow injury sustained against Clijsters at Wimbledon, after playing the 2011 Australian Open
2011 Australian Open
The 2011 Australian Open was a tennis tournament featuring six different competitions, and part of the 2011 ATP World Tour, the 2011 WTA Tour, ITF Junior Tour and the NEC Tour, as tournaments for professional, junior and wheelchair players were held...
, leaving the final head-to-head 13–12 in Clijsters' favour. The pair's final match together was an exhibition in Antwerp in December 2010 with Clijsters winning a match tiebreaker.
Head-to-head
| Legend (1998–2009) | Legend (2009–present) |
|---|---|
| Grand Slam Grand Slam (tennis) The four Major tennis tournaments, also called the Slams, are the most important tennis events of the year in terms of world tour ranking points, tradition, prize-money awarded, strength and size of player field, and public attention. They are the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and... tournaments (8) |
|
| WTA Championships (1) | |
| Tier I (5) | Premier Mandatory (1) |
| Tier II (6) | Premier 5 (0) |
| Tier III (2) | Premier (0) |
| Tier IV & V (2) | International (1) |
Henin 12–13 Clijsters
| Year | |Tournament | |Surface | |Round | |Winner | |Score | K. C. | J. H. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Ramat HaSharon Ramat Hasharon Ramat HaSharon is a city located on Israel's central coastal strip in the south of the Sharon region, bordering Tel Aviv to the south and Herzliya and Kibbutz Glil Yam to the north. It is part of the Tel Aviv District, within Gush Dan metropolitan area... |
Hard | Q | Henin | 6–1, 7–6(3) | 0 | 1 |
| 1999 | Reims Reims Reims , a city in the Champagne-Ardenne region of France, lies east-northeast of Paris. Founded by the Gauls, it became a major city during the period of the Roman Empire.... |
Clay | F | Henin | 6–4, 6–4 | 0 | 2 |
| 2001 | Indian Wells Indian Wells Masters The Indian Wells Masters is an annual tennis tournament held in Indian Wells, California.... |
Hard | R32 | Clijsters | 1–6, 6–4, 6–3 | 1 | 2 |
| 2001 | French Open | Clay | SF | Clijsters | 2–6, 7–5, 6–3 | 2 | 2 |
| 2001 | 's-Hertogenbosch Ordina Open The Rosmalen Grass Court Championships, now sponsored by UNICEF and called the UNICEF Open, is a tennis tournament on the ATP Tour and WTA Tour held in 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands.-Singles:-Doubles:-Singles:-Doubles:-External links:*... |
Grass | F | Henin | 6–4, 3–6, 6–3 | 2 | 3 |
| 2002 | Sydney | Hard | QF | Clijsters | 7–6(5), 6–2 | 3 | 3 |
| 2002 | Australian Open Australian Open The Australian Open is the only Grand Slam tennis tournament held in the southern hemisphere. The tournament was held for the first time in 1905 and was last contested on grass in 1987. Since 1972 the Australian Open has been held in Melbourne, Victoria. In 1988, the tournament became a hard court... |
Hard | QF | Clijsters | 6–2, 6–3 | 4 | 3 |
| 2002 | Rome Rome Masters The Italian Open is an annual tennis tournament held in Rome, Italy. It is the most prestigious red clay tennis tournament in the world after the French Open, with the men's competition being an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event on the Association of Tennis Professionals tour, and the women's... |
Clay | SF | Henin | 7–5, 6–2 | 4 | 4 |
| 2002 | Los Angeles | Carpet | QF | Clijsters | 6–2, 6–1 | 5 | 4 |
| 2003 | Sydney | Hard | SF | Clijsters | 6–2, 6–3 | 6 | 4 |
| 2003 | Antwerp | Carpet | SF | Clijsters | 6–2, 7–6(3) | 7 | 4 |
| 2003 | Berlin | Clay | F | Henin | 6–4, 4–6, 7–5 | 7 | 5 |
| 2003 | French Open | Clay | F | Henin | 6–0, 6–4 | 7 | 6 |
| 2003 | 's-Hertogenbosch | Grass | F | Clijsters | 6–7(4), 3–0 retired | 8 | 6 |
| 2003 | San Diego | Hard | F | Henin | 3–6, 6–2, 6–3 | 8 | 7 |
| 2003 | US Open U.S. Open (tennis) The US Open, formally the United States Open Tennis Championships, is a hardcourt tennis tournament which is the modern iteration of one of the oldest tennis championships in the world, the U.S. National Championship, which for men's singles was first contested in 1881... |
Hard | F | Henin | 7–5, 6–1 | 8 | 8 |
| 2003 | Filderstadt | Hard (i) | F | Clijsters | 5–7, 6–4, 6–2 | 9 | 8 |
| 2004 | Australian Open | Hard | F | Henin | 6–3, 4–6, 6–3 | 9 | 9 |
| 2005 | Canada (Toronto) Canada Masters The Canada Masters , currently sponsored as the Rogers Cup, is an annual tennis tournament held in Canada. The men's competition is a Masters 1000 event on the Association of Tennis Professionals tour. The women's competition is a Premier 5 tournament on the Women's Tennis Association tour... |
Hard | F | Clijsters | 7–5, 6–1 | 10 | 9 |
| 2006 | French Open | Clay | SF | Henin | 6–3, 6–2 | 10 | 10 |
| 2006 | Eastbourne | Grass | SF | Henin | 6–3, 5–7, 6–1 | 10 | 11 |
| 2006 | Wimbledon The Championships, Wimbledon The Championships, Wimbledon, or simply Wimbledon , is the oldest tennis tournament in the world, considered by many to be the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London since 1877. It is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, the other three Majors... |
Grass | SF | Henin | 6–4, 7–6(4) | 10 | 12 |
| 2010 | Brisbane Brisbane International The Brisbane International is a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It is currently part of the ATP World Tour 250 series of the Association of Tennis Professionals World Tour and of the WTA Premier tournaments of the Women's Tennis Association Tour... |
Hard | F | Clijsters | 6–3, 4–6, 7–6(6) | 11 | 12 |
| 2010 | Miami | Hard | SF | Clijsters | 6–2, 6–7(3), 7–6(6) | 12 | 12 |
| 2010 | Wimbledon | Grass | R16 | Clijsters | 2–6, 6–2, 6–3 | 13 | 12 |
Breakdown of the rivalry
- Hard courts: Clijsters, 8–4
- Clay courts: Henin, 5–1
- Grass courts: Henin, 3–2
- Indoors: Clijsters, 2–0
- Grand Slam matches: Henin, 5–3
- Grand Slam finals: Henin, 3–0
- Year-End Championships matches: Clijsters, 1–0
- Year-End Championships finals: None
- Fed Cup matches: None; They are unable to play each other in a Fed Cup match because they both represent BelgiumBelgiumBelgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
. - All finals: Henin, 7–4