Henin-Hardenne: Friendship with Clijsters 'never existed' BY RAF CASERT Associated Press Oct. 27, 2003 11:51 a.m. BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP)— While the No. 1 women's ranking bounces between them, Justine Henin-Hardenne has admitted she and Belgian compatriot Kim Clijsters have no relationship and are not friends. Clijsters will replace Henin-Hardenne atop the WTA Tour rankings on Monday. Clijsters' 10-week reign ended a week ago when Henin-Hardenne beat her in the Zurich final and became No. 1 for the first time. But she virtually conceded the top ranking when she said she was too exhausted to defend her Generali Open title in Austria this past week. While Clijsters celebrated reclaiming No. 1 by winning her third straight SEAT Open title in Luxembourg on Sunday, Henin-Hardenne took time to highlight their rocky relationship. In a week in which Belgium produced postage stamps of their two stars, Henin-Hardenne made it clear that beyond sharing nationality, there was nothing that bound them. Henin-Hardenne said Clijsters had disappointed her during the summer by claiming she had faked an injury after losing the first set of the San Diego final to gain a psychological break. Henin-Hardenne went on to win. "She hurt me after the San Diego final," Henin-Hardenne told the Brussels daily Le Soir. But, she added, it didn't affect their relationship since there was none to start out with. "Nothing was broken between us because there was nothing to break. We have always protected this image of friendship that never existed," Henin-Hardenne said. "In the end, what happened is good, because now, things are very clear." In the absence of the injured Williams sisters, the battle of the Belgians for the No. 1 ranking will continue to the end of the year, at least. Next week, the Belgians will end their sterling seasons at the WTA Tour Championships in Los Angeles. And unless Clijsters successfully defends that title and her No. 1 ranking, Henin-Hardenne will be favored to end the season on top. Both players have eight tournament wins so far this year, and Henin-Hardenne beat Clijsters in the final of the French Open and U.S. Open. Before the U.S. Open, both players said any perceived problems between them were nonsense. "There's no tension, I think there's rivalry," Clijsters said. "Kim has a lot of fans. I have a lot of fans," Henin-Hardenne said. "We are just two different kinds of players, two different kinds of personalities." After the U.S. Open last month, their relationship worsened when adverse comments about Henin-Hardenne's physical improvement over the season were attributed to Kim's father and manager Lei Clijsters. Lei Clijsters has denied he tried to denigrate Henin-Hardenne or link her to doping allegations, but the damage was done. The public spat comes after a magical summer when the Belgians met in two Grand Slam finals. Even the Belgian royals came out to Paris to the French Open final, and King Albert II lauded the Dutch-speaking Clijsters and Francophone Henin-Hardenne as exemplary athletes who brought the linguistically divided nation together. They even played together on the Belgium Fed Cup team. They led the team to the Fed Cup in 2001 and to this year's semifinals in Moscow next month. However, both have pulled out of the team - Clijsters claiming poor Moscow attendance, and Henin-Hardenne citing a back infection - leaving Belgium with no realistic chance to win the nations event. And Henin-Hardenne has already said she won't compete for Belgium next year either. --

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