This week, Mr Ed takes a trip to Antwerp to check out Clijsters the Younger, and then whizzes over to Santiago, where the Chilean ATP tournament was predictably fertile in emotion.
Elke Clijsters seeks her own voice
One of the intriguing aspects of the WTA stop in Antwerp this week, aside from the diamond-studded racquet that goes to the winner, was a chance to check out Kim Clijsters's little sister, 17-year-old Elke. The younger Clijsters received a wild card into the main draw of the Antwerp tourney.
It should be said that according a wild card to Clijsters, ranked only 99 in the juniors and 773 in the pros, was a controversial decision. It meant denying a wild card to a player like Laurence Courtois, who helped lead Belgium to the Fed Cup championship last year. But the family patriarch Leo Clijsters made the request. And it seems that when "Lei" talks, Belgian tennis listens! Elke drew eventual semifinalist Patty Schnyder in the first round, and lost with honour, 6-3, 7-6 (7/5)
Elke had been highly regarded as a prospect in her early teens, but in the last two years her star has fallen. With injury problems, and only mediocre results to show in junior competition, Elke was receiving less and less attention from the Flemish tennis training centre, the VTV, which had earlier helped to develop Kim's prodigious talents. Papa Clijsters, frustrated with Elke's lack of progress, recently pulled his younger daughter out of the VTV program. Elke now works with former Belgian pro Ann Dev
ries.
This week, Elke told the Belgian daily Le Soir that she still clings to the dream of an excellent pro career, but is preparing herself in case of failure. "I want to be better than Kim, but I don't feel any obligation," said Elke. "If I don't make it in tennis I'll go back to school. There is no jealousy, on the contrary, I am proud of my sister."
Against the veteran Schnyder, Elke showed commendable fighting spirit, as well as a hard serve and, unlike her more famous sister, an appealing propensity to move forward. "My technique is not better than Kim's, but it's different," commented Elke after her first round loss. "She plays aggressive, hitting each ball hard. I would rather finish a point at the net."
Just ask Serena Williams ? tennis is filled with examples of younger siblings unable to escape the shadow of the more celebrated elder. We wish Elke success in her attempt to find her own path.
Emotions run hot in Chile
Flashback to April 200, an American Zone Davis Cup tie in Santiago, Chile, between bitter South American rivals Argentina and Chile. Argentina's Mariano Zabaleta is leading in the fourth set of a tough battle with Chilean Nicolás Massú. The crowd is rambunctious, and Massú is warned because of delay in play caused by the crowd noise. A minority of angry fans throw objects onto the court. Zabaleta is heard to snap angrily at a ballgirl who does not pick up one of the projectiles. More objects rain dow
n on the court. We have a tennis riot on our hands, and the tie has to be abandoned.
Perhaps predictably, emotions were again fertile at the ATP stop in Chile this week. The luck of the draw willed that the 2000 "villain", Zabaleta, was to face local hero Marcelo Ríos in the first round. It was a tense struggle, won by the Argentine, 6-4 7-6(6).
Again, emotions ran high toward the end of the match. In the concluding tie-break, Zabaleta appealed a line call, much to the displeasure of the local spectators. To add to their displeasure, the umpire checked the mark and agreed with Mariano, overturning the decision of the lines judge. Upon concluding the match victoriously, the Argentine turned to a section of the crowd that had had been heckling him, to unleash a victory scream. A minority of fans, in a scene eerily reminiscent of that 2000 Davis
Cup incident, tossed plastic bottles on the court. Ríos sportingly helped to defuse the situation, walking off the court tightly bunched with Zabaleta and the umpire, acting as a sort of human shield.
Emotions stayed at a high pitch all week. In the second round, another Argentine, David Nalbandian, was disqualified for insulting a linesman. It seems that the official had seen Nalbandian's coach offering illegal coaching advice from the stands, and the normally calm Nalbandian was furious at the official's intervention. Nalbandian paid for his outburst, receiving a $10,000 fine and loss of computer points obtained in Santiago.
Perhaps the most fertile emotions in Santiago were experienced by Horacio de la Peña, a former excellent player now in the coaching business. De la Peña has two professional pupils, both South American up-and-comers ? Argentine José Acasuso and Chilean Francisco González. As luck would have it, the two met in the quarterfinals, with Australian Open quarterfinalist González emerging victorious, 6-4 7-6(5). "I'm both happy and sad," said the coach after this rare experience. "It's a very rare feeling. But
I'm happy that both played a high level of tennis."
De la Peña has surely not seen the last impressive exploits from his two talented young pupils.