They come from opposite sides of the great Belgian divide and for years their rivalry was one of the fiercest on the tennis circuit. Now, however, Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters, Belgium’s two top players, are among the few things the country has to celebrate.
Deeply divided but desperate to present a united face to the world, Belgian politicians are hoping that the meeting between the two at Wimbledon today will not upset plans for a showcase match between them next month intended to demonstrate national harmony.
Henin, from the francophone south, and Clijsters, from the Dutch-speaking northern region of Flanders, are unifying forces in a country split along language lines and facing an existential crisis. After the success of a Flemish separatist party in the recent general election, calls have intensified for a Czechoslovak-style divorce of the country.
Yet both players are admired across the troubled country, their fan base extending beyond ethnic lines.
To mark the start on Thursday of Belgium’s six-month stint holding the rotating presidency of the European Union, therefore, the Government came up with a brilliant wheeze: an attempt on the world record for attendance at a tennis match, using its stars.
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So it is that Henin and Clijsters will face each other on July 8 at the King Baudouin stadium — formerly the Heysel stadium and scene of the 1985 football disaster in which 39 people died. More than 30,000 tickets have been sold and it looks like they will beat the record set at the “battle of the sexes” match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs in Houston in 1973.
The two Belgians like to claim that a break from the game has made them both more rounded and better disposed to each other.
“Our relationship is very good,” Henin has said. “We feel we have grown up a lot, both of us. Kim decided to stop to have a baby and I took a long [break] from tennis for two years. Now we are back we ... are more adult and have a lot of respect for each other.”
Belgium’s bureaucrats will be hoping, however, that their plans are not scuppered by the Wimbledon game. Tensions between the two tends to rise when they face off in a high-stakes match (their head-to-head record stands at 12-12).
There was a time when Henin and Clijsters did not like each other — as a teenager Clijsters was bubbly and extrovert, Henin quiet and insular — an animosity that helped to fashion their rivalry in its formative years.
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Yves Leterme, the caretaker Prime Minister — and a Flemish politician mistrusted by French-speaking Belgians for his frequent gaffes, including forgetting the national anthem — was diplomatic when asked by The Times who he wanted to win.
“The most important match between Clijsters and Henin is not at Wimbledon, it is at the Heysel stadium on July 8. We will have almost 40,000 people. I know a Belgian girl will win and I support her,” he said.
Can the country hold together despite the rise in Flemish nationalism? “We always find a compromise in our country. We need state reform giving more competences but also more responsibilities to the regional communities — for instance in the field of taxation,” he said.
“We have not been able to find a new equilibrium between the two communities in Belgium. I hope that this time it will be successful and that within a couple of months we will have the compromise we need.”
A government spokesman added: “They played together in the Belgian Davis Cup team recently and there was no rivalry between them.
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“There is some [regional] sentiment about them, but when Henin is in the final of a Grand Slam, the Flemish people support her and so do the Walloons.
“We organised this match to show the world we can play together and both of them are totally behind this message. They agreed to play the match in that spirit.”
As Henin and Clijsters manage to put personal animosity behind them, so the Belgian political class will be hoping the country can learn to live with itself.