Game over for Clijsters, Hewitt

22 October 2004

BRUSSELS – The four-year-courtship between tennis stars Kim Clijsters of Belgium and Lleyton Hewitt of Australia is over, it was confirmed Friday.

A statement on Clijsters’ official website, www.kimclijsters.be, confirmed news reports that the two, who had been planning a February 2004 wedding, have decided to go their separate ways.

“Kim and Lleyton, like any other couple breaking up, won’t communicate through the media about the split, as it happens to be a private matter,” the statement said.

It goes on to say that the pair distance themselves “from malicious gossip which inevitably surfaces in this kind of situation.”

Clijsters, 21, and Hewitt, 23, had been inseparable since meeting at the 2000 Australian Open, and got engaged last December.

The couple had been planning a big wedding in Australia in February, followed by a more intimate celebration in Belgium two months later.

A wrist injury prompted Clijsters, formerly ranked the world’s top woman tennis player, to stay out of competition until next year.

She currently has the 10th spot in the WTA Tour’s world rankings.

Subject: Belgian news