Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin-Hardenne meet for the 22nd time on Thursday with the two Belgians keen to bury the legacy of their bitter history in their quest for a place in the Wimbledon final. The pair may be compatriots but they have endured a frosty relationship which has boiled over into a public war of words over the years.
However, both are trying to put a brave face on affairs ahead of their first ever meeting here with a date against either top seed Amelie Mauresmo or Maria Sharapova with Saturday's final at stake.
"We get along," said Clijsters. "For me results don't matter at all. I like to make friends on the tour. That to me is more important and that's something that I prefer to take away. "My feelings towards her (Henin-Hardenne) have never changed. It has always been the same. I've always been nice to her. I've always been myself with her."
Henin-Hardenne said that the two try to get along for the sake of the Belgian Fed Cup team, if nothing else. "We came back together in the Fed Cup. We've been very professional about that. So there's a lot of respect between each other. That's it, and that's very important."
The friction began three years ago when a row between representatives of the two players spilled over to the newspapers, with Clijsters' team appearing to imply Henin-Hardenne had bulked up her waif-like physique by doping. Representatives from Clijsters' camp later issued an apology over the remarks, suggestions that Henin-Hardenne had branded "ridiculous".
In 2003, when asked if the various clashes between the two had caused a severance of relations, Henin-Hardenne replied bluntly: "Nothing's been broken, because there was nothing to break."
Henin-Hardenne, the third seed here, leads their head-to-heads 11-10 after winning the two most recent meetings - in the semi-finals of the French Open on her way to a third Roland Garros title and in the last four at Eastbourne two weeks ago in the warm-up for Wimbledon. Both have eased through the draw here with embarrassing ease with neither player yet dropping a set.
All the top four seeds are in the semi-finals with top seed Mauresmo, in her fourth semi-final, facing fourth seed and 2004 champion Maria Sharapova. Mauresmo, who was celebrating her 27th birthday on Wednesday, believes her breakthrough Australian Open title win in January has eased the burden on her.
"Things are differently for me both on and off the court," said the Frenchwoman. "This should be a good help for the semi-final." Sharapova eased past compatriot Elena Dementieva 6-1, 6-4 to reach the semi-final but found herself defending her trademark grunting and screaming which Dementieva believes should be toned down by umpire intervention. "I don't worry about that, that's her opinion," Sharapova responded tartly. "I wouldn't change a thing."
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