← Served with Andy Roddick
Served with Andy Roddick
2026 Madrid Open, WTA CEO Steps Down & Fan Q&A | Love All w/ Kim Clijsters
01:15:33
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- [00:01]
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Blair Henley
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Blair Henley
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Kim Clijsters
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Blair Henley
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Kim Clijsters
Hi everyone. Welcome back to another episode of Love All. Really excited to be back. I've had a few days off and I feel haven't been watching the tennis that much. So Blairs, I'm very happy that you're going to be keeping me informed with all the latest news on today's episode.
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Blair Henley
I'm going to try Kim, but. But the reason that you were maybe slightly more out of the loop is is because you had the ultimate test of your newly repaired Achilles. You went to Disney World, Kim, and that means like what, 25,000 steps a day? Like it's bananas.
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Kim Clijsters
Yes. So had some good sneakers and the Achilles held up fine. It was really nice to spend a few days there. I been once for like a day but just did a couple of things so it was really nice to take the kids and and spend some time all together and yeah, but definitely my Achilles held up pretty good. Like I didn't have any, you know, besides the fact that it gets a little stiff still when I sit down after or I'm waiting for on one of the rides where I don't want to go on. And every bell is is is getting ready to go on. Had my nausea tablets with me so they definitely worked as well. Well not all the time but I used them. But yeah, fun weekend. We had a really good time. We got to see our godson Jaden who goes to school there. He's recovering from ACL surgery and so we got to see him which was great. And yeah, so I feel like we checked that off the list and you
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Blair Henley
never have to go back. As someone who went to Disney two years ago. I too felt like I checked it off the list. Yes, I can say that we did it. And listen, unless my child, one of them says, this is my greatest dream, is to go back to Disney, we ain't going back.
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Kim Clijsters
Yes, same. I'm on the same page there.
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Blair Henley
Okay, fair enough. Wait, real quick. What kind of ride does Kim Kleister's not like to go on?
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Kim Clijsters
Garden of the Galaxy?
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Blair Henley
Oh, my gosh, Kim, that's the best ride.
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Kim Clijsters
It looked beautiful, but I got so sick from it the whole day. Like, I felt sick. Like, even at dinner at night, I still, my stomach wasn't. Wasn't right. What else got me a little bit like Tron.
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Blair Henley
Those are the good ones. Okay.
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Kim Clijsters
They are good. Like I, you know.
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Blair Henley
But your stomach was like. Yeah.
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Kim Clijsters
The first one we did was Mount Everest, I guess Animal Kingdom with the big drop. Like, that, like, surprised me. I didn't think that was going to be such a big, big drop. I have my 9 year old like, thinking like, oh, this is going to be great. And so I was like, yeah, you'll be fine. And then he, you know, gave me a look the whole day. Like, didn't trust me after that. So it was. I really enjoyed Ratatouille, the Little Mermaid, Peter Pan. Like, all those kinds. Like, they ended up my, like, favorite. So the, the conclusion of the trip is that I'm getting old and that my brain doesn't like to be swung. Or how do you say, like. Yeah, yeah, swung pretty much every direction.
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Blair Henley
Oh, my gosh. Well, while you were in Disney World, I was in Las Vegas for 24 hours for a really neat event. It was a corporate event and it was organized by one of the female leaders in finance. And she brought together a group of women, both colleagues of hers, as well as clients, all extremely successful, high performing women. It was really an honor to be around them. Obviously, we were around them. And then they also brought in Tracy Austin, Stephanie Grof, and myself. So who was feeling like an underachiever, Kim? It was me. I was like, man, maybe I should have used my economics degree. But no, it was a real honor to be there. We did like a two and a half hour clinic. I got to work with a lot of the players who were maybe least experienced or who were picking up a racket. Again, one woman who was there hadn't played in 20 years, but she was such a soldier. She was out there for the whole two and a half hours. She's like, well, what's the next thing we're going to work on? And so seeing sort of that love for tennis reignited reminded me of why I loved teaching tennis for the 10ish years that I, that I taught. Because it is cool to see the little things click. And when you maybe say something that allows a player to find the sweet spot and then you see their eyes light up, that's so much fun. So we had the best time. Tracy Austin and I have so much fun together. We just laugh and giggle and tell stories and she is just the best time. And then obviously to be in the presence of, you know, she goes by Stephanie now. Stephanie Graf is just incredible. And the time and care she gives to everyone who is in an atmosphere like that is really neat. And then we also got a Q and A with her and so got to hear some of her thoughts from her time playing on tour and how she adjusted to life after the tour. She gave us some background on, on meeting Andre, and I don't think I realized that that really did happen. Like, obviously they sort of knew each other in passing, but their meeting didn't really happen until like the very, very tail end of her career. But there was one other story she told that stuck out to me. Can I tell you, please. So she, we were, we were talking about. I actually don't remember the question that brought this up, but she was talking about watching Carlos Alcaraz and the wonder and amazement she experiences seeing him enjoy both the wins and seemingly the losses. Like, obviously he doesn't like to lose, but. But you know what she's talking about, right? Because we all see it when we watch Alcaraz is there is just sort of a way that he embraces the journey of whether it ends in a win or loss that I think is, is hard for a lot of players to wrap their minds around. And I sort of knowing the answer to this, I followed up just for effect. I said, you know, that's not how you felt on the court. And her answer was, you know, absolutely not. For, for her, it was, you know, such a sort of a mental grind. And she's been really honest about that. You know, probably during and after her career, she was never able to, to maybe fully the process. And so it was really interesting hearing that perspective.
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Kim Clijsters
Very. Yeah. You can talk about the Stephanie Graf old podcast if you like. Like, I want to be listening and like learning, but I understand what she's saying. The thing that I maybe pick up once in a while here and there regarding Alcaraz is that I hope he can maintain that. Like, I, I've seen little Little moments where there is a little bit of a. I don't know, maybe a little bit bored. Maybe it's, you know, the lifestyle is becoming a little bit too much or intense at times. And it's not that the sport, like. And to me, that kind of, like, I recognize that feeling a little bit. And again, I'm not comparing myself to, like, the results, but it's when I see him in his first, you know, couple of years on tour, like, he would walk in and he always says hi to everybody, and he's laughing and he's. He has a very open kind of energy, I think, towards everybody. But you have to learn how to protect that. And I hope that he can. Yeah. That he learn how to do that, but it's hard because. Yeah, I had to do that, too. And I think the first time when I stopped playing when I was 24, 25, was because I didn't protect that enough. I was 16 when I started playing on tour, and I just didn't. I also wanted to be, like, I enjoyed it. I was living my dream. Right. Like, I wanted to be on tour when I was a young girl, and I looked up to Steffi Graf and Monica Sellers and Sanchez and Martina Hinges Capriati. Like, those were the women that I just wanted to be around, and I wanted to see what they were like in real life. But then after a while, like, you realize, like, okay, like, I need to protect this. And everything around it became a little bit too much after a while. So I hope that he really. Yeah. That he learns to protect that, and then he has people around him who can kind of shelter him from maybe getting a little bit burned out by everything else that comes with the lifestyle of tennis.
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Blair Henley
Well, he has some enforced rest now out, at least through Roland Garros with that wrist issue. We hope it's precautionary, but it was just interesting to hear that perspective and to think about how amazing it is that she was that successful 22 slams. And admittedly, she was like, I didn't enjoy that, but it's amazing how you
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Kim Clijsters
still have, like, if. And it just shows how everybody's so different. Right. Like, I. If I wasn't happy, I couldn't perform well. So for her, like, to be. I don't know what. Yeah. How she would describe it or, you know, what mindset she had to be in.
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Blair Henley
And I don't want to put words in her mouth.
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Kim Clijsters
Yeah. But I also know Justine was different than I am. Right. Like, than I was, like, when we were playing so Everybody has their own way of kind of going through, you know, the, the, the life on tour, and, and you just have to find what works for you and, and you protect it and you grow over time and you. Yeah, there's a balance. Like, for me, it was really important to find that balance between being locked in at the right time and taking, you know, turning, like my tennis switch in my head off, you know, even during tournaments, I had to do that. And that doesn't mean you have to go. I was going out and partying and stuff like that, but it was just to be able to go for a walk with, like, if I had a childhood friend traveling with me or. Yeah, just to be able to kind of turn off that tennis brain for a little bit and then turn it on again, you know, the next day when I had to go get ready for my warmup or, you know, for my, for my next match.
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Blair Henley
All right, well, we are going to have some headlines for all of you, and then, as promised, we've got a Q and A incoming. I cannot wait to ask Kim. They're. Most of these questions are for Kim, some are for me. We're going to try to mix it up, but first we want to talk a little bit of Madrid. So as we're recording this on Tuesday morning, the men are playing round of 16 matches. The first couple of quarterfinals are going on court for the women. Mira Andreeva already into the semis on the women's side, but there have been some, you know, again, you can call them headlines, but also things, if you're a tennis observer, that have stuck out to us. I think, you know, Padapova into the quarterfinals as a lucky loser is quite a story. She beat the number two seed, Rybakina in the round of 16. Karolina Pliskova is back also into the quarter. She faces Padapova. Linda Noskova defeated Coco Gauff, who had her Jordan flu game earlier in the week. She yacked on court, proceeded to win the match, maybe had some lingering effects from that sickness that affected more than just Coco Gauff. Many players out with sickness this week in Madrid, but she was up 4:1 in the third versus Nava. So credit to the 21 year old for. For coming back and getting that done. What else? She faces Kostyuk, of course. Rafael Horar, the Spaniard making headlines. He. He faces Vit. Actually, hang on, I'm going to get the pronunciation correct because I had to pronoun, pronounce his name. Walking onto Arthur Ashe Stadium and sweet Barbora Krachikova, his fellow Czech, sent me like eight voice notes in order, like, slow, slow, faster, faster, faster. You say it. Vit Kopsheva. It's something along those lines. So he faces Vit Kopsheva, who also, I believe is playing in his first Masters 1000 round of 16 for a spot in the quarters and a matchup against Jannik Sinner. You know, the organizers, in the absence of Carlos Alcaraz, are thanking the Lord that Hodar is doing what he's doing on the court. So fun to watch beat Fonseca took the ball. Did you see any of the highlights of that match, Kim, in the midst of your Disney experience?
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Kim Clijsters
That was my escape. Blair let me go in the corner
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Blair Henley
and watch some highlights while nauseous. Gosh, he takes the ball so early.
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Kim Clijsters
Yeah, he does. He's really looking to be the one in charge of the points, which, which I like, which is, I think the, the standard that the guys like Alcaraz and Sinner have said is that, you know, you have to be the one in charge because otherwise you're going to be running around and you don't want to be the one on the defensive side against, you know, against those type of players. So it's really interesting to see, you know, this young, up and coming player who's already kind of taken on a tactic. I feel like that Sinner and that, that Alcaraz have brought to the sport that has been different from a Rafa and a Roger and a Novak even. And so it's really interesting how that way of playing tennis on the men's side is now you see it in, let's call it the next generation of players. So really, really nice to see that he's doing well. And like you said, I'm sure that Feliciano Lopez and Garbinha Mugaruza are super happy with his results. But yeah, we've had some really, really good matches. Unfortunately, it's always annoying, like as a, you know, if you're part of the organization to hear about, you know, players getting sick and players pulling out of the tournament. But at least this will give it a lot of positive news.
- [15:15]
Blair Henley
In some WTA news, last week we got a memo from WTA chair Valerie Camillo letting everyone know that WTA CEO Portia Archer stepped down in advance of her contract renewal. It was, it was. In other WTA news, there was also the ITF filing suit against the WTA, because in short, and we can bring you more details on this as they become available, but the WTA was attempting to remove the ITF's board representative and the ITF, as you might imagine. Didn't. Didn't love that. Didn't love that idea. WT claimed it was a conflict of interest, which makes me chuckle only because it is so hard to not have a conflict of interest in tennis. So lots of news coming out of the WTA and I just want to spare a thought for their comms team because they cannot catch a break. It is CEO stepping down, you know, lawsuits. We've got a war in the Middle east, you know, is. Is the WTA Finals gonna happen in Riyadh this year as planned? I don't know. I wouldn't want to be the one to have to make that decision. So I don't. It's just a lot.
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Kim Clijsters
It's. It's hard. Yeah. And it's like you said, it's just, you know, we're used to. And when I say we like, I mean like the WT you're used to kind of taking out fires and, you know, adjusting. But it feels like at the moment there's a lot of things coming together. So we'll see how it. I'm sure it all will get solved. And whoever is stepping into the footsteps of Portia is going to have their hands full right away with making the adjustments and big decisions on whether the WTA Finals will be in rehab or not. And if not, where are they going to be? Where are they going to go next year? So exciting things as well. Talking about will the finals come back to America in 2027. Those are really exciting things to look forward to. And, but yeah, I guess that's the never ending story of the WTA is just the constant changes and adjustments, but they do a lot of really good things as well. And I think sometimes that gets a little bit overshadowed by the latest news that is out. Right?
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Blair Henley
Totally. All right, another update for you if you were with us last week, we detailed the doping case or the, the ITIA anti doping case against Marketa Vondrosheva, who is going to be in front of a tribunal arguing her case for not getting a suspension because she refused a test outside of her designated whereabouts window. We learned something new in researching that case, Kim, which is that you can be tested outside of that window. And in fact, if you're on that list, you are guaranteed to be tested at least three times in a year. And according to the head of the itia, one of those three is likely going to be outside. At least one of those three is likely going to be outside of that whereabouts window. After we recorded, I got a message from the director of communications, Adrian Bassett at the itia, who sort of broke this down for me and explained some the details. I'd love to read some of it to you because I thought that it was. It was clarifying to me as well. The reason you can be tested outside of the hour, your whereabouts hour, is that if a player could only be tested during one hour at a time of their choosing, then to put it bluntly, it opens a door to those who might cheat substances these days can stay in the system for a matter of hours. So we have to have that unpredictability to have a strong testing program and to protect the vast majority of players who are playing fair for out of competition testing. The testers will have identification, a letter from the itia, and there are checks that can be done to verify the tester's identity 100%. It's tough for players to have to do this, but the testers also have a challenging job. It's certainly not one I would like to do. They're well trained, often work across multiple sports, and as you can imagine, when doing this sort of work, they have very strict protocols they have to follow. Now this, this is the thing that we clarified last week, that if a player makes contact with the tester, even if it's outside your whereabouts hour, so that could be answering your intercom, that could be answering a phone call, that could be seeing them in a hallway. If the player makes contact, they have to do the test. Otherwise we will be in the same position we are now. As you said, if the player is out or uncontactable when the tester comes outside of the hour, it's not counted as a missed test. But providing a sample when notified is a fundamental rule of any anti doping program in any sport. And refusal is about as serious as it gets, other than having a banned substance in your system. And then this is the last section here. We work with the Tours to send out reminders and info regularly and also encourage players, agents, et cetera, to talk to us if they have questions or need help. Last year, we launched something called the Line, which allows players to contact us directly via WhatsApp with any questions, and they all get answered by a real person, which has been well received and well used. Our anti doping team also do loads of support with two players with whereabouts doing online and face to face sessions. Unfortunately, players do not always read the Tour updates or emails from us, nor do they always turn up to sessions, which is an ongoing challenge. So I thought that that was good information to have again, I learned something new through this case. I know you have thoughts on this, though.
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Kim Clijsters
I do. I, you know, after reading this or hearing you say it, I do understand. Right. Like, we all want a clean sport. That's the most important thing at the end of the day. But we also want it to be happening safe. And with the way that the world works these days, unfortunately, there can be, you know, bad people around who want to take advantage of this. And we talked about it earlier, like, you can have somebody from UPS in a weird, you know, in a, in a suit that they ordered off of Amazon and, and pretend that they, you know, are from Amazon, whatever. Like, there's a lot of things that, that can go wrong when it's. And, and where we, as a celebrity, as a famous athlete, like, you just have to. You're always a little bit more cautious. And so, you know, the out of competition or the out of hour testing, whether it. It's once or three times a year, I just feel like it's a little bit. It's a risk. And I don't think, I don't think I would open my door unless I recognize the people. Because a lot of times it is the same people that will come to the house. Like, I had a couple that used to, you know, I saw them quite often and it was funny because they'll sit at your table. A few times it happened where I literally just went and peed. And like five minutes later, my doorbell rang at like six o'. Clock. I was like, o, it's doping control. And then they just sit there for like an hour, hour and a half until you have to go again. And then. But I was like, would you want some coffee? Do you want like a glass of water? Like, and they can't take anything from you either. Like, they don't want, you know, like, there's nothing. You're just sitting there waiting for, you know, and you have some conversation with them. But it's definitely. Yeah, it's a, It's a tough situation, I feel like. And so I'm curious how this is going to turn out because I, Yeah, I don't know if what I would have done in that situation if I would have been. Unless I recognize them, if they're new people, strangers, even if I answered my intercom, there's no way I would have opened the door.
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Blair Henley
Yeah. Interesting to know, though, that There is a WhatsApp number that you could message and I assume ask for confirmation. But it also seems like Vondrozheva did not know the severity or the consequences she could be facing by declining this test so underscores how important it is for players and their agents and teams to be well versed in the rules. I will say I do really appreciate the fact that the ITA reached out to me immediately. I. I would have, you know, I would love to talk to them more. I would love to ask more questions. Long, long time ago, when I was a writer, I think I mentioned I did a lot of reporting on anti doping cases. Things have changed so much since then. The ITF used to oversee the anti doping program. And talk about a conflict of interest where you have an internal organization running, you know, a program that should, you know, a top player be found to have a banned substance in their system? I don't know. Would their potential potentially be reason to skirt the line there? Maybe. So I tested.
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Kim Clijsters
Things have changed so many times after I won, like, a slam, or even if it was, like, in singles or in doubles, like you, you, I would get tested on site, and then when I would fly home, you would expect, like, within two, three days, like, you know, somebody would, you know, ring your doorbell and. And come and test you again. So it used to be the ITF back in the day. Yeah, you're right. I just thought it was interesting. Like, even where you talk about, like, how there's people are trying to cheat, so why they're doing this is because they want, you know, people can have a bad substance just for a couple of hours. Like, they're obviously, they know all these things, and, like, we, you know, I think, like, whatever, like, it's. It lasts forever in your. In your blood or at least for a long time. But, like, just to hear that. That there's so many things out there that, you know, players can take to benefit, you know, their tennis or their recovery or whatever it is is. Yeah, it just shows me that I don't know anything about that stuff, basically, for good reason.
- [25:42]
Blair Henley
I'm glad you are not well versed on what substances are going to be out of your system in just a few hours. But that is the reason we have to have a solid, well organized program is because dopers are always 10 steps ahead of the people doing the testing. And so, as intense as this whole thing sounds, the people doping are steps ahead. So anyway, it's an unfortunate thing that we have to worry about people cheating, but when there's a lot of money involved, and I think in tennis in particular, similar to, like, cycling, where it's a small, insulated team, there are opportunities to cheat if you were if you wanted to do that. But Kim, I'm thrilled that you have no idea how you would even cheat. I don't know.
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Kim Clijsters
But who would want to take that risk? That's, that's, you know, my biggest.
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Blair Henley
Yeah, totally. It seems it just overshadows everything, all
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Kim Clijsters
the great results that you've had. Like, it just, it will always. Yeah. Overshadow all the good things you've done on court as well. Yeah.
- [26:47]
Blair Henley
All right. Our last, Our last quick headline. You're going to love that. I threw this in here. After almost six years, the first couple of tennis, Taylor Fritz and Morgan Riddle have broken up. Kim Kleister's. Do you have thoughts?
- [27:05]
Kim Clijsters
Do I have thoughts? What do you mean? The first couple of tennis, like the first influencer.
- [27:11]
Blair Henley
Well, no, I didn't like the first couple, as in, like the first, you know, the President and the first Lady. You know, she, it really did Morgan Riddle's appearance on the tour. It's not like she's the first tennis girlfriend ever to appear in, in men's tennis, but she was the first one to sort of capitalize on social media. I vividly remember in like February of 2022 when she posted her TikTok. That really made her explode. And the concept was, I'm here to make tennis cool again. And as you might imagine, that was an inflammatory statement to. Who have followed tennis for, for their entire lives and thought that tennis was really cool to begin with. But I, when I first saw that, I remember I posted it on Twitter. That was back when Twitter still existed. Our rip. Original tennis Twitter. It was still to this day the most interacted with tweet of. Of my time on that social platform. And I was like, this is good. This is a good thing. I love that she is making people who are outside of the tennis bubble think about the sport of tennis.
- [28:28]
Kim Clijsters
It's a little like the wags in soccer back in the day, right? Like the, you know, when the World cup is on, you have the, the Brit, the, the English, like the great Brit, the wax from the British team against the wax from the French team. Like you have like the rival rivalries like that. But I do think, I don't know, like, I just, as you were talking, I was like thinking like, like for a lot of these guys, like, it also has to be a little bit, you know, weird, like if they take something serious, like, are these women just here because they want to have, have a career in the spotlight or, or, you know, try to grow their, their social media. But I guess that's part of life, right? Any. Any sport.
- [29:07]
Blair Henley
A question you have to ask. But I guess my thought is, listen, why not capitalize if you're going to be at these tournaments? Why not? And to me, she absolutely did bring in a new demographic. She got eyes on the sport of tennis that might not otherwise be there when she would go to tournaments and people would tag her with their outfits. Or, you know, I'm just here to see Morg's boyfriend, you know, or, you know, with Paige Lorenz. I'm just here to see Paige's, you know, now Beyonce, that, that is bringing in new eyeballs. I thought it was great. I got to know her a little bit and I thought, I thought, you know, I still think Morgan is really smart and good at what she does, and I hope that she still stays involved in tennis somehow. Obviously, you know, thoughts and prayers to them. Breakups are tough, but I hope she stays involved in tennis.
- [30:02]
Kim Clijsters
Yeah, we'll see. I don't know. I never really. I never met her. Never. Yeah, saw her around either. So I really don't have much to say about this player.
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Blair Henley
You're not, you're not going to be tagging Morgan Riddle with your next tournament outfit?
- [30:19]
Kim Clijsters
No. No.
- [30:20]
Blair Henley
Okay. Fair enough. All right.
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Kim Clijsters
Yeah. No.
- [30:24]
Blair Henley
I'm gonna put Kim out of her misery. All right, when we come back, we've got your burning questions for both of us. We cannot wait. See you in a few.
- [30:35]
Kim Clijsters
I get so many headaches every month.
- [30:37]
Blair Henley
It could be chronic migraine, 15 or more headache days a month, each lasting four hours or more.
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Kim Clijsters
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Blair Henley
All right, Kim, you ready for our Q and A?
- [31:54]
Kim Clijsters
Yes, I am.
- [31:55]
Blair Henley
Okay, first question is for you from Gemma, and she asks, after winning a Grand Slam, is there an emotion you felt that would surprise people?
- [32:07]
Kim Clijsters
Yeah, I do think there's definitely an emotion that, to me, sticks out, which is what surprised me even at the time, was in 2005 when I won my first Grand Slam. And I do think I, you know, I kind of felt, like, very relieved that I was able to finally win one after losing my first four Grand Slam finals. In singles, you're happy and, like, the first few minutes, but then that feeling goes away pretty quickly. And you have all the formalities, right, that you do the trophy ceremony, you have your interviews that you do. And I remember that night just getting back to my hotel room and just sitting in my hotel room by myself. Like, I wasn't married yet. Like, I didn't have Jada or anything. It was just me and my hotel room, and everybody, like, from the team went to their room, and I just sat there and started packing because I was flying home the next day and just sitting there, and I was like, is this what it was like for Steffi Ted serious player? Like. Cause I was a little girl, I was like, I want to win a Grand Slam, like she did, and I, you know, want to become number one one day. And then I sat there and I was like, huh, this is it. Like, I won. And look at me. Like, I have my dirty clothes here. I've got my sweaty outfit earlier. And then, yeah, I gotta pack everything for tomorrow. And it's just the kind of that feeling of, like, the contrast is extremely big. It's, yeah, yeah, super exciting. Life goes on right away. And, yeah, and it's great. But I do feel like every Grand Slam or every, you know, big win has their own kind of emotion because there's always something going on behind the scenes, personal issues or, you know, I played with, you know, when family members were sick or, like, things like that that you go through and that you kind of carry with you when you're on the court. So every. Every one of them is. Carries something uniquely. But to me, I remember that first one where I was, like, so shocked about, like, huh, this is it. Normal life is. Nor, like, Everything stays normal and you just keep going.
- [34:14]
Blair Henley
Sort of a follow up to that. How long was did the reflected glow of a Slam last? So, like, when you went to tournaments, did you feel like you were only as good as your last result? So if you went to the next event, lost in the first round, how long did the glow last post Slam?
- [34:33]
Kim Clijsters
I don't think the glow lasted very long. I do think in general, people, you know, for a long time congratulate you and it's really nice, like when you go to the next tournament and they announce you as the US Open champion. Like, those were moments where I was like, like, oh, wow, like, that sounds really great, but I don't want to lose now because that will make, you know, make it look like. So you constantly have that inner voice battle where you try to. But then not long after I won in 2005, I retired from playing. So to me, like, I said, like, I do think, like, it was such a relief and that I felt like, okay, all this other bs, like, I did what I wanted to do in tennis, like, I was number one. I want to slam now, like, and I just, I don't want to deal with all the other PS that comes with it. The first question for Blair is from Betty. What is your funniest media memory?
- [35:27]
Blair Henley
Probably the two that stick out to me, number one was when Denis Shapovalov rapped in his post match interview at Indian Wells, I believe 2019. And the way that that came about was, you know, I'm on Stadium 3, which is not getting many, you know, round of 16 or quarterfinal matches. That's when everything sort of moves up to the bigger courts. But I can't remember if he had just won his third round match. But I said, you know, I was asking him about, because at the time he was putting songs out on Spotify and I was asking about how nice it is to have something to keep his mind off of tennis. And he immediately thought I was gonna ask him to rap. And I said, no, no, no, like, we're not gonna. I wouldn't do that to you. But can you make a promise to us? If you come back to this court and win, will you rap? And he said, yeah, I'll rap. Well, imagine my surprise when he was on the schedule two days later to come back to Stadium 3. He was playing Marin Cilic, I believe, beats Marin, like, in routine fashion. And, and of course, like, in my mind, I'm thinking, you know, I never want to put a player in an uncomfortable position. Also, my producer at the time we had no real dj, we were literally playing songs off of a computer. And I am googling, like, rap tracks that we can lay down on Stadium 3. And Casey actually raps anyway, and then it's over. I go over to the bench. Cause I'm not gonna, you know, ask him live on a mic like, do you really want to rap? Rap? He proceeds to tell me. He's like, he has a rap prepared.
- [37:11]
Kim Clijsters
Anyway, so he was doing homework.
- [37:14]
Blair Henley
He wrote a rap. Should he. Should he win the match? And so anyway, my producer, you know, she thinks she's gonna get fired for, like, throwing. Throwing down, like, a beat. And this is like, you know, this is an Indian Wells where the average age. I shouldn't. I shouldn't say that. There are a lot of retirees in Indian Wells, so we probably lost many people before we even got to the actual rapping.
- [37:42]
Kim Clijsters
Is there a video like about of this?
- [37:45]
Blair Henley
I'm here in Cali with the fans getting hella lit. Happy with the win today. Now I gotta float a spin. Loving the support. I leave it all on the court fighting like a wolf. I'll be back with more, so take care and good night. Know this the good life, hot tubs and court time. Thursday. We back, huh? And then my other favorite funny memory had to be Zizou Fergs. When I asked him his thoughts about Clay or his relationship with Clay, of course, meaning the surface. And he waxed poetic for a good 45 seconds about Clay Snytman, ATP physio. And I. He's talking. He's like, monologuing. And I'm sitting there being like, what's he on about? What is he talking about? And 45 seconds in, he probably sees my face and the camera guy's face where we're looking so confused, he's like, oh, you mean Clay, like, the surface? Like, yes, Clay. Like, I was hysterically. I was hysterically laughing. And, you know, he had the right response. He's like, send this to Clay Snipman. Like, he's gonna be flattered that the first thing I thought of was Clay the physio. Anyway. All right, that's. Those are my funniest, just the best. This next question is for you, Kim from Ryan, who is a player you would like to interview you. Who you played against. I like this question.
- [39:22]
Kim Clijsters
Oh, who I played against. I played against Steffi, so I would love to have her on Monica Sellers. I feel there's a whole list. Lindsay Davenport, of course, is great. Yeah. Jennifer Capriati would love to Talk to her. There's a few European players who, when I was really young, who I was close with and got to know pretty well and kind of took me under their wing and helped me with practices and kind of just. Yeah, in general, like, Ann Kramer, would love to have a chance to talk to her. Would love to talk to Maggie Mileva from the Mileva sisters. Like, the three of them had an incredible career. Like, three sisters, I think in the top 10. The moment, like, they still run a tennis academy. Like, their story is really, really impressive as well. So there's a lot of players that I would love to get a, you know, get the chance to talk with and reminisce a little bit about the early 2000 years and what, what the tennis tour was like back then.
- [40:31]
Blair Henley
This was a question submitted via my website submission form from jp and he was asking, how do tennis as players learn English when it's not their first language? And I think this is more of a bigger question. You have these players who, at often a very young age are leaving home, going to oftentimes a country whose language, native language, they do not speak. And I'm curious what this was like for you. I mean, I feel like most Belgians speak amazing English, but did you know fluent English before you were traveling the tour? Because English is the language. It's the language that you sort of have to know if you are a professional tennis player.
- [41:15]
Kim Clijsters
Right. So I don't think I. I already spoke English when I. When I went onto the WTA Tour. It was. I think it just gets better over time when you start to travel, even under 12s, under 14s, like, I was, you know, traveling, and you get to play and practice with kids from every, you know, continents, and English is the spoken language. I do think in Belgium, unless you're watching, you know, a Flemish television show, everything else, the movies are always. They're not dubbed, so we read the subtitles in English or in Flemish, and then you. You hear English. So I think that really helped me a lot, too, growing up. And if we watched a movie, you could hear, you know, English and then read the translation, basically. So that. That really helped me a lot, too. And then in school, you pick it up. Music. We have a lot of, you know, American, British music. And. Yeah, so I think in general, I just had an ear for language and French kind of was a little slow, but I always enjoyed, loved listening to the French language and just a little bit insecure at times speaking it. But I think my first Grand Slam final at the French Open I actually gave my speech in French, which I messed up at the end. I wanted to end it with like, I'll see you next year. And I said, I'll see you the previous year. Like I went a year back instead of forward, so I messed up there. But yeah, just, it's just fun. Like, it's just so fun. And I'm always amazed, like, even now, like, I see, you know, today, like it's Tuesday today. So there's a big Champions League game on, right, With PSG semifinals. We go back to soccer, but like PSG against Bayern Munich. And I hear the coach of Bayern Munich who's. And company like he's in Germany now and he's, you know, he speaks fluent German. Like he does his interviews in, in German and his press conferences. And then you have like other guys like Lukaku who's in Italy, and then all of a sudden you hear them do Italian press conferences and, and yeah, just. They pick it up so easy. So it's really. I love, I love that and it's very inspiring. And yeah, so I think in Belgium in general, we just have a. Because we're so surrounded by different countries with different languages, we just have an ear for learning different languages.
- [43:45]
Blair Henley
I love that you are crediting that and not just saying that because you
- [43:51]
Kim Clijsters
had a boyfriend who spoke English. Oh, early on. Yeah. My first boyfriend was Australian and I spoke English for a long time. Long time. And still do.
- [44:04]
Blair Henley
But. But yeah, I always find it so impressive because obviously I am most often talking to players on a stadium in front of thousands of people and I cannot imagine, you know, I, I speak very little French and to get to a point where I would feel comfortable answering questions on a microphone and you can hear your voice echoing back to you. No thanks. So I always give players a ton of credit and I do have some, you know, especially when they first come on tour. You know who I, who comes to mind is Flavio Caboli, whose English has gotten so much better. The first time I ever interviewed him was in Del rey in maybe 2022, 2023. I mean, I, A, I couldn't hear him, he was talking so softly. B, I think he probably said six words in the post match interview. And I left that post match interview thinking like, what a dud this is. This is supposed to be a new, young, fun Italian. And you know, there was nothing there personality wise. And now I know he just wasn't comfortable with his English. And now he's, you know, the life of the party. He's Mr. Social Media, he. I mean, he's fantastic. But it just underscores, I think, the fear factor that you can have a. If you don't like speaking in front of people to begin with, but then having to have the guts to do it in a language you might not be 100% confident speaking, I just have a ton of respect for that. All right, this is for Kim from our friend Nick McCarvel. He asked, as you broke through so early as a teen, what kept you so grounded? How did you stay hungry to achieve so much while also not letting it take over your sense of self?
- [45:47]
Kim Clijsters
The most important thing, I think, for me was that I had people around me at a young age who made you realize, like, what the important things in life were, and that tennis started as a game, and it always had to stay a game, which is what was important to me. And also working. Like, we had Carl Mason, you know, a few episodes ago now. But early on, like, I learned to really schedule a little bit, like, how people look at, like, what Sabalanka is doing now. Like, it was like, I wouldn't do more than three tournaments in a row if I didn't have to, right? If I. Just to keep me sane and to keep me, you know, from being able to turn a tennis switch on and off. And I think just early on, I just learned, like, maximum four if I had to, but preferably like, three is the training. Like, I just always had training blocks in between certain amount of tournaments just so that I could keep developing, so I could go home. Like, I never moved away. Like, I know back in the day, the Bolletieri Academy reached out to. To my parents. I was like, hey, we wanted, you know, we want to move you guys to Florida, and you guys come live here and we'll get you a house. And. And my dad was like, you know, so down to earth. He was like, like, why? Like, the court's the same size here as it is, you know, back in Florida.
- [47:11]
Blair Henley
Great point.
- [47:12]
Kim Clijsters
And she wants to hang out with her, you know, go see her grandparents and. And just do it like normal life and just have that be just as important as what I was doing on tour. And, yeah, so I think it just gradually, I always also needed somebody from home to be there with me, like, for a long time. Like, my cousin Tim was my physio, so we would just laugh and joke about, you know, like, family life, right? And about, like, growing up and childhood memories and just to have that little bit of normalcy on the tennis tour. A good friend of mine Caroline, she would travel. She played on tour a little bit as well. She was ranked a little bit lower than me, but she, you know, I would try to, like, get a wild card for doubles, and we played in my. Like, it's just. So we had fun as well. And because you can kind of get. Lose that a little bit when you. When you're, you know, always expected to be, you know, making the semifinals and the finals, and that pressure can sometimes be too much. So. So that balance, to me was always super important. And, yeah, just learn to step away when it's needed and not just get caught up in, like, I have to do this, I have to perform, I have to play. I have to, you know, just, like, learn to listen to your body, I think, is what I got, and to your mental state. Kind of like, just learn to listen. And when it's time to step away from it, that's okay. And you're gonna annoy some people and piss people off anyway, like, it is what it is.
- [48:42]
Blair Henley
That is tr. All right, another one for you from Jason on X. This question made me laugh. Why do I forget how to swing a racket in the first round of tournaments? Second round, Federer, first round, guy who started tennis two days ago. Any mental tricks to calm first round jitters?
- [49:03]
Kim Clijsters
I'm trying to think, like, I think you have to always have, like, a little bit of nerves, right? To me, what really helped me was, was to get the tension, like, just. Just hit a couple of, like, shots as hard as possible. Even if it was in the warm up. Like, you know, even if I got a shorter ball, like, your opponent's not gonna like it because they want you to keep the rally going, like, down the middle. But if I felt like, oh, my arm is a little bit tight, or I'm just not feeling like my hands are just not feeling my grip properly. Like, if I could just hit a couple of, like, swinging forehands where I could just really, like, let my racket go through the ball and. And just get a little bit of that power out. To me, it's like, movement is what got me to get rid of the nerves and the stress. And so if it's, like, jumping around or if it's even just bouncing with the racket, like, and the ball and the racket, like, just bouncing it really quickly just to kind of get that energy flowing from being stuck in certain limbs or. I don't know. Like, I think to me, that was the most important thing is, was to try to keep. To keep moving, and it's funny because I see it with Jada now, too, is like, when she plays games or when she has as a game or. And when she's nervous, I see that she gets, like, a little bit stuck with her feet. And I always say, like, keep moving your feet. Like, that's all you got to worry about when you get nervous. Just keep moving your feet. Like, you don't want to think about too many things. Like, because especially with tennis, you know, there is so many things to think about. Right. It's like, oh, how do. Especially when you haven't. If you're just a beginner or when you haven't played tennis for a long time, it's like, oh, the coach told me to put my foot like this. Take your racket back. This is where, like, there's so many things to think about. And yeah, a lot of times to me, like, with Jada now, I just say, like, just keep moving your feet. When you get nervous, don't, you know, take some deep breaths and keep moving your feet. Just focus on one thing at a time.
- [50:51]
Blair Henley
Yeah, it's funny how you can see that even at the highest level, in tight moments or sort of in that home stretch of a match where a player can be playing great tennis, and then all of a sudden you can see sort of the nerves and the tension, and it starts at the feet. Right, Right. And as soon as that slows, then. Then everything is sort of out of whack.
- [51:14]
Kim Clijsters
Where I had one moment in my career that I will never forget, and that was, I think, the 99 US Open, where I played Serena in the second round. I qualified, and I got to play Serena. I was up five two in the third, and she. And I pick up my racket from the change events. I pick it up from next to me, and all of a sudden this racket feels so heavy. Like, literally, like I was doing great. Like, five two up. Like, I was moving well. I was, you know, hitting the ball clean. And all of a sudden, the racket and my arm just. Just felt off. Like, it just felt like it wasn't, like, attached to my body anymore. And it just felt so heavy, the racket.
- [51:51]
Blair Henley
And so what did you do?
- [51:54]
Kim Clijsters
I was in the locker room. Fifteen minutes later, I lost 7 5. Like, that's what I did. I did nothing. But she served. I think she served like an ace. Two unreturnables. Like, I missed, like, something. Like it was, you know, a love game. Like five, three, right. Two dollar faults. So it was only one break a serve, but I just completely lost it, like, and she hit some great winners and stepped it up. What Serena does, right, like, she was able to in moments where she was down, like bring like because she was making a lot of errors, like in that third set up until five, two and then all of a sudden she was like, all right, this is enough, let's lock in. But yeah, it happens. And you just, the hard thing is you will never get that feeling in practice. So you can only overcome it in a match. And unfortunately that's how we have to learn a lot of our lessons is like in the spotlight when the cameras are on. But yeah, that's part of it.
- [52:55]
Blair Henley
Yeah, there you go. Jason, on X, you are not alone. And also be thrilled that you can be a guy who just started tennis two days ago on, you know, court six at the local country club.
- [53:07]
Kim Clijsters
Yes.
- [53:08]
Blair Henley
And not on center court at the
- [53:10]
Kim Clijsters
US Open for Blair from Rojo Skies. Thinking back to the on court interview in Australia after the Osaka Cristea match, when there's a spicy moment during the match, what is the process behind the scenes about how or if to ask about the heated moment, is there a process or is it just the interviewer's discretion? And how do you personally decide how and if to broach a tricky incident with a player in the interview?
- [53:38]
Blair Henley
This is such a good question. And the answer is, well, first of all, going back to that incident that I don't know if this is a man or a woman, but they were referring to in Australia where there was a spicy handshake. Serana Cirstea did not like some of the commands that were coming from the Osaka side of the court in between serves, et cetera, et cetera, etc. And Chanda Rubin did the post match interview and I thought that she did a good job of bringing it up and then following up after Naomi sort of gave her initial answer. So I thought that Chanda did a great job with that. For me, it often depends on who I'm working for, which I don't love. But if I am an on court interviewer and I'm hired by a tournament and something goes terribly wrong with production, or if say the music starts playing and a player gets distracted and loses the next three games or something, even if that mistake is caught right away, if it causes a distraction, if I am working for the tournament, am I going to phrase a question maybe about that differently than if I were working for Sky Sports or espn? Yes, because I don't consider myself a typical journalist in that moment. That, that is, that is really Hard for me. Like, I think back to, you know, a recent spicy match we talked about. Bonzi Medvedev, I think we've talked about that, where that happened at the US Open this past year. And Daniil Medvedev stayed on the court. It's this incredibly contentious match. There's, there's booing, rackets are broken, yelling at the chair umpire. Poor Greg Allensworth. Poor, poor guy. Ends up in more controversial matches. He has the worst luck. That's a story for another day. But I went out to do the post match interview for that. I had never spoken to Bonzi before. I actually didn't know how good his English was as a French player. And I was told, you know, we're going to wait. We always wait until the loser walks off. Well, in that case, the loser didn't walk off. Daniil Medvedev stayed on the court. And they're like, we're gonna wait, we're gonna wait, we're gonna wait. And they're like, we can't wait anymore. You have to go out and do the interview.
- [56:05]
Kim Clijsters
And he's probably thinking, I'm waiting till they start. I'm waiting till they start 100%.
- [56:10]
Blair Henley
And it's so funny you say that, Kim. In hindsight, I learned a lot from that. I changed my first question, you know, in the moment, because he was still sitting on the court because that Bonzi had beaten Medved. I think that was maybe back to back back first round matches of a slam. I think he had also beaten him maybe first round of Wimbledon or Roland Garros, something like that. Um, and I, in hindsight, wished I did not change my first question. Danil made the decision to sit on the court for this. He also made the decision to walk off the court. As Bonzi is answering that first question. It was so deafening that I could not hear him. And he was standing two feet away from me, me. And, and in hindsight, I was like, why did I. I should not have. In, in that case, I should not have changed my question because I had a better, you know, I had a better lead in when I thought that Danielle Medvedev was going to be off the court. So I think you learn something every time you're in one of those situations. Oftentimes you have to sort of make decisions on the fly. Like, again, did Chanda go into that post match interview thinking she was going to ask about the handshake? No, because. Because as the match is ending, that had not happened yet. So I think you have to be good at thinking on your feet. And I think you also have to remember who you work for. And I'm trying to remember. There was one other instance. I'll have to think about it and come back to it. But there was something that happened at the US Open. I ended up the player in question, the controversial player, ended up not winning, so it ended up not being a thing. But there were discussions prior to that post match about how we were going to handle it. So, yeah, I think there are many factors that go into it and sometimes it's nice just to be a journalist in a press conference because you can just ask the hard questions that everybody wants to know the answer to. This next one is for Kim from Dean. In 2003, you won the French and Wimbledon with Isukiyama. And I'm curious how you and Sugiyama came to Paris. Up and editor's note here. You guys first teamed up in 2001. You won Wimbledon, won 12 titles together overall. But would love to know the background
- [58:21]
Kim Clijsters
of that doubles pairing that happened, I think on some of the backcourts in San Diego. I think we were, you know, back in the day when you're ranked lower, you have to, you know, you share the court, right. I was practicing and there was four players on the court and we were doing cross courts and I think I and her mom were practicing on the same court but next to me. And I didn't have a player to play with and I wasn't even planning really on playing doubles. I think just because I think my ranking also wasn't high enough yet, but because I was ranked a lot higher than I was. And yeah, her and her mom just came up to me like, hey, do you want to play doubles? And my dad was with me. I was like, yeah, sure, I would love to do that. That's sounds incredible. And so we just started playing and our first match together, they actually put us. It was like on a later, it was dark. I remember that it was dark. So it was like a later match and her and I, I and me had a misunderstanding. I think first or second game, our opponents lob us in the middle of the court and. And I yell I. And she thinks that I'm the one that's trying to, you know, like, tell her to take it. So we run into each other and like, I, you know, like she smacked the ball, I was in the way. Like it was ugly. So that's. From there on, I just went me and you. Like, that's how we started, you know, communication. That's so funny. A fellow. Yeah. With a fellow player who's from Japan and. But loved. Yeah. Love playing with ice. She was so full of energy, like, had a. Had a great singles career and a doubles career, but I just learned so much from her, as well as, you know, at that stage of my career, being so young and being around somebody who was, you know, already a lot more experienced and.
- [60:14]
Blair Henley
How much older was she?
- [60:15]
Kim Clijsters
She was a few years older. I would say six, seven years older than I was, but she just was very. Yeah, just open, like, practicing together and doing a lot of doubles drills, and it just helped me in my. My singles career as well. And. And I always say, like, I won the. The Grand Slam in singles, but I have it, like, with doubles included. Like, I won on clay, I won on grass, because people, like, a lot of times say, like, oh, you've only won, you know, on the hardcore. It's in singles. I'm like, yeah, but I won Wimbledon doubles and the French doubles, so it's like a. I don't say that out loud, but I kind of. Yeah, do.
- [60:51]
Blair Henley
You should, Kim.
- [60:54]
Kim Clijsters
We just love playing. And it's like, those moments helped me. For me to win doubles with her as my first Grand Slam win, helped me so much to kind of get through the hump after four trials and to win at the US Open in 2005. It's moments where you understand, like, okay, I can do this. And, yeah, it was great. And then at some point, I just got to a stage in my career where I had to make a decision to. To just focus on singles because I couldn't do. Do both anymore.
- [61:29]
Blair Henley
Next one. This is again from Rojoski's Rojoskies. You will have to write in and tell us how to pronounce your handle. When did Kim's kids realize their mom was famous? And what did they think when they first got to see you or footage of you playing in a match? What do they think now about your past life as a famous tennis player?
- [61:52]
Kim Clijsters
Player? I think my boys only realized that,
- [61:54]
Blair Henley
like, a few years.
- [61:55]
Kim Clijsters
Few years ago when we. When I took them to the US Open. And they. Yeah, I was doing. I had to do something for Bab and. And Bob, my agent, who's one of my closest friends to. Took Jack while we were waiting, took Jack to see my plaque that's out there. And. And he came back. He's like, mom, I didn't know you were this good. Like, he. Like, he came back from that. He's like, mom, like, you were kind of a big deal. Like, there's pictures of you everywhere. Here and check it's okay. Like, it's fine. Like, I. Yes, I did well here. And that's basically it. They loved basically it.
- [62:34]
Blair Henley
Oh, my God.
- [62:35]
Kim Clijsters
Yes. I don't. Blair. Like, I don't have anything out here. Like, I don't have my trophies here. It's not that I. You know.
- [62:41]
Blair Henley
Not your trophies.
- [62:43]
Kim Clijsters
There's a couple that are in my basement, and then a lot of them are in Vermont at the farm in box.
- [62:48]
Blair Henley
You and Lindsay Davenport. Lindsay keeps her trophies, like, under her bed. So. Which. Which. That totally fits with both of your personalities, by the way. You are not leading with the fact that you are multiple time Grand Slam champions.
- [63:00]
Kim Clijsters
Flaunting. No, and he's like that, too. Like, he. I think he uses his US Open as a doorstop or something. He told me once. Like, it's. I don't. Yeah, it's just the moment. Like, I just don't. It's nice. Like, when I see it, I'm like, oh, yeah, that was a nice memory. But it's. It's. Yeah. Not to sound disrespectful or anything towards.
- [63:21]
Blair Henley
Yeah, I don't think it comes off that way. I am chuckling, though, as you're saying this. And within ey shot
- [63:31]
Kim Clijsters
is.
- [63:31]
Blair Henley
Hang on. Hold. Hold, please. I'm going to get it.
- [63:38]
Kim Clijsters
What is this, like, your college.
- [63:41]
Blair Henley
Oh, Kim, this is my gold ball from the 2009. Are you ready for it? National Father Daughter Clay Court Championships.
- [63:54]
Kim Clijsters
Listen, I have the same thing that I got from the 2009 US Open.
- [63:59]
Blair Henley
That's right. Because it's a national champ.
- [64:01]
Kim Clijsters
Yes. Oh, my gosh.
- [64:03]
Blair Henley
Well, I would say that not all gold. All gold balls are created equal. But Kim's not putting out her US Open trophies yet.
- [64:14]
Kim Clijsters
The only trophy I have here. But it's not because it's in view, but it's just because I haven't put it away or I haven't done anything to it. Is the number one trophy from the
- [64:25]
Blair Henley
WTA, which is so pretty. I love that trophy. I think it's one of the prettiest trophies in tennis.
- [64:32]
Kim Clijsters
Chris Evert, WTA World number one trophy.
- [64:35]
Blair Henley
That really. It is a gorgeous trophy. I've seen that one.
- [64:38]
Kim Clijsters
And you get, like, a diamond for each player gets, like, a diamond. So here, this is mine. And. And then whoever becomes number one gets one of these. So that's the one I have here.
- [64:48]
Blair Henley
That's really cool. Okay, well, that makes me feel slightly better for Abby. Now, in my defense, I like to say that this was a nice memory with me and my dad.
- [64:58]
Kim Clijsters
Amazing. That's a great. Yeah.
- [65:01]
Blair Henley
To be able to, you know, he taught me how to play tennis and, you know, was a big part of my tennis life. And so I'm gonna say that that's why I have that out. It's a good.
- [65:12]
Kim Clijsters
It's also. Doesn't look like a trophy. Trophy. All right. Like, it's. You have the wooden box, and it's.
- [65:17]
Blair Henley
Right, it is. It is. So on this note, because Houston, the US Men's Clay Court Championship is also a national championship, so. So you. Same thing. You get a gold ball if you win. If you reach the final, you get a silver ball. But if you are not an American, I don't know how much you knew about the gold, silver, bronze ball.
- [65:38]
Kim Clijsters
I don't know anything about it.
- [65:39]
Blair Henley
Well, right. If you are not an American, it's a real foreign thing. Like, for instance, if you were a finalist in Houston, you get one of these with a silver ball in it, which was, I think, initially confusing to.
- [65:55]
Kim Clijsters
To what level does that go? Like, even juniors and under 16 or under 14s as well, or. Oh, wow. Yep.
- [66:01]
Blair Henley
I believe so. I believe it is. It is. In the US System, any national championship has that gold, silver, bronze ball. Trophy. System. Trophy. If you want to call it that. Okay. I love that that took us down a rabbit hole. But I love that it ended with you showing us your number one trophy, which I. I. Every year at the WTA Finals. I just think it is the coolest, prettiest. It's just a pretty trophy. And I feel like usually trophies just. They're clunky. They can be clunky.
- [66:34]
Kim Clijsters
Yeah, they can be. They can. It's definitely not easy. Like, back in the day, they wouldn't ship the trophies, so you. I would have to, like, carry it on the plane. Yes. Carry it with you on the plane or.
- [66:47]
Blair Henley
Oh, my gosh. It's just like the anti Roddick commercial from where he had to take all of his. We were just talking about this before we went on where he had to take all of his trophies on the plane with him.
- [66:57]
Kim Clijsters
Him.
- [66:57]
Blair Henley
Right.
- [66:58]
Kim Clijsters
Yeah. So it just is, like, awkward, you know, like, you go through security and your trophy goes through, like, the scanner and. And it's just. Yeah. It's nice when you win and you're like, you know, everybody's congratulating you, but then also, it just draws a lot of attention.
- [67:14]
Blair Henley
Was there a trophy that you thought was really cool? Was there a unique trophy that you got that you really like I got.
- [67:21]
Kim Clijsters
When I won in Stanford for the longest time time I got this big stuffed animal of a black bear. Oh, and you got like a trophy as well. But like you also got this big. This big. This big bear. And that was. Yeah, I guess when I was a teenager, I still.
- [67:38]
Blair Henley
Did you have to transport that through the airport?
- [67:41]
Kim Clijsters
No, I, I think they. I don't remember that. So I think they sent that.
- [67:47]
Blair Henley
They will not send the trophy, but they will send your giant black.
- [67:49]
Kim Clijsters
Well, they said that. Yeah, then they did. But like, I remember early on there were definitely, Definitely. Yeah. Trips. They all like, some were from local artists that were really cool that they had a, you know, a statue or. Yeah, they built, they built something. It's just really every, every tournament tried to do something unique, I feel like. And, and. Or most of them. So that was. There's definitely some fun ones. Once I start unpacking in Vermont, I will.
- [68:18]
Blair Henley
Yes, yes.
- [68:19]
Kim Clijsters
I'll go through some of the. The nice ones.
- [68:22]
Blair Henley
Oh, man. All right. Should we finish up with rec room? We haven't done this in a while. I cannot wait to see your recommendation for the week. Kim. Give it to us.
- [68:32]
Kim Clijsters
So this has been very important or it's gotten a lot of probably attention for different reasons than I use it maybe for the red light face thing and stuff like that, but I have a little travel sign size red light machine. This one is called Bontani Bontani. So basically you can charge it and it's.
- [69:01]
Blair Henley
But it's not a mask. So what do you.
- [69:03]
Kim Clijsters
It's not a mask. So I. Whenever I have any time I'm waiting to pick up the kids from school or at basketball, like when the game is over and they're doing like, I'll go sit in the car and I put it on my Achilles or when I'm traveling, I'll put it. Yeah. On my lower back or things like that. So you can put it on your face too. Like it just. Wow.
- [69:28]
Blair Henley
Well, that's what I was gonna. I thought this was for your face, but no, you are using it for other body parts.
- [69:34]
Kim Clijsters
I will put it against my. My Achilles. It comes with a charger. It comes with the, with the little eyeglasses and I do feel like it helps the inflammation and it helps with. Yeah, I think just in general, I think they say it's good for the, like, I guess rejuvenation of the cells and so amazing. Wow. In my handbag for many, many months now.
- [70:03]
Blair Henley
I knew that you could use it for, you know, again talking about influencers in the wild earlier. I. I know that you can use it for your face. Many people.
- [70:13]
Kim Clijsters
I'll put it in front of my face because I y. It might help, but it can have
- [70:17]
Blair Henley
effects under the epidermis, if you will.
- [70:21]
Kim Clijsters
Definitely, Definitely. I have a big one in the basement that's like a body kind of infrared one where you just stand, like, in front of and obviously without your clothes on. So I. In my sports bra, in my underwear, and I just stand there for, like, a few minutes, and then I turn around then to do the backside and the liver side and just stand there. And then that's it. Go in the sauna or do something like that. Like that.
- [70:43]
Blair Henley
Wow. Well, between this and your parasite cleanse, Kim, you have a lot to teach me.
- [70:49]
Kim Clijsters
Yes. Well, listen, when the Vermont farm is done, we'll. We'll get it all done over there.
- [70:56]
Blair Henley
I can't wait. You're gonna give me a full wellness. Full wellness experience. All right. That brings me to my recommendation. Which are my favorite sunglasses. Now, if you are listening to this, I'm gonna tilt my hat up a little. If you're listening to this and not watching, sorry, I can't help you. But it is a particular type. It's a particular style of sunglass. It's sort of bigger frames, little aviator influence, but it sort of has the double. The double bar above the nose. I find myself reaching for these. I have a shameful number of sunglasses in my drawer, but these are the ones that I reach for. This brand is WMP Eyewear, stands for Wear Me Pro. But I have it in this color. I have it. It in this other brown color. You like the brown. And then, not that I needed this, but have you seen the yellow framed sunglasses lately, Kim, that are very trendy? I don't know if I can pull it off.
- [71:54]
Kim Clijsters
I love them.
- [71:55]
Blair Henley
You do. Thank you. Well, so these were much cheaper. These were Amazon. But it's the same. Similar. I think this is just going to be my style of sunglasses.
- [72:04]
Kim Clijsters
I like that.
- [72:05]
Blair Henley
Thanks. Yeah, so these are the yellow frames that I feel like a lot of people are. Are wearing. I'm. I'm really tempted to buy myself some blue light glasses and maybe wear them on an episode one day just to, like, cosplay somebody with vision problems.
- [72:19]
Kim Clijsters
Well, they have a lot of. You have the red light one, like the red lenses, too, right. That you see a lot of, like, athletes wear them, too, because they want to, especially at night if they're. Oh, I actually have a bear here.
- [72:31]
Blair Henley
Do you. Are you going to show us.
- [72:33]
Kim Clijsters
I will let me just clean them because I see my kids fingerprints on them.
- [72:39]
Blair Henley
Oh, interesting. They literally are red. I thought they like blocked out red
- [72:43]
Kim Clijsters
now, but they just stop. This is for nighttime. So not during the day. But this is more for at night time if you're like on your phone or like work.
- [72:52]
Blair Henley
Oh, I thought you were going to take nighttime. Wink, wink. No, no, like red, red light. I don't know. Okay, on that note, that brings us to the end of our recommendations and a really fun episode of headlines and Q&As. Thank you to everyone who submitted. If we didn't get to your question today, we will get to more in the future. And listen, you don't have to wait for us to ask you for questions. To give us questions, throw them on, respond to our Instagram post DM us submit it on my personal website at BlairHenley.com whatever your preferred mode of submission. And we would love to hear from all of you. But that does it for our episode today. For our entire team behind the scenes who probably thought this was gonna be a really quick episode today. Cause we didn't have a guest. They have sat through this.
- [73:41]
Kim Clijsters
They don't know us. Blair,
- [73:45]
Blair Henley
we appreciate Mike, Sean and Ella for hanging in there with us today. Thanks to all of you. New episodes every Wednesday like and subscribe on YouTube and if you can do that, that you can do the served account as well as the Love all account on YouTube. We would love that. And then at Love all podcast on all of our social media platforms. And we'll see you next week.
- [74:06]
Kim Clijsters
Bye everyone.