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Kim Clijsters reflected on her past relationship with fellow tennis superstar Lleyton Hewitt and feels she "learned a lot" during that phase of her life, especially as a tennis player. The Belgian tennis great dated the Australian from early 2000 to late 2004, a period which was quite monumental in both their tennis careers.
Clijsters and Hewitt announced their engagement around Christmas 2003, before ending their relationship less than a year later. While they dated, both Clijsters and Hewitt clinched the World No. 1 ranking at some stage and experienced some of the greatest heights of their careers at the biggest tournaments (Hewitt won Wimbledon and the US Open).
Clijsters recently opened up about that relationship and said that spending a great deal of time with one of the best players in Hewitt and two of the best coaches in Darren Cahill and Roger Rasheed helped her develop as a player in a huge way.
"Being in a relationship with Lleyton (Hewitt) was something that, I learned a lot from him, and from the coaches that he was working with. He worked with Darren Cahill, who, to me, is the greatest coach we have in our sport. Even Roger Rasheed," Kim Clijsters recently said on The Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast.
While Cahill and Rasheed worked specifically with Hewitt, Kim Clijsters was able to learn a lot just by being around them.
"Just to be on court with those guys and to see how they approached Lleyton and how Lleyton worked, it was all a huge learning process for me as a young teenager," the 39-year-old added.
In hindsight, she is grateful for that phase of her life. She also heaped praise on Hewitt for his focus and commitment as a tennis player.
"He (Hewitt) was very committed and focused, and just so professional. Now that I'm older, I realize how important that part of my life has been in my development in tennis. The effort, the patience," Clijsters expressed.
Kim Clijsters relationship with Aussie superstar Lleyton Hewitt earned her a new nickname
Kim Clijsters' relationship with Lleyton Hewitt earned her the nickname of "Aussie Kim," particularly from Australian tennis fans. The nickname followed Clijsters for a long time even after she and Hewitt broke up, and the Belgian even joked about the same after finally winning the Australian Open singles title in 2011.
After four semifinal losses and another loss in the 2004 final of the Australian Open, Clijsters felt she finally earned the nickname "Aussie Kim" when she won the 2011 title by beating Li Na in the final.
"I finally feel like you guys can call me Aussie Kim because I won the title," Clijsters said to the crowd in Rod Laver Arena, in her on-court interview after winning the title.
Kim Clijsters married former pro basketball player Brian Lynch in 2007. The are parents to a 14-year-old daughter and two sons, aged 9 and 6, respectively.
