Justine Henin Plans to Play Rival Kim Clijsters in Belgium

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(December 9, 2010) Coach Carlos Rodriguez announced that former world No. 1 Justine Henin will return to tennis the same way she left—playing Kim Clijsters, again.

She plays her fellow Belgian chum at a Belgium exhibition in Anvers, Belgium. She had to forfeit their last exhibition in Belgium against Kim to Serena Williams, who has not played since.

She injured her elbow playing Clijsters in the fourth round at Wimbledon, which means she has not played the tour for six months. Starting in October, Justine started to train after a lot of rehabilitation. She is now ranked No. 12 in the world and plans on rejoining the tour for the upcoming Hopman Cup in Perth, Australia.

This is not Henin's first rodeo being out of play for a long period of time, so her coach is confident she will come back strong and will play well. She took an 18-month hiatus in which she retired from tennis at the top of her game. She came back and made it to the Australian Open finals as an unranked player and took two titles in the 2010 season on grass and clay surfaces.

She came out of retirement to play and lose to Clijsters in the Brisbane International, so it only seems appropriate that the two meet again for her next comeback.

To Belgian daily La Derniere Heure/Les Sports, Rodriguez says that she "definitely has three great years at the highest level ahead of her."

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