Kim Clijsters is a genuinuely nice girl (forget her hugely annoying harping on her injuries for now). You remember how, at the Canadian Open, she had her courtesy-car driver, Ed, as a guest in her player's box? During the final? She even thanked him in her champion’s acceptance speech! That was one of my all-time favorite moves.
Down in Australia, friendly Kim met a man and his family, including four kids, and was so taken by them (especially the kids) that she invited them to sit in her box for her match against Martina Hingis. Turns out the guy had done hard time as a big-time heroin smuggler, although he can’t be doing too badly these days (and he’s undoubtedly doing better than the junkies who took the Golden Shot with his dope), if he’s hobnobbing with big tennis stars and has his whole family booked into the official player hotel.
After Clijsters tore ligaments in her ankle and had to default to Amelie Mauresmo, this exchange took place between Clijsters and a reporter in a green shirt during her presser:
OK, the press pariah was silly to be so coy and undiplomatic (perhaps he thought nobody else was aware of this story?). He should have said: “Kim, sorry about the ankle, but can you just shed some light for us on the disturbing report that the man so visible in your box during the Hingis match was a convicted heroin smuggler?”
In any event, Not So Lil' Kim’s response was telling. I don't want to make a great big deal out of it, the girl was hurting; but I don't want to ignore it either. The guy in the box played a major role in bringing grief, pain, and probably death into lots of households. It wasn’t like he was just some bland, white-collar criminal.
After the presser, the authorities forgot to turn off the microphone. Kim turned to her WTA handler, John Dolan, and asked, “Who’s that guy in the green shirt, what an *&^hole . . .”
All in all, it was not a great performance.
One last thing about Clijsters. Remember, this girl has been a major-league choker. I think that if she enters a tournament without an injury, she’s going to come up with one very quickly. She needs the crutch of injury to take pressure off herself. And it gives her a built-in excuse in the event she does lose.
Clijsters baffles me.
Sure, she’s a “nice” girl. But she’s running scared, she doesn’t really give much away. If Kim is thoughtful, she doesn’t really show it. Has this woman ever made an interesting observation (something about the weather doesn’t count!)?
I think this niceness, while real, is also a tool Kim uses expertly to fly under the radar. It’s OK, though. The bottom line is that with all the really corrupt and even evil people running around out there, you have to be an arrogant jerk to have a problem with someone because she or he is "too nice" or even bland. It's just unfortunate when Miss Nice gets played by a convicted felon.
She should have explained.