Clijsters enjoyed a narrow win over Henin in Antwerp on Thursday
Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin are considering joining forces to play doubles at the London 2012 Olympics. The Belgian pair have both come out of retirement over the last 18 months and, despite once having a frosty relationship, could team up for 2012. "We have to get together to discuss this, see what the possibilities are and assess how far we want to go in this," said the 27-year-old Clijsters. Henin, 28, added: "There is a real willingness to be there [the Games]." The compatriots have only once played doubles together at the highest level, when Belgium lost to Russia in the 2006 Fed Cup quarter-finals.
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I have stopped telling myself the last weeks that I am getting old, I prefer to think that I am getting more mature
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Both women have targeted the 2012 Olympic Games event at Wimbledon as a priority and Clijsters, who gave birth to daughter Jada during her two-year spell in retirement, has suggested 2012 could be her final year of tour. "Because of my family situation, the doubles game is not something I want to get hung on too much," said the world number three. "It would be nice of course to do it for the Olympic Games, because I tell myself that that year might be my last full season. So it would be nice to end that season in beauty." The pair were speaking ahead of an exhibition match in Antwerp, which Clijsters won 6-1 3-6 10-5 in a super tie-break. Henin was playing for the first time since her comeback from a 16-month spell in retirement was cut short at Wimbledon in June by an elbow ligament tear during her fourth-round defeat by Clijsters. And with the new season only just over three weeks away, seven-time Grand Slam champion Henin admitted she has struggled to regain full fitness.
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606: DEBATE
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"I have had to limit myself enormously when it comes to serve," she said. "My goal is to progress little by little, step by step. "I take minimum risks. Each time that I stepped up the rhythm there was a backlash of inflammation in my elbow, as a result I had to slow down the last few weeks so that my elbow can adapt itself to this. "So my preparation didn't progress that far, but that didn't prevent me from working on a lot of things. I am not at all panicked or stressed with that in mind, there is still a couple of weeks left. "Moreover, the beginning of a season might well serve that aim, to get back the old reflexes and rebuild things little by little." She added: "In the end, I have stopped telling myself the last weeks that I am getting old, I prefer to think that I am getting more mature. I think that if on the health level everything goes as planned, there is still a lot of potential for me."
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