Clijsters inspires Mertens to hit Open heights

MELBOURNE: Elise Mertens said she has been getting advice from her idol and Belgian great Kim Clijsters as her incredible winning run Down Under continued in the Australian Open quarter-finals Tuesday.

The unseeded Melbourne Park debutant blew away world number four Elina Svitolina 6-4, 6-0 to reach her first Grand Slam semi-final. Mertens, 22, trains at the Clijsters Academy back home and revealed she had been receiving messages of advice from the four-time Grand Slam winner. “Yeah, of course, a lot of time. She has been here before. She has the experience, so it’s always nice to talk to her,” she said of Clijsters who lifted the Australian Open crown in 2011 as well as three US Open titles. “And also, for the emotions, to see what she has to tell me or can, yeah, communicate.”

World number 37 Mertens, who is yet to drop a set, retained her Hobart title earlier this month and is on a 10-match unbeaten run in 2018 after becoming the first Belgian to make the last four since Clijsters in 2012.

“Her and Justine Henin... what they achieved was amazing, and of course I look up to them,” Mertens said.On court after the match Mertens — who is also on an incredible 18-match unbeaten run on Australian soil dating back to qualifying in Hobart last year — had some words for Clijsters following the match in the middle of the night back home. “Kim, thanks for watching and don’t get too stressed.”

Mertens is coached by boyfriend Robbe Ceyssens and has seen her world ranking rise from 120 at the end of 2016. She will now leap into the top 20 for the first time when the new rankings are released at the end of the year’s first Grand Slam.