Out in the shadows of Arthur Ashe Stadium, three-time US Open champion and International Tennis Hall of Famer Kim Clijsters is sitting incognito in the bleachers of Court 12, in proximity to Belgian coach Dries Beerden.
Clijsters and Beerden are watching the No. 2 seed in the boys’ singles draw, Belgium’s Gilles Arnaud Bailly (pictured above), who will soon take his place in the quarterfinals.
This writer works up the nerve to say hello to Clijsters before she scoots off to watch another Belgian, top-seeded Sofia Costoulas (below), who is in action on Court 9.
It’s a busy day for the Belgian juniors. Bailly, who was the boys’ runner-up at Roland Garros in June, and Alexander Blockx—a hard-serving, unseeded 17-year-old who toppled No. 4-seeded American Nishesh Basavareddy on Wednesday—will end up advancing to the quarterfinals, before refueling and winning their doubles match, 6-4, 6-4 over Juan Manuel La Serna and Lautaro Midon of Argentina.
Costoulas later fell to 14th-seeded Mirra Andreeva in three sets, but she’s alive in doubles, reaching the quarterfinals today alongside Luca Udvardy of Hungary.
A quick glance at the Day 10 order of play in Flushing Meadows makes it obvious: There’s a bit of a Belgian renaissance going on at Flushing Meadows this year.
“I think we have four or five good players and we make each other better,” Beerden says of the current crop of Belgian juniors. “So there’s that competitive mindset, with Gilles and with Blockx (pictured below), with Sofia and also with [18-year-old] Hanne Vandewinkel.
“They are from the same age group—they push each other, and that’s a good thing.”
Clijsters, who officially announced her retirement for the third time this year, has always been an inspirational figure in the tennis world. For Belgium, a tiny nation of less than 12 million, it’s impossible to measure the impact she has on the sport.
Bailly noticed her sitting in the bleachers near his coach, but tried not to think about it too much.
“She’s of course an icon. She’s a legend for me,” he told USOpen.org. “It’s unbelievable what she has achieved in her career. I didn’t try to think so much about it because I also had some pressure, but it’s really nice that she came to see me. It means a lot to me.”
Beerden, who was once Clijsters’ hitting partner, and the coach of the Belgian’s younger sister Elke, is grateful that the four-time Slam champion cares so much about the success of the kids.
“It’s good that she comes and supports Gilles and tries to help him, and it’s also a good feeling for Gilles,” he said. “Kim has a heart for the Belgian players and she wants to support everybody and that means a lot for players, of course.”
As the highest-ranked Belgian in the boys’ draw, Bailly is feeling the pressure more than ever, but his coach isn’t worried. His strength is his mental game, he says.
“He has an amazing attitude,” Beerden says. “Strokewise, there are many better players than him here—forehand, backhand, serve—but his mentality is by far the best of the juniors.
“He’s really a fighter and he knows that he has to work hard to achieve something because he is not the biggest talent. He knows that.”
Bailly, a scrappy, smooth-striking 16-year-old who plays a lot like Belgian star David Goffin, is in New York for the first time in his life, and making the most of it.
On Tuesday, when rain washed out play for the juniors, he was on the bus headed to the site when he ran into Karen Khachanov’s coach, Vedran Martic. To his surprise, he found that Khachanov was in need of a practice partner to hit with him in Ashe ahead of his quarterfinal with Nick Kyrgios.
No way he was saying no to that.
“It was a crazy experience,” Bailly said. “Actually I was so lucky his coach was on the bus.
“It’s a dream for me to play on this court, it’s one of the biggest courts in the world,” he said. “In the beginning I was playing some balls but I was also looking around and thinking ‘Whoa, this is unbelievable.’”
Khachanov, the No. 27 seed in the men’s singles draw, pulled off a stunning victory over Nick Kyrgios later that evening. Bailly, who is hoping he gets the call for another practice on Thursday, said the experience was an eye-opener.
His New York moment in Ashe just may turn out to be the first of a career’s worth.
“You saw it on TV, but to play against him, he plays really fast, especially his serve was really difficult to return,” Bailly said. “He’s a really nice person and a great example for me.”
Watch: Highlights from Bailly's second-round win
