U.S. Open: Kim Clijsters throws a baseball, but now it’s time for tennis

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When you come to New York as the defending U.S. Open champion you get to do fun things, such as throw out the first pitch at a New York Mets game (well, maybe some Mets pitchers don’t think that’s so much fun). So that’s what Belgium’s Kim Clijsters did Friday night.

Clijsters is married to an American, Brian Lynch, a former basketball star at Villanova, and Clijsters said Saturday she watches plenty of American sports on television, the NBA especially, and the NFL as well. “But baseball,” she said, “you know, I’m not saying I’ll sit there for hours and watch the whole game, but obviously once in a while I’ll watch the highlights on the website or whatever. I watch some highlights.”

And as a response to some comments John McEnroe made earlier in the week about the women playing too much tennis and that the women’s schedule needs to be trimmed, Clijsters had this response:

“I think that’s a little bit of a misconception that’s out there. We can choose our schedule. I think it’s a player’s discipline and professionalism to know when to play, how many tournaments am I able to play or is my body capable of playing and am I emotionally ready or mentally ready to play.”

-- Diane Pucin, reporting from New York