BRUSSELS (AFP) - Belgium's Kim Clijsters rounded on the media, demanding they give her and former boyfriend Lleyton Hewitt some privacy after what she said was unacceptable gossip following their split.
"What is wrong with journalists if they spend the night camping outside my house? If they start following me and the rest of my family? If they start insinuating things about my mother or Lleyton's?" she asked on her website.
She called gossip that she or Hewitt already have new partners a "big lie," adding: "Splitting up after nearly five years isn't easy and painful as it is already, isn't it not normal we want to come to terms with it ourselves?"
And she added: "Why is all this gossip turned into national news? ... I firmly believe there are more important issues to write about than just the strictly private ones as ours.
"I sincerely hope that everybody will show some respect for me and my family and that these gossips will stop. And that everyone is curious to find out about the wrist and my tennis. I will keep you posted on those," shge added.
Last month, Clijsters, 21, said she would marry Hewitt in Australia in February. But the Belgian tennis star announced their romance was off on her website last Friday.
Both players are former world number ones, but Clijsters, who has won 21 career titles, has not played since last May with a wrist injury.
Hewitt, 23, lost the US Open final to Roger Federer in September. He has won 23 titles in his career including the US Open in 2001 and Wimbledon in 2002.
Clijsters and Hewitt met at the Australian Open in 2000 when Kim's sister Elke asked her to get Hewitt's autograph and they got engaged after a romantic boat trip around Sydney Harbour last December.
Clijsters reached number one in August 2003 without winning a major title, having lost in the finals of four Grand Slams.
She said last year she was considering a change in residency because of the amount of taxes she pays in Belgium, and did not rule out becoming an Australian citizen.
10/25/2004 - 13:19 GMT - AFP