Open to love

The two teens, frequently mistaken for being brother and sister rather than girlfriend and boyfriend, have been a steady item for quite a while. Close enough that Clijsters spent part of the summer on the road with Hewitt at tournaments in Cincinnati and Indianapolis instead of competing herself.

The third match on Stadium Court featured Andre Agassi, who started a relationship with retired tennis great Steffi Graf just before the start of last year’s US Open. Agassi’s day ended in professional heartbreak as he lost his second-round match, but at least he had Graf there to console him afterwards.

Jennifer Capriati, the child that tennis fans first let into their hearts when barely a teenager, has now given her heart to fellow pro Xavier Malisse of Belgium. The couple have been an item since at least the Australian Open in January.

Women’s world number one Martina Hingis has found a new number one guy in third-ranked Magnus Norman of Sweden. The couple was first seen together when they repeatedly dined in each other’s company at the Masters Series-Indian Wells tournament in March.

By the French Open, Hingis and Norman were less secretive about their relationship, coyly trying to avoid questions about the romance, but constantly watching each other play.

This is not the first tennis merger for Hingis, who was previously linked to Spaniard Julian Alonso, American Justin Gimelstob and fellow Swiss Ivo Hueberger.

The wildly popular Anna Kournikova seems to favour hockey players to tennis players when speaking of romance. Though on occasion she has been linked to Australian tennis player Mark Philippoussis.

Kournikova briefly dated Florida Panthers hockey star Pavel Bure before going back to long-time beau Sergei Federov, the Detroit Red Wings ace iceman.

Two top-ranked women prefer baseball players off the court — reigning French Open champion Mary Pierce and Amanda Coetzer.

Pierce is engaged to Cleveland Indians second baseman, Roberto Alomar, but no wedding date has been announced.

Coetzer is in a long-standing relationship with Baltimore Orioles outfielder, Brady Anderson.

American Lindsay Davenport is currently hooked-up with doubles specialist Rick Leach’s brother, John, a former collegiate star at USC, who still occasionally plays on the Satellite Circuit.

One top player who looked outside of sports for a love match is Pete Sampras, who is set to walk down the aisle with actress Bridgette Wilson before the end of the year.

History tells us that the future is not necessarily happily ever after for many tennis couples.

While Chris Evert’s engagement to Jimmy Connors led to banner headlines for the sweethearts, their union never made it to marriage. Evert went on to marry British tennis star John Lloyd, a match that failed some years later. She then turned to another sport to find a life partner in former Olympic skier, Andy Mills, and now has three children.

Connors, since, has been wedded to former playboy `Playmate of the year,’ Patty McGuire, for close to 20-years.

Another love match that captured world attention was between Swedish sensation Bjorn Borg and Romanian player Mariana Simionescu. Wedded bliss did not last long and they parted company after only a few years of marriage.

Nevertheless, some couples have happily endured.

In recent times, American doubles specialist Robert Seguso and Carling Bassett, the best player Canada has produced, remain married with three children.

A Czech connection still exists between Petr Korda and Regina Rajchrtova, who are married and have two children.

And 1961 Wimbledon champion Angela Mortimer has been married for 33-years to former player John Barrett, now a respected British TV commentator and writer for The Financial Times.