40,000 to watch Belgian tennis battle

BELGIAN rivals Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin will try to assemble the biggest tennis crowd ever when then play an exhibition match in Brussels at the 40,000-capacity King Baudouin Stadium on 8 July.

If the 34,000 tickets are sold and all 6,000 invitees show up for the evening match, it will easily beat the 30,492 fans who attended the 1973 "Battle of the Sexes" between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs at the Houston Astrodome.

"We can do this together, so why not break this record," said Henin of a match that marks the opening of Belgium's six-month presidency of the European Union.