MELBOURNE - Having suffered herself from schoolyard bullying because of her famous soccer-playing father, tennis supermum Kim Clijsters is intent on providing daughter Jada with a "normal" upbringing.
The newly-crowned Australian Open champion on Sunday revealed how tough it was growing up as the daughter of professional footballer Leo -
Belgium's 1988 player of the year who died in early 2009.
Clijsters' determination to protect two-year-old Jada from similar heartache is part of the reason why the four-times major winner refuses to commit to a fulltime playing career beyond 2011.
Married to former pro American basketballer Bryan Lynch, Clijsters says she is unlikely to continue after the 2012 London Olympics.
"I know in our situation because my dad was a little famous that it was a little hard sometimes," the 27-year-old world No.2 said.
"So I know that's something we're going to have to look at - how do people react, because people automatically make assumptions because she has a famous mother or her dad's from America and she speaks a different language a bit.
"People have a pre-judgement and that's something that I felt when I was younger and I used to get teased in school and it was very bad at some points in my grammar school.
"So those are things that I don't want her to go through."
Clijsters's mother Els was a top gymnast in Belgium, while her younger sister Elke is a former world junior doubles champion in tennis.
With sport in her blood, Clijsters said Jada - who turns three next month - will also "do sports for sure".
"I'm the first one to say that sports need to be a part of every child's lifestyle," she said.
"I would never really enjoy going to school, but I'm going to try to make it something that is important for Jada.
"My husband has a degree in finance and I know it's an important thing because I didn't have a normal upbringing.
"I didn't finish school, I wasn't able to do the usual birthday parties and all that stuff.
"I never did anything like that because I was playing tennis and doing a lot of travelling in Europe doing the under-12s and under-14s (tournaments).
"And I want to give her all that. I want to give her those friendships in school and those friends you grow up with and kind of have that normal kind of lifestyle."
- AAP
