Clijsters to play Henin at 40,000-capacity Baudouin Stadium to mark Belgium’s EU Presidency

Clijsters to play Henin at 40,000-capacity stadium

BRUSSELS — Belgian tennis players Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin will seek to assemble the biggest tennis crowd ever when then play an exhibition match at the 40,000-capacity Baudouin Stadium on July 8.

If the 34,000 tickets are sold and all 6,000 invitees show up for the evening match, it will easily beat the 30,472 fans who attended the 1973 “Battle of the Sexes II” between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs at the Houston Astrodome.

Organizer Bob Verbeeck said King would be invited as an honorary umpire.

The match will mark the opening of Belgium’s six-month presidency of the European Union.