I would like to come back to the Billie Jean King Cup match between a United States team which fielded its best players and a Belgian team which presented itself weak without Elise Mertens, Greet Minnen and Yanina Wickmayer. By aligning Sofia Costoulas and Hanne Vandewinkel, Wim Fissette, the captain of our national team, explained that this match would be important for our two young players with the objective of gaining experience for the future. It was not a facade speech. He was right. I remember that at the start of my professional career, I was in the same situation as Sofia and Hanne with a match against Spain of Conchita Martinez and Arantxa Sanchez. It was super interesting, because at this point in your career it allows you to face top girls in the world and see where you stand. You seek to understand and see first-hand, on a court, why they are at this level, what the differences are compared to you. You can also see if you can compete with girls of this caliber. Afterwards, you cannot draw overall conclusions from a single match. But it gives you clues.
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