Yanina Wickmayer is happy to be in the shadow of her more illustrious countrywomen despite a strong run that had taken her to the ASB Classic tennis semifinals today.
While Wickmayer is Belgium's No 1 via a world ranking of No 16, most of the tennis interest in that country this week is in the fortunes of comeback queens Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters.
The pair, both former world No 1s, are in action across the Tasman.
"I think everyone is talking about Kim and Justine playing in Brisbane," Wickmayer said with a laugh, when asked about the reaction in Belgium to her success in Auckland.
"All the Belgian press is there. That's what it's going to be, I guess, with Kim and Justine back."
For 27-year-old Henin, the winner of seven Grand Slam events, the Brisbane International is her first tournament since coming out of a 16-month retirement.
Clijsters, 26, returned to the circuit last August having become a mother and she provided one of 2009's sporting fairy tales.
In just her third tournament back, she pulled off the amazing feat of winning the United States Open as an unranked wildcard.
Wickmayer had no complaints about being pushed into the background by Henin and Clijsters, because it eased the pressure.
"I'm really happy to be in the shade, and to do my thing and be the underdog," she said.
"For me, last year was a big year being the only Belgian player apart from Kirsten [Flipkens], so it was tough for me to handle all that.
"I'm a lot stronger from it and I'm really glad to have all the pressure off my shoulders. I can play freely and play like a 20-year-old."
Both Clijsters, the top seed, and Henin, a wildcard, have made it through to the semifinals in Brisbane, keeping alive the prospect of a meeting in the final.
Wickmayer took a diplomatic line when asked who might win a showdown between the pair.
"I knew that question was going to come one day," she said.
"I don't know. Kim has a great game and has been playing really well and Justine is really motivated, I think, to beat her. Let the best player win, I guess."
In the Classic, Wickmayer's semifinal opponent will be Israel's Shahar Peer, who is unseeded in Auckland despite a ranking of No 30.
Wickmayer hasn't dropped a set in three matches on her way to the last four.
Yesterday, she took under an hour to get past Japanese wildcard Kimiko Date Krumm 6-2 6-2 in their quarterfinal.
"It's getting better each day and I'm feeling more confident each day," she said of her early season form.
"It's really important, the beginning of the year. We're all trying to find our rhythm after a while out of competition and it's really nice to have this rhythm in the first week."
The other semifinal will be an all-Italian affair, with top seed Flavia Pennetta pitted against No 4 seed Francesca Schiavone.
NZPA