Elise Mertens currently occupies a career-high ranking of No.20, owning to her outstanding start to the 2018 season, and she’s largely crediting her boyfriend/coach Robbe Ceyssens for her stellar rise.
The 22-year-old Mertens, who trains at the Kim Clijsters Academy, kicked off this year by becoming the first woman to win back-to-back titles in Hobart and then she went straight to the Australian Open where she progressed all the way to the semifinals on her main-draw debut. The Belgian believes that her boyfriend is a major part of her success, as she stated after beating fourth seed Elina Svitolina in the quarterfinals at Melbourne Park:
My boyfriend and coach means so much, all credits to him.
Robbe is Elise’s fellow Belgian, one and a half year her senior, born on April 6th, 1993. His tennis career as a player was very modest, as his bio sites few junior wins, but as a coach at the Kim Clijsters Academy he’s apparently doing a superb job.
I’m not sure when Elise and Robbe started dating, but the tennis star’s Twitter profile has photos of them together dating back to April 2016.
This is a perfect addition to our WTA Players and their Love Partners series, where relationships between tennis players are a common sight.
I tried to follow him on IG using my fan page. He denied my request ????????????
Sru, he knows you’re a spy! 😀