"I think we do have six players in the top 100," Sabine Appelmans said. "There's two or three veteran, more experienced players and then there's two very good teen-agers, Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin. It's good for the future of Belgian tennis because we have some youngsters coming."

Appelmans, 27, is the grande dame -- accent on the grande -- of the group, the first from her country to gain international prominence. She and Dominique Van Roost, 26, are the present. Clijsters, 16, and Henin, 17, who is injured, are the future.

That future could be now, too, because on Sunday, at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, Appelmans, Van Roost and Clijsters played their way into the fourth round of the women's Indian Wells Tennis Masters along with top seeds Martina Hingis, Lindsay Davenport, Serena Williams, Mary Pierce, Conchita Martinez and Monica Seles.

However, No. 4 seed Nathalie Tauziat was upset by Karina Habsudova and No. 8 seed Anna Kournikova fell (sorry, guys) to Nathalie Dechy of France in a third-set tiebreaker.

Appelmans beat Cara Black of Zimbabwe, 6-3, 7-6, Van Roost defeated Emmanuelle Gagliardi of Switzerland, 4-6, 6-3, 6-0, and Clijsters eliminated Tatiana Panova of Russia, 6-3, 7-6, to set up matches against Seles, Martinez and defending champion Williams, respectively.

And should a good tournament turn into a great one for the Belgian women, Appelmans could find herself in the semifinals against the young lady who once idolized her and now is her regular practice partner and close friend.

Meanwhile, Van Roost, who is from the southern, French-speaking section of Belgium, could be en route to a quarterfinal meeting with Davenport.

"When I started playing tennis, Sabine was the No. 1 from Belgium and she was top 20 (in the world), so I was really looking up to her," said Clijsters, a remarkably mature teen who learned to deal with the media while her father, Leo, was a World Cup soccer player and her mother, Els, a national gymnastics champion. "I remember that when she was playing for Kennex I bought the racquets that she was playing with and everything. Now I can practice with her, we're good friends and she helps me out here."

Appelmans, who said she can look at Clijsters and see herself in younger, more innocent times, calls her young friend "a very nice, positive person" who is fun to be around.

"She's so positive and she hasn't had many bad experiences yet," Appelmans said. "Her record's been going up all the time, so she has nothing to lose yet. It's good to see this because I think at one point in your career you start putting too much pressure on yourself and thinking, `What if I lose here?' She just plays every match. That's her style. That's the way she is."

It's the way Appelmans is, too, after going through one of those periods of "putting too much pressure on myself."

A professional since 1989, Appelmans, a left-hander, reached a career-high ranking of No. 16 at the close of the 1997 season. She was No. 49 at the close of 1998 and No. 94 in March, 1999, before rebounding to finish the season at No. 30. She came here at No. 27.

"Now I just look at it differently," said Appelmans, twice the Belgian sportswoman of the year and, once, Panorama magazine's choice as the ideal woman over a host of movie stars and models. "I just try to do the best I can and enjoy it, work hard on the court and try to play the best tennis I can every match.

"My results have improved since I've taken this new approach. It's been going well lately."

It's been going well for Clijsters (pronounced klysh-ters) since she played in the Wimbledon Junior finals in 1998 and parlayed that into the start of her professional career. She was No. 409 at the close of 1998 and No. 47 at the end of '99, a year in which she won her first title as a qualifier at Luxembourg by beating Appelmans in the semifinals and Van Roost in the final and was selected Belgium's woman of the year.

She added her second title at Hobart, Australia, to open this season and began this event at No. 33.

Clijsters could perhaps have accomplished even more, too, except for a couple of obstacles. One is the fact she still is a student who is finding it hard juggling school and travel and hopes to finish by correspondence. The other is the fact that, because of her age, the Women's Tennis Association restricts her to 10 tournaments as a 16-year-old and 17, including the four Grand Slams, as a 17-year-old, an age she will reach on June 8.

At 18, she will be able to play as many events as she cares to play. But she may have to do so without Appelmans, who was married in September 1997, and plans to have children.

"At one point I was thinking a lot about how long I'm going to be playing," Appelmans said. "But at this time I just take it one tournament at a time and we'll see. I'll play this year, and then for next year we'll see how I feel and how I'm doing."

SUNDAY'S RESULTS

Women's singles (third round) -- Martina Hingis (1), Switzerland, def. Ai Sugiyama, Japan, 6-1, 6-2; Lindsay Davenport (2), Newport Beach, def. Natasha Zvereva, Belarus, 6-4, 6-2; Serena Williams (3), Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., def. Rita Grande, Italy, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2; Karina Habsudova, Slovakia, def. Nathalie Tauziat (4), France, 6-4, 6-4; Mary Pierce (5), France, def. Corina Morariu, Boca Raton, Fla., 6-2, 4-6, 6-2; Conchita Martinez (6), Spain, def. Jelena Dokic, Australia, 6-2, 7-6 (4); Monica Seles (7), Sarasota, Fla., def. Patty Schnyder, Switzerland, 6-0, 6-3; Nathalie Dechy, France, def. Anna Kournikova (8), Russia, 7-5, 5-7, 7-6 (5); Julie Halard-Decugis (9), France, def. Ruxandra Dragomir, Romania, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3; Barbara Schett (10), Austria, def. Magdalena Grzybowska, Poland, 6-2, 6-1; Chanda Rubin, Lafayette, La., def. Sandrine Testud (11), France, 6-4, 2-6, 6-2; Elena Likhovtesva (16), Russia, def. Mirjana Lucic. Croatia, 2-6, 6-4, 7-5; Sabine Appelmans, Belgium, def. Cara Black, Zimbabwe, 6-3, 7-6 (5); Kim Clijsters, Belgium, def. Tatiana Panova, Russia, 6-3, 7-6 (6); Elena Dementieva, Russia, def. Magui Serna, Spain, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4; Dominique Van Roost, Belgium, def. Emmanuelle Gagliardi, Switzerland, 4-6, 6-3, 6-0.

Women's doubles (first round) -- Kristie Boogert-Miriam Oremans def. Karin Kschwendt-Florencia Labat, 6-3, 6-1; Anke Huber-Barbara Schett def. Amy Frazier-Katie Schlukebir, 6-3, 6-1; Ai Sugiyama-Julie Halard-Decugis def. Jelena Kostanic-Tina Pisnik, 7-5, 6-0; Catherine Barclay-Anne-Gaelle Sidot def. Sonya Jeyseelan-Patty Schnyder, 6-4, 6-4

Men's singles qualifying (second round) -- Byron Black (4), Zimbabwe, def. Wayne Arthurs, Australia, 7-6 (5), 6-4; Max Mirnyi (5), Belarus, def. Ronald Agenor (12), Haiti, 7-6 (5), 6-4; Paul Goldstein (7), Rockville, Md., def. Martin Damm (9) Czech Republic, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4; Jan-Michael Gambill (10), Colbert, Wash., def. Bob Bryan, Camarillo, 6-7 (3), 7-6 (6), 6-3; Jan Kroslak, Slovakia, def. Christophe Rochus (11), Belgium, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3; Justin Gimelstob, Miami, def. John van Lottum (14), Netherlands, 6-4, 6-3; Cyril Saulnier, France, def. Mark Woodforde, Australia, 6-4, 6-3; Marcos Ondruska, South Africa, def. Leander Pas, India, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. All winners qualify for main draw.

Men's doubles qualifying (quarterfinals) -- Alberto Martin-Sjeng Schalken def. Luke Jensen-Murphy Jensen, 6-4, 7-6 (8); Nicolas Lapentti-Peter Tramacchi def. Geoff Grant-Mark Keil, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3; Roger Federer-Dominik Hrbaty def. Devin Bowen-Brandon Coupe, 6-4, 6-2; Arnaud Clement-Sebastien Grosjean lead Marcos Ondruksa-Jack Waite, 7-5, 2-1, suspended. All winners qualify for main draw.

Jim Short can be reached by e-mail at sports@pe.com, or by fax at (909) 782-6009.

Published 3/13/2000