Clijsters, 21, said on her website that a party for their close friends would be held in Chateau Saint-Paul at Lummen in her native Belgium after the wedding in Australia.

"In December 2003 Kim and Lleyton Hewitt got engaged," a statement on the website said. "A year later the beautiful love story will have its logical extension with a marriage in February in Australia."

Both players are former world number ones, but Clijsters, who has won 21 career titles, has not played since last May with a wrist injury.

Hewitt, 23, lost the US Open final to Roger Federer last weekend. He has won 23 titles in his career including the US Open in 2001 and Wimbledon in 2002.

Clijsters and Hewitt met at the Australian Open in 2000 when Kim's sister Elke asked her to get Hewitt's autograph and they got engaged after a romantic boat trip around Sydney Harbour last December.

"He invited me out for dinner on a boat and suddenly unveiled a ring and earrings," she said shortly before Christmas.

Hewitt, whose birthday is in February, first invited Clijsters out in late 2000 to a party for fellow Australian Pat Rafter.

Clijsters reached number one in August 2003 without winning a major title, having lost in the finals of four Grand Slams.

She admitted last year that she was considering a change in residency because of the amount of taxes she pays in Belgium, and did not rule out becoming an Australian citizen.

The pair follow in the footsteps of Steffi Graf, now retired, and Andre Agassi, also both former world number ones. They married in October 2001 and have a son and a daughter.