Justine Henin recently announced her retirement from professional tennis (for the 2nd time) and already there are doping rumours spreading.
In a farewell press conference, the newly-retired former World No. 1 from Belgium rued her bad luck and confronted those who spread rumors of her allegedly doping.
“I regard ending my career more like a sentence that’s been handed down than a decision I’ve made,” said Henin, who retired for the second time because of elbow problems. “I’ve had to deal with a lot of injuries throughout my career but this time, at 29, I just can’t go on. You have to be reasonable about things. When I came back from Australia, I had consultations with three different doctors. The will is there, but physically I can’t do it. It got to the point that I needed 10 minutes in the morning just to get my elbow functional. The ligament wasn’t solid enough to handle the intensity of the game. For me, it’s like a sentence. Now I have to mourn the end of my career.”
Australia has got off to a great start at the 2011 Hopman Cup. On day 1 Australia defeated Belgium by 2-1.
Ladies Singles: Justine Henin (BEL) def. Alicia Molik (AUS) = 6-4 6-4
Mens Singles: Lleyton Hewitt (AUS) def. Ruben Bemelmans = 6-4 6-3
Mixed Doubles: Molik/Hewitt (AUS) def. Henin/Bemelmans = 1-6 6-3 7-6 (10/8)
It was great see Australia win their first match of the 2011 Hopman Cup. However, Im getting a little bit tired of seeing the same players year after year after year. Is this because Australian tennis isnt producing quality youngsters or is it because the organisers are just trying to fill as many seats as possible and not blood young players into the limelight?
Well in my previous post this morning I thought Justine Henin and Samantha Stosur would have the match of the day, and I was right! Stosur knocked out Henin 2-6 6-1 6-4.
This is a great win for Samantha, but it doesnt get any easier with Serena Williams in the next round. Stosur has been playing some of the best tennis of her career and the results are starting to flood in!
Its good to see the Aussie’s doing well, now if we only had a few male players to back up the women’s results!
Im really looking forward to the match today between Justine Henin and Samantha Stosur. I used to know Sam very well while playing tennis back home in Australia (we are both Queenslanders). It has been amazing how much progress she has made in this past year, moving from just a doubles player to now really competing and winning in singles.
Justine has this to say about Sam and her game after defeating Maria Sharapova:
She has beautiful qualities on clay because she plays kind of a men’s tennis. I mean, she has very heavy balls.
After the Australian Open, I cannot help but notice patchy opinions and comparisons of the great players, that in my attempt to analyze the differences.
Kim Clijsters:
Ranking when retired: 4
Retired / Comeback: May 2007 / Mid 2009
1st tournament: QF defeated by Safina
2nd tournament: 3rd round by Jankovic
3rd tournament: Champion
Playing style: Baseline basher / deep ground strokes
Pressure: no expectations
Justine Henin:
Ranking when retired: 1
Retired / Comeback: Mid 2008 / Jan 2010
1st tournament: Final defeated by Clijsters
2nd tournament: Final defeated by Williams
3rd tournament: ?
Playing style: Variety with precision
Pressure: Huge pressure to replicate Kim
If by looking at the facts, Kim has come back strong as first appearance in grand slam, but far from it that Henin is less impressive in the second tournament only. No doubts Clijsters’ form was seemingly better when she played in US open but her style of playing is probably easier to pick up in a shorter timeframe backed with strong physical training, as opposed to Henin’s style which needs to come with time to tune in the accuracy of each shot in her complexity of game plan.
On the other hand, Clijsters came back without much expectation of winning as a wildcard by others, as such that with her brilliance she stormed everyone by surprise when she reached the final and passed through Serena. By the time Henin arrived to Australian Open, all eyes were on her to make the same progress. But mind you, then everyone on tour was alert on this potential dangerous wildcard, with Serena especially increased additional training on the morning of their final.
Not to mention the road to QF in the first week was especially testing for Henin to beat very strong and upcoming players, than those of Clijsters on route to US open’s 2nd week. The winning of the final often depends on who your opponent is. Caroline, the first time finalist compared to Serena, who flourishes and plays her best at final.
The pressure on Henin was, thus far from anyone could bear, being known and kept advertised as the former number 1 to do a miracle on her second tournament back. With that mental and physical torture, how she was able to still stay focused and at ease with herself and played with such sparks on court, that in itself speaks volume.
And what about Williams when everyone seems to be showering praises that she is greatest ever? Who could remember when Williams came out from injuries in 2004, it took her some time, actually years to recover her form and regained number one again in September 2008 after Henin retired.
Then, given the magnificent runs of the two Belgians, why is everyone urging them to be at the top of rank again within a year? My only answer is that if people are longing to give the number one to someone more worthy? Or purely women’s tennis was at such a stale stage that people are yearning for some quality games and change of hands at the very top?
Be patient, and there time will tell (and it is too early to tell), if any one of the Belgians will be able to return to top form consistently in the coming years and if Williams will not be threaten by them. My bet is, Henin has the mind and body to come back stronger than ever.
Kim and Justine
As the news broke that Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin would not be competing for Belgium in the February 6-7 Fed Cup tie against Poland many fans on the forums questioned Kim and Justines’ tenacity. Clijsters, who fell to Nadia Petrova in the 3rd round of the Australian Open 0-6 1-6 had let it be known that she “needs a fresh period to build up training” to “make it impossible to compete in the Fed Cup.” said the Belgian federation. Henin, the Australian Open finalist had already stated that it is too early in her comeback to play a best of five series.
Many fans have expressed anger at a lost opportunity to see these two women compete, but both women have expressed their desire to continue playing tennis on their own terms. Their respective returns to competition have already seen a grand slam victory and grand slam runner-up, deepening the field in the womens’ game. Both players know how gruelling the tour can be and will be looking to enjoy their time in competition. Avoiding injuries will be paramount if the best is yet to come and given their results in their 2.0 Grand Slam debuts, the future is bright.
For those fans hungry to see more of Justine, her next outing will be Indian Wells. Kim’s next match will be The Billie Jean King Cup at Madison Square Garden on 1st March.
