Justine Henin's Fantastic Run at the Australian Open-Also Analysis of Henin-Williams Final

Just out of reach! -----

-Justine Henin of Belgium stretches for a backhand return during the women's final match against Serena Williams of the US-

Photo by: Ben Solomon

Curtesy of 2010 Australian Open

(1) S. Williams *** (USA) 6 3 6
-------- (WC) J. Henin (BEL) 4 6 2

While I never expected Justine Henin to win the Australian Open--I certainly didn't expect to see her in the final either. Frankly, I thought Serena Williams might blow her out in a two setter.

Readers of this blog know that MrKen is in no way a fan of the younger Williams sister. But I was nonplussed at the following opinion & quote attributed to Serena in a story about Justine ('Good Times and Bad, Henin Has Kept Her Coach in View') reported in the New York Times (1/22-Joe Drape):

'Serena Williams, the world's top player, understands that Henin's enterprising shot-making and speedy persistence offer a counterpoint to her own formidable talents.'

"I'm so happy to see Henin back and doing well," Williams said. "She's such a good player and a fighter. I think she brings just a totally different theme to the game."

This is phony-baloney, disingenuous nonsense from Tennis's #1 Thug; there is plenty of bad blood between these two--& I am certain that Henin is the LAST player that Williams wants to see back on the WTA tour. Before this match, Henin had defeated Williams in 4 of their previous 6 meetings at MAJORS (remember--the only kind of tournament Serena feels is "worthy" of her participation).

There were rumors that Venus had finally prevailed on Serena to "apologize" at her THIRD press conference/rant for her infamous "foot-fault" outburst at the U.S. Open, as one or more of Serena's sponsors may have been getting "cold feet".

I suspect the aforementioned comment was also prompted by her older, smarter & less mercurial sibling.
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Long-time coach Carlos Rodriguez has been working with Henin to revamp her game-- her forehand and serve (especially her second serve). Her backhand is still the best in the women's & men's game (John McEnroe, among others think so). And Henin has indicated that she wants to play a more aggressive and varied style.

In my humble opinion however, I think that she may have overdone the aggressiveness a bit in the final, especially Justine's attempted forehand & backhand topspin "smashes" of Serena's many weak second serves--thus giving away too many precious points-many of them 'break' points'.

Before the final, I considered Henin a 4-1 or 5-1 underdog, mostly due to her weak serving during the Open. She had far too many double faults, and her second serve was very tentative. Not to mention this was only her second tournament back after a nearly two year layoff. I also considered that Justine might be unable to handle Williams' power after a 20 month layoff.

Interestingly, odds makers in Melbourne rated the final as 'pick em'!

Nevertheless, Henin is such a pint-sized artist on a tennis court-@ 5 feet 5 and 126 pounds-that her outsize talent, speed & mental toughness enabled her to defeat such top players at Melbourne as Nadia Petrova #19--who absolutely destroyed Kim Clijsters 6-0, 6-1 --(& what was that all about?) & Elena Dementieva #5, on her way to the showdown with Williams.

While Justine was reeling off 15 consecutive points at the end of the 2nd set & the beginning of the 3rd, one of the commentators (I believe Mary Carillo) said-to paraphrase-"well, Justine has the best technique in the game, much better than Serena's. Serena basically only has her power..."

Actually, Henin won only five fewer points than Williams in the match, and their service speeds were comparable.

Justine Henin's Official Web/Fan Site (in English) is:
http://www.justine-henin.be/en.

Prediction: Justine will regain the #1 Ranking & is a good bet to win the French Open.

Looking Back at the 2007 U.S. Tennis Open - Justine Henin is the 'Class' of the Women's Game!

Allez!


Justine Henin solidified her hold on the World's #1 ranking by dispatching both Williams' sisters enroute to the U.S. Open Championship.

First Justine knocked down Serena in the quarterfinals with a 7-6 (7-3), 6-1 drubbing. "The Belgian tennis queen silenced the anxious crowd and doubting American critics with tremendous shot making, and champion's poise. Justine now leads their major head-to-head record 4-2", noted Henin's official website.

Then, according to the New York Post (9/7/07), Richard Williams, reverting to his old braggadacio (sic) ways, predicted his daughter would beat Justine in the semifinals and win the U.S. Open. "I believe Venus can whip anyone here," Papa Williams declared to three reporters, "I don't think no one (sic) here is going to beat Venus."

The Post added that Serena raised eyebrows during a surly press conference after the match, saying her opponent won because Henin "hit a lot of lucky shots and I made a lot of errors."

This remark was even too much for Mr. Williams, who 'clarified' this insult by saying that Serena should have skipped the Open and her "lucky" remark referred to the Belgian being fortunate that Serena was hurt. But then he went on to discuss a "shopping list" of Serena's allegedly undisclosed ailments, including a hamstring pull and left-knee swelling from a past operation. "That's why she felt Justine hit lucky shots because she couldn't move", added Pa Williams.

Papa Williams has been known in the past to stretch the truth.

Basically, Serena looked beat the entire second set. To this amateur she appeared old, overweight and out of shape as Justine motored around the court, hitting sizzling passing shots.

And Justine went on to defeat Venus Williams, 7-6, (7-2), 6-4 in the semifinals. It was two hours of astonishing shot making, athleticism, deft hands, and exhilirating speed from two champions. But Venus finally wilted under a twin barrage of Henin's incredible speed and dazzling passing shots.

In the final, Justine easily def. Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-1 6-3 in just 82 mins. So Justine Henin did not concede a set during the Open!

Justine had her own unpublicized health problems, evident during the Venus Williams match, when she called for a trainer. She could not go to Beijing (cancelled 9/12) because of continuing asthma problems. But in MrKen's estimation-and more importantly her own-she raised her tennis to a new, higher, level.

John McEnroe, despite his admiration for Justine's style of play and mental toughness, is wrong. Justine Henin at her best can defeat BOTH Serena and Venus Williams at their best. And I can't wait for her to do it again...

Justine is clearly the 'Class' of the Women's game-- in more ways than one...

"I didn't play Venus in four years, but she was my semi-final opponent. I can't tell you enough how enormous my motivation was. I think we reached an incredible level of tennis in that match, and it will remain as one of the best matches of my career." -- Justine Henin

Justine Henin's official fan website: http://www.justine-henin.be/public/shownews.asp?Lang=en&id=3245

Henin Tipped for Shock Return by Belgian Media!

Allez!

Justine Henin, displaying the winner's trophy for the 2007 U.S. Open, after dispatching both the Williams sisters & solidifying her hold on the #1 ranking--which she held for more than 12 months.
A baffled Serena Williams during her quarterfinal loss in the 2007 U.S. Open to Justine Henin--Clueless & Classless
A Comeback a la Clijsters?

(AFP) – Aug 26, 2009

BRUSSELS — Belgian media were speculating Wednesday on a possible return to women's tennis of former world number one and multiple Grand Slam title winner Justine Henin, 15 months after she retired from the game.

Noting that Henin, 27, is back in training for exhibition matches, several papers have speculated she may return to the circuit as compatriot Kim Clijsters did earlier this summer.

In MrKen's opinion, Henin was the best player of her generation--YES, that includes both of the Williams' sisters!

No less an authority than Billie Jean King said that "pound for pound, Henin is the best tennis player of her generation."

And John McEnroe noted that her "one-handed backhand as the best single-handed backhand in the women's or men's game."

In the 2007 U.S. Open, Henin defeated her first four opponents in straight sets, with a 6–0 set in each match. Henin then faced Serena Williams in the quarterfinals for the third consecutive time in a Grand Slam tournament, and for the third time, Henin won, 7–6(3), 6–1. She then went on to defeat Venus in an exciting semifinal, before winning the final against Kuznetova. Henin won the tournament without dropping a set.

At the time, MrKen posted about Serena's "clueless and classless" comments during a surly news conference in crediting Henin's win to "a lot of lucky shots", and went on to lamely blame her "other interests" for her poor showing--as if Williams was a tennis 'dilettante'.

This post, along with my retrospective look back at Henin's triumph-- "Justine Henin, the 'Class' of the Women's Game", can be found at http://mrken45sworld.blogspot.com/search?q=Justine+Henin

And for the rest of the story from the Belgian press about the rumored comeback, please follow this link: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jujpFjkJ7BcnLfw7F_skfUKgruQQ

P.S. Henin even knows how to serve without double-faulting a dozen times in a match! (See the 9/2/09 NY Times front page article (above the fold) on this embarrassment to the women's game and Billie Jean King's befuddlement on its cause or solution in her interview on the Tennis Channel.

Wikipedia on Henin: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justine_Henin

Justine Henin Returns to the WTA Tour!

MrKen's favorite female player has returned! I posted at length about Henin's rumored return on Sept. 3--

http://mrken45sworld.blogspot.com/search?q=Henin+shock+return

--and she has already beaten one of the top players--Nadia Petrova. The following selected copy appeared on 'Yahoo Sports' @ 4 hours ago:

Henin Returns with Win at Brisbane International

By JOHN PYE, AP Sports Writer 3 hours, 43 minutes ago

• BRISBANE, Australia (AP)—''Justine Henin played as if she never left. She didn’t even make it to her first post-match news conference since coming out of retirement before talk began about when she’ll win an eighth Grand Slam singles title.
• 
  

Henin beat second-seeded Nadia Petrova of Russia 7-5, 7-5 in the first round of the Brisbane International on Monday, the former No. 1’s first official tour match since announcing her comeback in September.

“I feel better today than when I retired, that’s for sure,” Henin said. “Better emotionally, mentally. Better with myself, and that makes a big difference.”

She is preparing to make her return to Grand Slam action at the Australian Open, which starts Jan. 18.

Henin abruptly left the tour in May 2008 after spending a total of 117 weeks at No. 1, winning seven major championships, an Olympic gold medal and 41 WTA titles overall. Now she is back, perhaps inspired by another Belgian, Kim Clijsters, who returned to the tour after about two years away and promptly won last year’s U.S. Open.

The 27-year-old Henin said she might be in stronger physical shape than she was 20 months ago. She certainly felt better psychologically after Monday’s victory, which followed exhibition wins last month, including one over Petrova.

'I’ve been waiting for this moment for so long,” Henin said. “At the beginning, everything seemed very big: the stadium, all the people. I’m not used to it anymore.'...

'...Grand Slam champions and former No. 1 players Venus Williams and Maria Sharapova—taking part in an exhibition event in Hong Kong—both predicted Henin will once again be a force.

“She was a great champion before,” Williams said. “She can keep on playing great tennis.”

Sharapova called Henin’s return good for the women’s tour.'...

For the full story, please follow this link:

http://sports.yahoo.com/ten/news?slug=ap-brisbane&prov=ap&type=lgns

As far as I know, Serena Williams had nothing to say about Henin's return. Henin crushed her in the 2007 U.S. Open, 7-6 (3), 6-1, and was ranked #1 in the world for over 12 months. Williams only offers gratuitous praise to players whom she crushes, but because she is a classless sore loser (see my previous post), S. Williams always finds excuses for her poor play when she loses.--She is never outplayed, in her mind; her opponent was lucky (2007 aforementioned loss to Henin), she was treated unfairly (the "foot fault" controversy), blah, blah, blah...

It would be terrific for the WTA if Justine can quickly get into top form, as Kim Clijsters did at the U.S. Open. I'm looking forward to a Henin-Clijsters match, as well as a renewed competition with the Williams' sisters.

Serena Williams Reiterates Petty, Classless Comments about U.S. Open Match with #1 Justine Henin

A baffled Serena Williams during her quarterfinal loss to Justine Henin--Clueless & Classless

As MrKen posted on 9/28, Serena Williams raised eyebrows during a surly press conference at the U.S. Open, during which she blamed her quarterfinal loss on "a lot of lucky shots" hit by #1 ranked Justine Henin.

Just in case any readers were willing to overlook her immature & childish comments about the loss to the best female player in the world- as just reflecting momentary frustration with her poor showing-- check this out...from Reuters (10/8/07)

Serena Sets Sights on Reclaiming Top Spot

...Serena Williams lost in the quarter-finals of the U.S. Open to top-ranked eventual champion Justine Henin last month and said the Belgian hit some "lucky shots" to win 7-6 6-1.

NO CONTRITION

While admitting she was frustrated during the post-match news conference, Williams would not apologize for the remarks.

"I want to know what I said that was such a problem," said Williams after facing some sharp criticism. "It was what it was."

Williams then tried to lamely also blame her loss on injury and, amazingly, "other interests". Are we to believe that she is just a dilettante at tennis? As she told Reuters,

"Definitely injury has a lot to do with it," Williams told Reuters in a telephone interview from Moscow. "Well, maybe it's a little bit of both, injury and my other interests.

"But I'm not going to stop doing what I do. I'm stubborn. That's a flaw that I have."

The 26-year-old Williams is involved in a variety of off-court projects, including fashion design and acting.

"I definitely do a lot of different things," she said. "I'm not just a tennis player. I don't want to be one of those girls that doesn't have anything to change in to when I'm done with my career.

"I think it's important to have things to fall back on."

I get it, Serena--even though you lost this very important match to Justine Henin, you are more "well-rounded", right?

MrKen says that this is just so much nonsense, Serena! You apparently don't possess the necessary skills or focus to regain a #1 ranking, so you make weak excuses.

MrKen is disgusted with the childish & petty egos of the massively overpaid athletes like Ms. Williams in the U.S. today. For instance, as the historic collapse of the N.Y. Mets was starting to unfold in mid-September against second-rate teams, one star gave an explanation of several key losses. "We're so good, that sometimes we get bored."

Hey Serena--wanna join the Mets?

To read the full Reuters interview, please follow this link:

http://www.reuters.com/article/reutersEdge/idUSN0831908320071008?pageNumber=3