Justine Henin

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  • Justine HeninDate of birth: June 1, 1982
  • Birthplace: Liège, Belgiumxx
  • Residence: Monte Carlo, Monaco
  • Height:  5' 5 3/4'' (1.67 m)
  • Weight: 126 lbs. (57 kg)
  • Plays: Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
  • Turned Pro: Jan 1, 1999

  

 

 

Justine Henin;  (born June 1, 1982 in Liège) is a Belgian professional tennis player from the Walloon (French-speaking) region of Belgium. She is currently ranked number 1 in the world.

She has won seven Grand Slam singles titles, including four French Open singles titles (four of the last five and the last three, consecutively), one Australian Open and two U.S. Open titles. She also has won a WTA Tour Championships singles title and the singles gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Tennis experts cite her mental toughness, the completeness and variety of her game, her footspeed and footwork, as well as her celebrated one-handed backhand (which John McEnroe has described as the best single-handed backhand in the men's or women's game) as one of the principle reasons for her success.

Family life

Justine Henin was born on June 1, 1982. Her father is José Henin; her mother, Françoise Rosière, was a French and history teacher who died when Justine was 12 years old. She has two brothers (David and Thomas), and a sister (Sarah). She also had an elder sister who was killed in a car accident before Justine was born. When Justine was two, her family moved to a house in Rochefort, situated next to the local tennis club, where she played tennis for the first time. At age six, Henin joined Tennis Club Ciney where her coaches discovered her talent immediately. She outclassed the other children in training sessions and was notably ambitious. Her mother routinely took the young Henin across the border to France to watch the French Open.

Henin saw the 1992 final involving her idol Steffi Graf and Monica Seles. Although Graf lost, the experience impressed Henin, who apparently told her mother, "One day I will play here and I will win."

In 1995, shortly after her mother’s death, Henin met her coach Carlos Rodriguez who has guided her career ever since. Following a conflict with her father about her tennis career and her relationship with Pierre-Yves Hardenne, Rodriguez soon became not only her trainer but in some ways a second father figure.

On November 16, 2002, Henin married Pierre-Yves in the Château de Lavaux-Sainte-Anne. However, on January 4, 2007, Henin withdrew from the upcoming tournaments in Australia, including the Australian Open, due to personal problems. Various news agencies reported that she intended to divorce. She has since confirmed on her official website that she has separated from her husband and she also resumed her maiden name, Justine Henin, instead of Justine Henin-Hardenne.  Her divorce and the serious car accident of her eldest brother helped to clear the path for Justine to make contact again with her close family (which she communicated very openly in the local press). During the 2007 French Open, her brothers and sister attended her matches for the first time in her professional career.

Early career

Henin, known as "Juju" to many of her fans, has been coached by Carlos Rodriguez of Argentina since she was 14 years old. In 1997, she won the junior girl's singles title at the French Open. Early in her senior career, she regularly reached the late rounds of international competitions and won five International Tennis Federation tournaments by the end of 1998.

She began her professional career on the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) tour in May 1999 as a wild card entry in the Belgian Open at Antwerp and became only the fifth player to win her debut WTA Tour event.

Henin established herself as a major competitor in 2001 when she reached the women's singles semifinals of the French Open and the women's singles final of Wimbledon, losing to Venus Williams. By the end of the year, Henin was ranked seventh in singles, with three titles to her name. Also that year, she reached the French Open women's doubles semifinals with Elena Tatarkova, and helped Belgium win the 2001 Fed Cup.

In 2002, she reached four WTA finals, winning two of them, and finished the year ranked fifth. Her German Open victory, her first win at a Tier I tournament, was noteworthy as she beat Jennifer Capriati in a semifinal and Serena Williams in the final, the then number two and number five ranked players, respectively.

Grand Slam breakthrough in 2003

In 2003, Henin won her first Grand Slam tournament, the French Open, defeating her compatriot Kim Clijsters in the final 6-0, 6-4. She reached the final after defeating top ranked Serena Williams in three sets, recovering from a 2-4 deficit in the third set. At one point during the semi-final, Henin raised her hand during her opponent's service, and Williams faulted. Williams then asked the umpire for another first serve but the fault was upheld. After the match, Williams cited the incident in claiming that Henin had cheated.

Later that year, Henin won her second Grand Slam tournament, the U.S. Open, again defeating Clijsters in the final 7-5, 6-1. Henin reached the final by defeating Jennifer Capriati 7-6 in the final set of their semifinal match. During the match, Henin was two points from defeat eleven times. The match ended well after midnight and Henin, after receiving treatment for dehydration and cramping, returned the next day to defeat Clijsters.

On October 19, 2003, Henin replaced Clijsters as the top ranked female singles player. She was named the International Tennis Federation's women's singles World Champion for 2003.

2004-2005

Henin started 2004 by winning a warm-up tournament in Sydney. She then won the Australian Open in Melbourne, defeating Kim Clijsters 6-3, 4-6, 6-3.

As of March 22, 2004, Henin had accumulated the highest point total (7626) in the history of the WTA rankings. Because the awarding of quality points was eliminated in 2006, this point total may never be exceeded.

By the end of the 2004 spring hard court season, Henin had built a 25-match Tier I winning streak and a 22-1 win-loss record (winning her first 16 matches).

At the start of the 2004 clay court season, Henin's health was adversely affected by infection with a strain of cytomegalovirus and an immune system problem. She often slept up to 18 hours a day and barely had the strength to brush her teeth, let alone play competitive tennis.

Although she decided to defend her French Open title and was seeded first in the tournament, she lost her second round match against a much lower-ranked player, Tathiana Garbin of Italy. At the time, the loss marked only the second time in 15 Grand Slam events that she'd lost before the fourth round.

Henin returned to competition in August and won the women's singles gold medal at the Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, defeating Amélie Mauresmo of France in the final 6-3, 6-3. Henin reached the gold medal match by defeating Anastasia Myskina in a semifinal after having trailed 1-5 in the final set, which she won 8-6. Her medal ceremony was attended by fellow countryman and IOC president Jacques Rogge.

In September 2004, she failed to defend her U.S. Open title, losing to Nadia Petrova in the fourth round. This defeat caused her to lose the number one ranking, which she had held for 45 non-consecutive weeks. She then withdrew from the 10 remaining tournaments of the year in an effort to recover her health and improve her fitness. Her plan to rejoin the tour at the beginning of 2005 was delayed when she fractured her kneecap in a December 2004 training session.

On March 25, 2005, after more than six months away from competition, Henin returned to the WTA circuit at the NASDAQ-100 Open in Miami. She lost to second ranked Maria Sharapova in a quarter-final. She rebounded at her next tournament, winning the clay court Family Circle Cup in Charleston, South Carolina. She won two more clay court titles before the start of the 2005 French Open. Her victories over top ranked Lindsay Davenport, Sharapova, Elena Dementieva, Svetlana Kuznetsova, and Petrova made her a top contender for the title there.

Henin was seeded tenth at the French Open and defeated the French player Mary Pierce, 6-1, 6-1, to take her second title at Roland Garros. The win marked Henin's 24th consecutive clay court win and her tenth consecutive final win, a streak stretching back to Zürich in October 2003. In capturing the title, she defeated Kuznetsova in the fourth round, Sharapova in a quarterfinal, and Petrova in a semifinal.

With her French Open victory, Henin moved from number 12 to number seven in the women's singles rankings. She joined Monica Seles as the only two currently active (in 2005) players on the WTA Tour to have won the French Open at least twice and was a perfect 24-0 in her 2005 clay court season.

At Wimbledon 2005, Henin's win streak of 24 matches was snapped in the first round by Greek Eleni Daniilidou 7-6, 2-6, 7-5. With this defeat, she became the first French Open champion in the open era to lose in the opening round of Wimbledon. A hamstring injury sustained earlier in the year eventually limited her to playing only 11 more matches for 2005.

In 2005, TENNIS Magazine placed her in 31st place in its list of 40 Greatest Players of the TENNIS era.

2006

In January 2006, Henin returned to competitive tennis in a tournament in Sydney, a tune-up for the 2006 Australian Open. She was seeded fifth and played former women's singles number one (and newly returned to competitive tennis) Martina Hingis in a much hyped first round match. Henin won 6-3, 6-3. She then defeated former U.S. Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in a semifinal 6-3, 6-1, before defeating Francesca Schiavone in the final 4-6, 7-5, 7-5.

In her Australian Open campaign, Henin defeated top ranked Lindsay Davenport and fourth ranked Maria Sharapova in three-set matches to set up a final against third ranked Amélie Mauresmo. While trailing 6-1, 2-0, Henin retired from the match, citing intense stomach pain caused by over-use of anti-inflammatories for a persistent shoulder injury. Henin was criticized by the press because she had stated after her win against Sharapova in the previous round that she was at the "peak of her fitness" and was playing the "best tennis of her life." She became only the second player, and the first woman, to retire from a Grand Slam final in the open era.

Henin captured her second title of 2006 at a Tier II event in Dubai, defeating Sharapova 7-5, 6-2. This was her third Dubai title, having won previously in 2003 and 2004.

In the following Pacific Life Open Tier I tournament in Indian Wells, Henin lost in the semifinal to fourth seed Elena Dementieva 2-6, 7-5, 7-5 after leading 6-2, 5-1. Henin also was ousted from the Miami NASDAQ-100 Open in the second round by Meghann Shaughnessy 7-5, 6-4. In April, Henin failed to defend her title at the Family Circle Cup in Charleston, South Carolina, her first clay court event of the season. She lost to third-seeded Patty Schnyder 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 in a semifinal. It was her first defeat in the Tier I tournament and the end of her 27 match win streak on clay.

In April, Henin led Belgium to victory over defending champion Russia in a 2006 Fed Cup quarterfinal. She defeated fifth ranked Nadia Petrova 6-7, 6-4, 6-3, and ninth ranked Elena Dementieva 6-2, 6-0. The wins were significant for Henin because Petrova had come into the tie with two consecutive clay court tournament victories and a 10-match clay court winning streak, while Dementieva had defeated Henin in their last meeting in Indian Wells and defeated second ranked Belgian compatriot Kim Clijsters on the first day of the tie.

Henin played at the Tier I German Open as the defending champion and defeated Mauresmo 6-1, 6-2 in a semifinal. However, she lost to Petrova in the final 4-6, 6-4, 7-5.

At the French Open in June, Henin rebounded from her loss in Berlin. In a semifinal match, Henin defeated second seeded Clijsters 6-3, 6-2. She then defeated Kuznetsova in the final 6-4, 6-4 to win her third title in four years there. Henin captured the title without the loss of a set and became the first French Open champion to defend her title successfully since Steffi Graf in 1996.

At the Eastbourne grass court tournament just prior to Wimbledon, Henin won the final against Anastasia Myskina 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(5).

Henin was the third seed going into Wimbledon and advanced to her third consecutive Grand Slam final without losing a set. She defeated Clijsters (who was seeded second) in a semifinal 6-4, 7-6(4) but lost the final to Mauresmo 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Henin withdrew from Tier 1 events in San Diego and Montréal because of injury but entered the Pilot Pen tournament in New Haven. There, she defeated Kuznetsova and Davenport en route to the title. It was her 28th WTA tour title. She returned to the number 2 ranking and crossed over US $12 million in career prize money.

At the U.S. Open, Sharapova defeated Henin 6-4, 6-4 in the final. Henin had won a hard-fought three-set semi-final over the Serb, Jelena Jankovic.

Henin was the first woman since Hingis in 1997 to reach the finals of all four Grand Slam singles tournaments in a calendar year. This was also the first time that both a man and a woman have reached the finals of all Grand Slams in one year, the man being Roger Federer.

Henin guaranteed her year end world No. 1 ranking by reaching the final of the WTA Tour Championships, defeating Sharapova 6-2, 7-6(5) in a semifinal. Henin then won the tournament for the first time in her career by defeating Mauresmo in the final 6-4 6-3.

Henin is the first player since Hingis in 2000 to win the WTA Tour Championships and end the year as the top ranked player. Henin is the first woman to win at least one Grand Slam singles title in four consecutive years since Graf from 1993 through 1996. Her prize money earnings for 2006 totaled U.S. $4,204,810.

In November, at the 2005 WTA Tour Championships, she was named the inaugural winner of the Whirlpool 6th Sense Player of the Year, which honors the player who has demonstrated the most sixth sense intuition, that is to say "heightened intelligence, unbeatable performance and pinpoint precision."

2007

On January 4, 2007, Henin withdrew from the Australian Open and the warm-up tournament in Sydney to deal with the break-up of her marriage. Not playing those tournaments caused Henin to lose the World No. 1 ranking to Maria Sharapova.

In Henin's first tournament of the year, she lost in the semifinals of the Open Gaz de France to Czech Lucie Safarova 7–6(5), 6–4. She then won two hardcourt tournaments in the Middle East, the Dubai Duty Free Women's Open (for the fourth time in five years) over Amelie Mauresmo and her first Qatar Total Open title in Doha, defeating Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final. She also reached US$14 million in career prize money and on 19 March regained the World No. 1 ranking.

At the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, Henin reached the final for the first time in her career, where she lost to Serena Williams 0–6, 7–5, 6–3 after holding two match points at 6–0, 5–4. Her next tournament was the J&S Cup in Warsaw, Poland, which she won, beating Alona Bondarenko of Ukraine in the final. Later, at the Qatar Telecom German Open in Berlin, Henin won her quarterfinal against Jelena Jankovic 3–6, 6–4, 6–4 after being behind 4–0 in the third set, only to lose her semifinal against Kuznetsova 6–4, 5–7, 6–4. The loss was only her second to Kuznetsova in 16 career meetings.

At the French Open, Henin was the two-time defending champion and top seed. In a highly-anticipated quarterfinal match against Serena Williams, Henin won 6–4, 6–3. She then defeated Jankovi? in the semifinals 6–2, 6–2. In the final, Henin defeated Ana Ivanovic in straight sets to claim her third consecutive French Open title, equalling Monica Seles's open era record. She also surpassed US$15 million in career prize money earnings. Henin won the tournament without dropping a set and has not lost a set at this tournament since the 2005 French Open quarterfinals. She has not lost a match at the French Open since 2004.

The International Women's Open in Eastbourne was Henin's first grass court tournament of the year. She and Mauresmo reached the final, which was the first time in nearly 30 years that the Eastbourne final included both finalists from Wimbledon the previous year. Henin recovered from a break down in the final set to win in a third set tiebreak for the second consecutive year, 7–5, 6–7(4), 7–6(2).

At Wimbledon, Henin lost to Marion Bartoli in the semifinals 1–6, 7–5, 6–1, one day after Henin defeated Serena Williams in the quarterfinals. It was Henin's first win over the American on a surface other than clay. In the semifinal, Henin was up a break at 1–0 and 4–3 in the second set but could not hold the lead. The match was described as one of the biggest upsets in Wimbledon history.

In August, Henin won the Tier I Rogers Cup in Toronto, defeating Jankovi? in the final. The tournament championship was Henin's 35th on the WTA tour, moving her past Kim Clijsters who retired with 34 tournament championships.

At the 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 defeated Venus Williams in the semifinals 7–6(4), 6–4 and became only the second player to defeat both Williams sisters in the same Grand Slam tournament (the first was Martina Hingis at the 2001 Australian Open). In the final, Henin won her second U.S. Open singles title, defeating Kuznetsova in straight sets. Henin won the tournament without dropping a set.

Henin won her next tournament, the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, defeating Tatiana Golovin in the final. On October 9, 2007, Henin mathematically clinched the year-end World No. 1 ranking for the third time in her career, having done so previously in 2003 and 2006.

Two weeks later, Henin won the Zürich Open, her ninth title of the year, by again defeating Golovin in the final.

At the WTA Tour Championships, Henin won all three of her round robin matches, defeating Anna Chakvetadze, Jankovic, and Bartoli. In the semifinals, Henin defeated Ivanovi? 6–4, 6–4. In the final, Henin overcame Sharapova 5–7, 7–5, 6–3 in a match that lasted over three hours and twenty minutes. The victory extended Henin's winning streak to 25 matches and made her the first woman since Steffi Graf in 1989 to go undefeated in the second half of the year (after Wimbledon).In addition to this record, she only lost three sets after Wimbledon. This victory made her the sixth player to successfully defend her title at the WTA's season-ending championship and the first player to claim at least 10 tour titles in a year since Hingis won 12 in 1997. She also became the first woman to break the US$5 million barrier in prize money in a year, and by crossing US$19 million, Henin is now ranked fifth on the all time prize money list.

2008

Henin started 2008 as the World No. 1.

The Medibank International in Sydney was Henin's first tournament of the year. She defeated Ana Ivanovic in the semifinals 6–2, 2–6, 6–4. She then defeated World No. 2 Svetlana Kuznetsova 4–6, 6–2, 6–4, overcoming an 0–3 deficit in the final set.

On January 14, 2008, Henin enjoyed her 100th career week as World No. 1.

At the Australian Open in Melbourne, Henin won her 32nd consecutive match in the fourth round, defeating Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan 6–2, 6–2. The winning streak ended in the quarterfinals when Maria Sharapova, the eventual winner, defeated Henin 6–4, 6–0. This was Henin's first 6–0 loss since the 2002 French Open and the first time since the 2005 U.S. Open that Henin had been defeated in a Grand Slam singles tournament before the semifinals.

At the Proximus Diamond Games in Antwerp, Henin defeated Karin Knapp in the final. This was Henin's second singles title in her native Belgium.

At the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships, Henin was the defending champion but lost for the first time in eight meetings to Francesca Schiavone in the quarterfinals 7–6(3), 7–6(4). Henin had struggled for three hours in her first match against Katarina Srebotnik, eventually winning 7–5, 6–7, 6–3.

On March 10, 2008, Henin became only the seventh female player to be ranked World No. 1 for 12 consecutive months.

At the Tier I Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, Henin lost in the quarterfinals to Serena Williams 6–2, 6–0.

Henin then withdrew from the Tier I Family Circle Cup in Charleston, South Carolina because of an injury to her right knee.

At the Tier I, clay court Qatar Telecom German Open in Berlin, Henin lost in the third round to Dinara Safina 5-7, 6-3, 6-1. In their five previous career matches, Henin had never lost a set to Safina. The day after her defeat, Henin withdrew from the Tier I Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome, citing fatigue.

Head-to-head record against other players

As of the end of the 2008 Sony Ericsson Open, only three active players have a winning head-to-head record against Henin. Venus Williams is 7-2, Serena Williams is 7-6, and Lucie Safarova is 1-0 against the Belgian.

As of March 24, 2008, Henin has a winning head-to-head record against several other top-10 players: 4-0 versus Ana Ivanovic, 9-0 versus Jelena Jankovic, 16-2 versus Svetlana Kuznetsova, 3-0 versus Anna Chakvetadze, 6-3 versus Maria Sharapova, and 3-1 versus Marion Bartoli. Henin also has a winning head-to-head record against many of the former world number ones she has played: 12-10 versus Kim Clijsters, 7-5 versus Lindsay Davenport, 8-6 versus Amelie Mauresmo, and 5-2 versus Jennifer Capriati.

Playing style

Henin has a very aggressive, yet highly versatile, all-court playing style and can hit all the fundamental shots to an extremely high level of technical proficiency. Henin plays with a rare combination of power and touch that allows for her success on all playing surfaces. John McEnroe has described Henin's tennis as "Federertennis", frequently describing Henin as 'the Roger Federer of women's tennis' (BBC commentaries and studio interviews, Wimbledon 2005, 2006, 2007). At Roland Garros 2007, Martina Navratilova said that "Henin's offence is just phenomenal... it's sort of like we've got 'the female Federer', or maybe the guys have 'the male Justine Henin', because she is just head and shoulders above everyone else right now" (interview with Barbara Schett, eurosport, 7th June 2007).

Henin's single-handed backhand, now rare in both men's and women's tennis, is one of the most powerful and accurate in the game. She can hit both 'flat', topspin and slice variation off this wing and can strike winners from any part of the court. Her backhand can also be disguised, surprising her opponents with dropshots. Her slice backhand is one of the best in the world. However, Henin's forehand remains her most dangerous weapon, and the stroke that she normally uses to dictate a match. Along with Serena Williams, Venus Williams and Ana Ivanovic, Henin consistently records the most winner-heavy match statistics of all the top 20 ranked players, the majority of her match winners typically being forehand [groundstroke] winners. For example, in each of her last three matches at the US Open, Henin hit substantially more winners than each of her opponents: [quarter-final] versus Serena Williams, 30 - 17; [semi-final] versus Venus Williams 29 - 26; [final] versus Svetlana Kuznetsova, 25 - 11.

Despite her relatively small size, Henin has an extremely powerful serve, which has been measured at a top speed of 124 mph [2005 Charleston]. Her average first serve speed in the 2007 US Open semi-final [first set] was 107 MPH - the same as her opponent, Venus Williams (nine inches taller than Henin), who holds the world record for the fastest serve in a main draw Tour (or Grand Slam) event. Henin's serve frequently features in the top 10 of the 'Women's Serve Speed Leaders' list, produced at every Grand Slam event throughout the year. In the 2007 US Open list, Henin's 117 mph serve was the eighth fastest recorded at the tournament, behind Sam Stosur's (joint-ranked at no.5 on the list) 118 mph serve. Venus Williams recorded the fastest serve at the tournament, measured at 129 mph / 207 km/h, a world record at a Grand Slam tournament.

Henin's footwork, balance, and court coverage are exceptional - most notably on clay - and she is particularly adept at moving from a defensive position to offensive position, quickly neutralising rallies when placed under pressure. Henin has always had good to exceptional volleying skills, and has used serve-and-volley play with more frequency in recent seasons.

Awards

2002 

  • UEPS European Sportswoman of the Year.

2003 

  • Belgian Sportswoman of the Year.
  • ITF World Champion.

2004 

  • WTA Player of the Year (for 2003).
  • Belgian Sportswoman of the Year.

 2005

  • Family Circle/State Farm "Player Who Makes A Difference".
  • Whirlpool 6th Sense Player of the Year.

2006

  • Appointed UNESCO Champion for Sport.
  • ITF World Champion.
  • Belgian Sportswoman of the Year
  • Member of the Belgian Sporting Team of the Year (Fed Cup - Team)
  • European Sportswoman of the Year

2007

  • Whirlpool 6th Sense Player of the Year.
  • Belgian Sportswoman of the Year.
  • Belgian Sports Personality of the Year (career award).
  • ITF World Champion.
  • USSA Female Athlete of the Year. 
  • EFE Sportsperson of the Year. 
  • UEPS European Sportswoman of the Year. 

2008

  • Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year
  • WTA Player of the Year (for 2007).

source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


 

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