Justine Henin

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Justine Henin

Country	Belgium
Residence	Monte Carlo, Monaco
Date of birth	June 1, 1982 (age 24)
Place of birth	Liège, Belgium
Height	1.66 m (5'5 3/4")
Weight	57 kg (126 lb.)
Turned Pro	January 1, 1999
Plays	Right; One-handed backhand
Career Prize Money	$14,051,639
Singles
Career record:	418-100
Career titles:	31
Highest ranking:	No. 1 (October 20, 2003)
Grand Slam results
Australian Open	W (2004)
French Open	W (2003, 2005, 2006)
Wimbledon	F (2001, 2006)
U.S. Open	W (2003)
Doubles
Career record:	47-35
Career titles:	2
Highest ranking:	No. 23 (January 14, 2002)
Infobox last updated on: November 13, 2006.

Olympic medal record
Women's Tennis
Gold	2004 Athens	Singles

Justine Henin (IPA: [ʒusˡtin eˡnẽ]; listen (help·info)) (formerly Justine Henin-Hardenne) (born June 1, 1982 in Liège) is a Belgian professional tennis player and the current World No. 1.

Henin is from the Walloon (French-speaking) region of Belgium. Her mental toughness and her one-handed backhand, a stroke which John McEnroe has called among the best backhands of any male or female player, are reasons she is one of the world's best players.^[1][2] As of November 2006, she has won five Grand Slam singles titles, including three French Open singles titles, as well as a gold medal in singles at the 2004 Summer Olympics.

Contents 1 Family life 2 Tennis career 2.1 Early career 2.2 Grand Slam breakthrough in 2003 2.3 2004-2005 2.4 2006 2.5 2007 3 Awards 4 Grand Slam singles finals 4.1 Wins (5) 4.2 Runner-ups (4) 5 Titles (31) 5.1 Singles (31) 5.2 Doubles (2) 6 Runner-ups (17) 6.1 Singles (16) 6.2 Doubles (1) 7 Singles performance timeline 8 WTA Tour career earnings 9 Notable matches 10 See also 11 Footnotes 12 External links

[edit] Family life

Henin's trainer, Carlos Rodriguez, has been a father figure for her since her mother died of intestinal cancer when Henin was 12 years old. She does not want any contact with her biological father, José Henin. She has two older brothers and one younger sister. Her elder sister died in a car accident before Justine was born.

Henin married Pierre-Yves Hardenne on November 16, 2002, in the Château de Lavaux-Sainte-Anne.^[3][4] She used the name Justine Henin-Hardenne on the tennis court from January 2003 through December 2006. However, on January 4, 2007, just after withdrawing from upcoming tournaments in Australia, including the Australian Open, various news agencies reported that she intended to divorce her husband and assume her maiden name, "Justine Henin." ^[5] She has since confirmed on her official website that she has separated from her husband.^{[6] [7]}

Her mother, Françoise Rosière, was a French and history teacher who routinely took the young Henin across the border to France to watch the French Open.^[8] 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."

[edit] Tennis career

[edit] 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 started 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 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.

In 2002, she reached four WTA finals, winning two of them. Henin 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.

[edit] 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. Her disgraceful behavior during the match earned her the nickname, "Justlying".

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.

[edit] 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 Henin exited 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.

In September 2004, she unsuccessfully defended 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 quarterfinal. 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 Henin to playing in only 11 more matches for 2005.

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

In November, at the 2005 Sony Ericsson 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."

[edit] 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. Henin was criticized by the press because she said 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 was 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 a semifinal match 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 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, 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 Montreal 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 millon in career prize money.

At the U.S. Open, Sharapova defeated Henin 6-4, 6-4 in the final.

Henin was the first woman since Hingis in 1997 to reach the finals of all four Grand Slam singles tournaments in a calendar year.

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.

[edit] 2007

On January 4, 2007, Henin withdrew from the Australian Open and the warm-up tournament in Sydney for personal reasons, which resulted in her losing the No. 1 ranking to Maria Sharapova.

In her first tournament of the year, Henin lost in the semifinals of the Open Gaz de France to Czech Lucie Safarova 7-6(5), 6-4.

Henin then won two hardcourt tournaments in the Middle East. She won the Dubai Duty Free Women's Open for the fourth time in the last five years, defeating Amelie Mauresmo in the final 6-4, 7-5. In Doha, she won her first Qatar Total Open title, defeating Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final 6-4, 6-2. She also reached US$14 million in career prize money earnings, and on March 19th, she regained the 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 Henin had two match points at 6-0, 5-4.

Henin withdrew from the Family Circle Cup in Charleston, South Carolina with an ongoing respiratory problem. Her next tournament will be the J&S Cup in Warsaw, Poland.[3]

[edit] Awards

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.^[9]
• 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

[edit] Grand Slam singles finals

[edit] Wins (5)

Year	Championship	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
2003	French Open	Kim Clijsters	6-0, 6-4
2003	U.S. Open	Kim Clijsters	7-5, 6-1
2004	Australian Open	Kim Clijsters	6-3, 4-6, 6-3
2005	French Open (2)	Mary Pierce	6-1, 6-1
2006	French Open (3)	Svetlana Kuznetsova	6-4, 6-4

[edit] Runner-ups (4)

Year	Championship	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
2001	Wimbledon	Venus Williams	6-1, 3-6, 6-0
2006	Australian Open	Amélie Mauresmo	6-1, 2-0 retired
2006	Wimbledon	Amélie Mauresmo	2-6, 6-3, 6-4
2006	U.S. Open	Maria Sharapova	6-4, 6-4

[edit] Titles (31)

[edit] Singles (31)

Legend Grand Slam (5) WTA Championships (1) Olympic Gold (1) Tier I Event (8) WTA Tour (16)

Titles by Surface Hard (18) Clay (10) Grass (2) Carpet (1)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score
1.	10 May 1999	Antwerp, Belgium	Clay	Sarah Pitkowski-Malcor	6-1, 6-2
2.	1 January 2001	Gold Coast, Australia	Hard	Silvia Farina Elia	7-6(5), 6-4
3.	8 January 2001	Canberra, Australia	Hard	Sandrine Testud	6-2, 6-2
4.	18 June 2001	's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands	Grass	Kim Clijsters	6-4, 3-6, 6-3
5.	6 May 2002	Berlin, Germany	Clay	Serena Williams	6-2, 1-6, 7-6(5)
6.	21 October 2002	Linz, Austria	Carpet	Alexandra Stevenson	6-3, 6-0
7.	17 February 2003	Dubai, UAE	Hard	Monica Seles	4-6, 7-6(4), 7-5
8.	7 April 2003	Charleston, South Carolina, USA	Clay	Serena Williams	6-3, 6-4
9.	5 May 2003	Berlin, Germany	Clay	Kim Clijsters	6-4, 4-6, 7-5
10.	26 May 2003	French Open, Paris, France	Clay	Kim Clijsters	6-0, 6-4
11.	28 July 2003	San Diego, California, USA	Hard	Kim Clijsters	3-6, 6-2, 6-3
12.	11 August 2003	Toronto, Canada	Hard	Lina Krasnoroutskaya	6-1, 6-0
13.	25 August 2003	U.S. Open, New York City, USA	Hard	Kim Clijsters	7-5, 6-1
14.	13 October 2003	Zürich, Switzerland	Hard	Jelena Dokic	6-0, 6-4
15.	12 January 2004	Sydney, Australia	Hard	Amélie Mauresmo	6-4, 6-4
16.	19 January 2004	Australian Open, Melbourne, Australia	Hard	Kim Clijsters	6-3, 4-6, 6-3
17.	23 February 2004	Dubai, UAE	Hard	Svetlana Kuznetsova	6-3, 7-6(3)
18.	8 March 2004	Indian Wells, California, USA	Hard	Lindsay Davenport	6-1, 6-4
19.	16 August 2004	The Olympics, Athens, Greece	Hard	Amélie Mauresmo	6-3, 6-3
20.	17 April 2005	Charleston, South Carolina, USA	Clay	Elena Dementieva	7-5, 6-4
21.	1 May 2005	Warsaw, Poland	Clay	Svetlana Kuznetsova	3-6, 6-2, 7-5
22.	8 May 2005	Berlin, Germany	Clay	Nadia Petrova	6-3, 4-6, 6-3
23.	4 June 2005	French Open, Paris, France	Clay	Mary Pierce	6-1, 6-1
24.	13 January 2006	Sydney, Australia	Hard	Francesca Schiavone	4-6, 7-5, 7-5
25.	25 February 2006	Dubai, UAE	Hard	Maria Sharapova	7-5, 6-2
26.	10 June 2006	French Open, Paris, France	Clay	Svetlana Kuznetsova	6-4, 6-4
27.	24 June 2006	Eastbourne, United Kingdom	Grass	Anastasia Myskina	4-6, 6-1, 7-6(5)
28.	26 August 2006	New Haven, Connecticut, USA	Hard	Lindsay Davenport	6-0, 1-0 retired
29.	12 November 2006	WTA Tour Championships, Madrid, Spain	Hard	Amélie Mauresmo	6-4, 6-3
30.	24 February 2007	Dubai, UAE	Hard	Amélie Mauresmo	6-4, 7-5
31.	3 March 2007	Doha, Qatar	Hard	Svetlana Kuznetsova	6-4, 6-2

[edit] Doubles (2)

No.	Date	Partner	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score
1.	2002	Meghann Shaughnessy (USA)	Gold Coast, Australia	Hard	Åsa Svensson (Sweden) & Miriam Oremans (Netherlands)	6-1, 7-6(6)
2.	2002	Elena Bovina (Russia)	Zürich, Switzerland	Carpet	Jelena Dokic (Serbia and Montenegro) & Nadia Petrova (Russia)	6-2, 7-6(2)

[edit] Runner-ups (17)

[edit] Singles (16)

2001: Wimbledon (lost to Venus Williams) 2001: Hawaii (lost to Sandrine Testud) 2001: Filderstadt (lost to Lindsay Davenport) 2002: Gold Coast, Australia (lost to Venus Williams) 2002: Antwerp (lost to Venus Williams) 2002: Amelia Island (lost to Venus Williams) 2002: Rome (lost to Serena Williams) 2003: 's-Hertogenbosch (lost to Kim Clijsters)

2003: Leipzig (lost to Anastasia Myskina) 2003: Filderstadt (lost to Clijsters) 2005: Toronto (lost to Clijsters) 2006: Australian Open (lost to Amélie Mauresmo) 2006: Berlin (lost to Nadia Petrova) 2006: Wimbledon (lost to Mauresmo) 2006: U.S. Open (lost to Maria Sharapova) 2007: Miami (lost to Serena Williams)

[edit] Doubles (1)

• 2001: Filderstadt (/w Meghann Shaughnessy)

[edit] Singles performance timeline

To prevent confusion and double counting, information in this table is updated only once a tournament or the player's participation in the tournament has concluded. This table is current through the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, which ended on April 1, 2007.

Tournament	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	Career SR	Career Win-Loss
Australian Open	A	2R	4R	QF	SF	W	A	F	A	1 / 6	26-5
French Open	2R	A	SF	1R	CHEAT	2R	W	W		3 / 7	28-4
Wimbledon	A	1R	F	SF	SF	A	1R	F		0 / 6	22-6
U.S. Open	1R	4R	4R	4R	W	4R	4R	F		1 / 8	28-7
Grand Slam SR	0 / 2	0 / 3	0 / 4	0 / 4	2 / 4	1 / 3	1 / 3	1 / 4	0 / 0	5 / 27	N/A
Grand Slam Win-Loss	1-2	4-3	17-4	12-4	24-2	11-2	10-2	25-3	0-0	N/A	104-22
Tokyo	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	0 / 0	0-0
Indian Wells	A	A	3R	4R	A	W	A	SF	A	1 / 4	13-3
Miami	A	A	3R	2R	QF	A	QF	2R	F	0 / 6	12-6
Charleston	A	A	A	A	W	A	W	SF		2 / 3	14-1
Berlin	A	A	SF	W	W	A	W	F		3 / 5	24-2
Rome	A	A	A	F	A	A	A	A		0 / 1	4-1
San Diego1	A	A	A	A	W	A	A	A		1 / 1	5-0
Montreal/Toronto	A	2R	QF	QF	W	A	F	A		1 / 5	16-4
Moscow	A	A	2R	A	A	A	A	A		0 / 1	0-1
Zürich	A	A	A	SF	W	A	A	A		1 / 2	6-1
WTA Tour Championships	A	A	QF	QF	SF	A	A	W		1 / 4	8-5
Tournaments played	7	13	21	23	18	9	9	13	4	N/A	117
Finals reached	1	0	6	6	11	5	5	10	3	N/A	47
Tournaments Won	1	0	3	2	8	5	4	6	2	N/A	31
Hardcourt Win-Loss	2-2	22-7	31-11	16-10	40-6	31-2	10-4	34-5	13-1	N/A	199-48
Clay Win-Loss	9-2	3-2	14-4	14-4	19-1	4-2	24-0	14-2	0-0	N/A	101-17
Grass Win-Loss	0-0	1-2	10-1	7-2	8-2	0-0	0-1	10-1	0-0	N/A	36-9
Carpet Win-Loss	3-2	2-2	1-2	13-5	5-2	0-0	0-0	0-0	2-1	N/A	26-14
Overall Win-Loss	14-6	28-13	56-18	50-21	72-11	35-4	34-5	58-8	15-2	N/A	362-882
Year End Ranking	69	45	7	5	1	8	6	1		N/A	N/A

A = did not participate in the tournament.

SR = the ratio of the number of singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played.

¹ The San Diego tournament achieved Tier I status only in 2004.

² If the ITF women's circuit (Hardcourt: 24-5; Clay: 33-7) and Fed Cup (10-1) participations are included, then her overall win-loss record stands at 429-101.

[edit] WTA Tour career earnings

Year	Majors	WTA wins	Total wins	Earnings ($)	Money list rank
2001	0	3	3	998,704	8
2002	0	2	2	1,213,093	6
2003	2	6	8	3,667,430	2
2004	1	4	5	1,570,656	8
2005	1	3	4	1,705,173	6
2006*	1	5	6	$4,204,810	1
2007	0	2	2
Career	5	26	31	$14,051,639	10

*As of March 4, 2007.

[edit] Notable matches

• 2003 Australian Open fourth round: defeated Lindsay Davenport 7-5, 5-7, 9-7. In a match lasting more than three hours, Henin overcame a 4-1 final set deficit, high temperatures, and muscle cramps to defeat Davenport for the first time in her career.[4] [5]
• 2003 U.S. Open semifinal: defeated Jennifer Capriati 4-6, 7-5, 7-6(4). Capriati was two points away from victory eleven times in a match that stretched to midnight. After her victory, Henin went to the hospital for rehydration treatment. The next day, she defeated fellow Belgian Kim Clijsters for the title. [6] [7]
• 2004 Athens Olympics semifinal: defeated Anastasia Myskina 7-5, 5-7, 8-6. After months of layoff due to a virus, Henin competed in the Olympics. Henin rallied from 5-1 down in the third set to defeat reigning French Open champion Myskina. She went on to capture the gold medal. [8] [9]
• 2005 French Open fourth round: defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova 7-6(6), 4-6, 7-5. Henin saved two match points to earn a quarterfinal spot. In winning the tournament, she became only the second woman to win the French Open after saving a match point. (Myskina accomplished the feat a year before, also against Kuznetsova.) [10]
• 2005 Wimbledon first round: lost to Eleni Daniilidou 7-6(8), 2-6, 7-5. It was the first time that a reigning French Open champion failed to win a match at Wimbledon. [11] [12]
• 2006 Australian Open final: lost to Amélie Mauresmo 6-1, 2-0. Henin retired from the match with stomach pain. This was only the fourth Grand Slam women's singles final that ended by retirement since 1900 and the first in the open era. Henin stated afterwards that she feared possible injury had she continued to play. She was widely criticized by tennis commentators and writers for not finishing the match.^[10][11]
• 2006 Wimbledon final: lost to Mauresmo 2-6, 6-3, 6-4. The final round was notable for featuring two "finesse" players who used their all-court games, a notable break from the previous years that featured a succession of power baseliners claiming the title. At almost every point throughout the match, both players approached the net to serve and volley. Tipped as the tournament favorite, Henin won the first set over Mauresmo. But Mauresmo recovered, winning the next two sets and keeping her composure to win her second Grand Slam title and deny the Belgian a career Grand Slam. [13] [14] [15]

[edit] See also

• List of female tennis players
• List of Grand Slam Women's Singles champions
• Belgium at the 2004 Summer Olympics

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] External links

• Fan Site
• Official site
• WTA Tour profile for Justine Henin
• Interview with British Newspaper Guardian

Preceded by Kim Clijsters Kim Clijsters Amélie Mauresmo Maria Sharapova	World No. 1 October 20, 2003 - October 26, 2003 November 10, 2003 - September 12, 2004 November 13, 2006 - January 22, 2007 March 19, 2007 - current	Succeeded by Kim Clijsters Amélie Mauresmo Maria Sharapova Incumbent
Preceded by Elena Dementieva	WTA Most Improved Player 2001	Succeeded by Daniela Hantuchová
Preceded by Serena Williams	WTA Player of the Year 2003	Succeeded by Maria Sharapova
Preceded by Serena Williams Kim Clijsters	ITF World Champion 2003 2006	Succeeded by Anastasia Myskina Incumbent

Preceded by Kim Clijsters Kim Clijsters

Belgian Sportswoman of the Year 2003–2004 2006

Succeeded by Kim Clijsters Unknown

Women's Tennis Association | Top ten female tennis players as of April 9, 2007
1. Justine Henin 2. Maria Sharapova 3. Amélie Mauresmo 4. Kim Clijsters 5. Svetlana Kuznetsova 6. Martina Hingis 7. Nadia Petrova 8. Nicole Vaidišová 09. Jelena Janković 10. Anna Chakvetadze

Women's Tennis Association | World No. 1's in Women's tennis
Tracy Austin • Jennifer Capriati • Kim Clijsters • Lindsay Davenport • Chris Evert • Steffi Graf • Justine Henin • Martina Hingis • Amélie Mauresmo • Martina Navrátilová • Arantxa Sánchez Vicario • Monica Seles • Maria Sharapova • Serena Williams • Venus Williams