Justine Henin-Hardenne

Justine Henin-Hardenne ({{Audio|Nl-be justine henin.ogg|listen}}) (born June 1, 1982, Liège, Belgium) is a former World No. 1 ranked tennis player from the Wallonia (francophone) region of Belgium. She is well known for her marvelous one-handed backhand, a stroke that John McEnroe has called the best backhand by any player in the world, female or male.

Tennis career

Justine, known as Juju to her many fans, has been coached by Carlos Rodriguez since she was 14. She regularly reached late rounds of international competitions and won five ITF tournaments by the end of 1998. She started her professional tennis career in the WTA tour in May 1999 as a wildcard entry in the Belgian Open at Antwerp, and became the fifth player at that time to win her debut WTA Tour event.

Related Topics:
Carlos Rodriguez - WTA - 1999 - Antwerp

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Justine established herself as a major competitor in 2001. She reached the semifinals of Roland Garros, the final of Wimbledon and was ranked number seven by the WTA at the end of the year, with three titles to her name.

Related Topics:
2001 - Roland Garros - Wimbledon

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In 2002, she won two more WTA titles, reached four finals and finished the year as a top 5 player. Her German Open victory in May 2002 was particularly noteworthy, as she beat Jennifer Capriati in the semi-final and Serena Williams in the final.

Related Topics:
2002 - Jennifer Capriati - Serena Williams

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2003 was the year when Justine asserted her dominance on the WTA tour. On June 7, 2003 she won her first Grand Slam tournament, the French Open, defeating her Flemish compatriot Kim Clijsters. On September 7, 2003 she won her second Grand Slam tournament, the US Open, once again against Kim Clijsters. She reached the final by defeating American Jennifer Capriati in a semi-final battle of extremely high quality, winning 7-6 in the final set. In that match, which finished after midnight in New York, Capriati came within 2 points of victory no less than 11 times, but Justine refused to be beaten. On October 19, 2003 she achieved the number one ranking on the WTA list, taking over from Kim Clijsters. She was named the International Tennis Federation's women's singles World Champion for 2003.

Related Topics:
2003 - June 7 - Grand Slam - French Open - Flemish - Kim Clijsters - September 7 - US Open - Jennifer Capriati - October 19 - WTA - International Tennis Federation

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Before the 2004 season, Justine again trained with strength and conditioning coach Pat Etcheberry, who in the past has been the fitness guru for other world-class players like Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Jim Courier and Jennifer Capriati. The remarkable changes in her body and improved strength caused unsubstantiated anabolic steroid use rumors to swirl. On January 31, 2004 Justine won her third Grand Slam at the Australian Open, again defeating Kim Clijsters in a three-set final. She confirmed her world number one form by winning two more tournaments in February and March 2004. Unfortunately, Justine's health was then devastated by a strain of cytomegalovirus, whose effect was further complicated by an immunity problem. She often slept up to 18 hours a day and barely had the strength to brush her teeth, let alone play competitive tennis. She was seeded first for the May 2004 French Open, but still ill with the viral infection, she lost her second round match against a much lower-ranked player, Tathiana Garbin. Justine subsequently had to withdraw from the upcoming Rosmalen and Wimbledon 2004 tournaments.

Related Topics:
Pat Etcheberry - Pete Sampras - Andre Agassi - Jim Courier - Jennifer Capriati - January 31 - 2004 - Australian Open - Kim Clijsters - Cytomegalovirus - French Open - Viral - Infection - Tathiana Garbin

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Justine came back in August, 2004, somehow finding the strength to win the gold medal at the Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, defeating Amélie Mauresmo of France. On the way to the gold, Justine rallied for a miraculous win against Anastasia Myskina of Russia in a semifinal match. After falling behind 5 games to 1, Justine found a way to win the final set 8-6, confirming her reputation as a great fighter on the court. In September 2004, Justine attempted to defend her U.S. Open title. However, she remained weakened by the cytomegalovirus and lost to Nadia Petrova in the 4th round. As a result, she lost the number one ranking that she held for 45 straight weeks. Justine then withdrew from the rest of the tournaments in 2004, to recuperate from the infection. Her plan to rejoin the tour in the beginning of 2005 was delayed when she fractured her kneecap in a training session in December, 2004.

Related Topics:
Gold medal - Summer Olympics - Athens - Greece - Amélie Mauresmo - Anastasia Myskina - Nadia Petrova - 2005

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On March 25, 2005, after more than six months of inactivity, Justine returned to the WTA circuit at the NASDAQ-100 open in Miami. She lost a hardcourt match to the new Russian star and world no. 2 Maria Sharapova in the quarterfinals. Remarkably, she captured a title in her very next tournament, winning on clay at the Family Circle Cup Tier-1 event at Charleston, posting a victory over world no. 1 Lindsay Davenport, and besting 2nd seed Elena Dementieva in the final. Later in April 2005, she captured her 21st career title by winning the J&S Cup in Warsaw, defeating 2nd seed Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final.

Related Topics:
2005 - Miami - Maria Sharapova - Charleston - Lindsay Davenport - Elena Dementieva - Warsaw - Svetlana Kuznetsova

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In May, 2005, she avenged her loss to Sharapova, convincingly defeating her in straight sets in the quarterfinals of the German Open, a tournament she went on to win over Nadia Petrova. It was her 3rd straight title on clay, making her a top contender for the 2005 French Open. She was the 10th seeded player in the tournament, and on June 4 defeated the French player Mary Pierce to take her second title at Roland Garros; the win was also Justine's 24th straight match won on clay and her 10th consecutive final win, a streak stretching back to Zurich in October, 2003. In capturing the title, Justine managed a fantastic fourth round comeback win over Kuznetsova, saving two match points. She then demolished Sharapova in the quarters and Petrova in the semi-final, leaving no doubt as to who was the best woman on clay. With her French Open victory, Justine moved to number seven in the world rankings. She joined Monica Seles as the only two currently active players on the WTA Tour to have won the French Open at least twice.

Related Topics:
Mary Pierce - Zurich

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At Wimbledon 2005 Henin-Hardenne's winning streak of 24 matches was snapped in the first round by Greek Eleni Daniilidou (6-7, 6-2, 5-7). With this defeat she became the first French Open champion in the Open Era to lose in the opening round of Wimbledon.

Related Topics:
Eleni Daniilidou - Open Era

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In August, as No.4 seed at Toronto, she dropped just one set en route to the final, posting wins over Diaz-Oliva, Zheng, Vaidisova and No.2 seed Amélie Mauresmo before falling to No.7 seed Kim Clijsters (7-5 6-1).

Related Topics:
Amélie Mauresmo - Kim Clijsters

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At the US Open in 2005, Henin-Hardenne lost to Frenchwoman Mary Pierce in the fourth round, in straight sets (3-6, 4-6)

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