World Tennis Magazine

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future hall of famers

HISTORY TO BE MADE IN HENIN-WILLIAMS AUSTRALIAN OPEN FINAL

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The blockbuster Australian Open women’s singles final is upon us – Justine Henin vs. Serena Williams.

A renewal of one of the best rivalries in women’s tennis over the last 10 years is now in the cards as Henin and Williams each beat their Chinese opponents Thursday in the semifinals at Rod Laver Arena. Williams hung on to beat Li Na 7-6 (4), 7-6 (1) while Henin convincingly beat Zheng Jie 6-1, 6-0.

History will be made in Saturday’s championship match as Williams will be seeking her 12th career major singles title, which would draw her even with her former Olympic coach Billie Jean King in sixth place all-time in women’s tennis. She will also seek her fifth Australian title, which would be tops in the Open Era (since 1968), moving her past Steffi Graf, Monica Seles, Evonne Goolagong and Margaret Court. Court won an incredible 11 Australian singles titles, but seven of them were in the “amateur” era prior to 1968.

Henin will be seeking her eighth major singles title and will look to join Evonne Goolagong as an unranked player to win the Australian title. Goolagong won the 1977 Australian title without a ranking, coming back to tennis after giving birth to her first child. Henin is competing in only her second tournament after a 20-month retirement and is not officially ranked on the WTA computer. A player must have three tournament results to qualify for a ranking so Henin will not have a WTA Tour ranking even after this event. Henin’s fellow Belgian, Kim Clijsters, won the US Open last September in her third tournament of her comeback, also as an un-ranked wild-card entry.

Henin won six and lost seven matches against Serena during their rivalry and the two future Hall of Famers have combined for 18 major singles titles. This will be the first time the two have met in a Grand Slam tournament final. Williams lost only two games in their last encounter at Miami in 2008 (winning 6-2, 6-0), shortly before Henin announced her shock retirement from tennis while holding the No. 1 ranking.

“I’m so happy to play against her, because if I want to win another Grand Slam, I’ll have to beat the best player in the world,” Henin said of playing Serena. “And that’s just the biggest challenge I could get. I didn’t really expect that. It’s more than a dream.”

Henin’s last Australian Open final was in 2006 against France’s Amelie Mauresmo where the Belgian, infamously, retired with stomach pains in the second set. Her first final was in 2004 when she won the title over compatriot Kim Clijsters.

Henin and Williams’ most famous – and contentious – match came on June 5, 2003, as documented and excerpted below in the book ON THIS DAY IN TENNIS HISTORY ($19.95, New Chapter Press, www.TennisHistoryBook.com)

2003 – Serena Williams is defeated by Belgium’s Justine Henin-Hardenne 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 in front of a raucously pro-Henin Hardenne crowd in the semifinals of the French Open, ending Williams’ 33-match major tournament winning streak. The match is highlighted by an incident in the third-set that proves to be contentious and acrimonious between the two rivals for years to come. With Williams serving at 4-2, 30-0 in the final set, Henin-Hardenne raises her hand indicating she is not ready to return serve. Williams serves in the net, then protests, to no avail, to the chair umpire and tournament referee that she should be given a first serve, while Henin-Hardenne says nothing of her gesture. Williams then loses the next four points to lose her service-break advantage and eventually the match. Says Henin-Hardenne, “I wasn’t ready to play the point. The chair umpire is there to deal with these kind of situations. I just tried to stay focused on myself and tried to forget all the other things…It’s her point of view but that’s mine now and I feel comfortable with it….I didn’t have any discussion with the chair umpire. He didn’t ask me anything. I was just trying to focus on playing the returns. She saw me and she served. It was her decision to serve. I just tried to stay focused on the second serve. One point in the match doesn’t change the outcome.”

BRUSSELS SPROUTS, JUSTINE AND KIM, ARE THE COMEBACK KIDS

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By Bud Collins

Remember that great western, “Shane”? Sure you do.
Shane, the hero, after wiping out the bad guys, of course rides off into the sunset while the young boy who idolizes him, cries out in anguish: “Shane! Shane! Come back, Shane! Come back!”

No luck. The movie had used up its time.

I felt like that sorrowful kid when the erstwhile “Brussels Sprouts” — Kim Clijsters, then Justine Henin – decided to jet off to new places in the sun called retirement. How could these young women walk out on us like that?

“Kim! Come back, Kim! Justine! Come back, Justine!”

But — hurrah! — sometimes, wishes come true. Apparently they missed us just as we missed them. Surprised? Yes and no. Very few successful young athletes who walk away resist making comebacks. They get the itch to compete again. In this case of the backpedaling Belgians they’re doing a big favor for the game, as well as themselves. Especially the women’s game, which needs help. What better help than the return of two future Hall of Famers, whose best performances lie ahead?
Imagine what 27-year-old Justine must have been thinking in watching 26-year-old Kim reappear to play the tournament of her life — dismembering the Sisters and becoming the only unseeded woman to win the U.S. Championship. “She’s away 2 1/2 years, has a baby, fortifies by dipping into all of 7 matches, and then behaves like Shane with a tennis racket, riding roughshod over the Flushing plain. Swell, but can the opposition have gotten that soft? Better get back there myself to show them how the game should be played.”

How? The way Justine does it — completely, rarely –and Kim appears even better than when she said goodbye.

Yes, the guys also could take a few lessons from Henin, the Paperweight Tiger, the way she changes speeds, spins, angles, moves lightfootedly, and approaches for volleys. Thoughtful. Like the guy named Federer, she is terrific to watch, not caught up in mindless, endless banging from the baseline.

With the season, dragging on, overly long, Andy Roddick, Andre Agassi and Rafa Nadal are are right on — protesting that the campaign must be shortened. By this time too many players are injured or worn out.
Tennis is the only big league sport without a genuine off-season. Unlike the team sports, there’s no bench in tennis. No substitutions. A player is on his/her own. The WTA has done a better job of scheduling than the ATP, but the campaign remains over-packed.

Ideally the season would end by the first week in October, allowing three months off. Better for everybody, including the fans, reducing confusion and giving wounds time to heal properly.

Right now it’s more fun to look ahead to 2010 and the Australian Open — one reason: Justine and Kim will be there. The game couldn’t have a finer Christmas gift.