A Wonderful Life: Justine Henin

Vineet Sharma "I think I can still improve a lot, in my attitude especially. But I have to keep improving my aggressive game, moving forward and taking my opportunities. A lot of things happened but I'm so relieved and happy. I had a lot of people around me to support me. I grew up and I learnt a lot. I was sad I wasn't in Australia this year and I hope to take my revenge in a few weeks. It's time now for a good rest, time for holiday and two weeks off and then I'll start my preparations." – Justine Henin Justine Henin has become the first woman since Steffi Graf in 1989 to go unbeaten in the second half of the season, post-Wimbledon. The above said words sum up the joys of one of the most talented women player in the history of tennis. The fact that even after Justine Henin has been at the helm of her game from a long time, she still feels that there is a lot of room for improvement. This goes out to show her immense modesty in times when this virtue is fast fading from the face of sporting world. Following are some facts and figures about Justine Henin to engross the reader’s mind. - Born June 1, 1982 in Liege, Belgium. - Turned professional in 1999, winning her debut WTA Tour event in Antwerp. - She became the first Belgian to reach a singles final at Wimbledon in 2001, where Venus Williams beat her. She went on to become the first Belgian to win a grand slam title when she overwhelmed compatriot Kim Clijsters to win the 2003 French Open. - She overcame Clijsters to win her second grand slam title at the U.S. Open in 2003 and then again in the 2004 Australian Open final. - She won a gold medal in the Athens Olympics despite being plagued by an energy-sapping viral illness. - She won the French Open in 2005 and 2006, only the fifth woman to win back-to-back Roland Garros titles in the professional era. - She reached the final of all four grand slam tournaments in 2006, becoming the first player to achieve such a feat and reach the final of the end-of-season Championships since Steffi Graf in 1993. - She secured the year-end number one spot on her way to winning her first WTA Championships in Madrid. - Began 2007 by missing the Australian Open because she was completing a separation from her husband of more than four years, Pierre-Yves Hardenne, but went on to win her third consecutive French Open in May with victory over Ana Ivanovic of Serbia. - Won grand-slam title number seven with a dominant 6-1 6-3 victory over Svetlana Kuznetsova for her second U.S. Open trophy. -Beats Maria Sharapova 5-7 7-5 6-3 in an epic final lasting three hours and 24 minutes to win her second consecutive WTA Championships. On being asked about how she felt after becoming a public figure, and how she took criticism by the media on pulling out from tournaments due to injuries, she summed her feelings as follows: Whatever happens, whatever I do, people will always find something to criticize on. The press just interprets things on its own way, I can't control that. You have to please everybody, you have to be everywhere, sometimes I should be able to divide myself in different parts, I need look-alikes (laughing). But in the end, we're all people, we have feelings, we're sick and we're just like all the others, not machines. And the press, especially in Belgium tends to criticize a lot and to be very negative. That's too bad, because this might never happen again. Ofcourse, we all hope it will happen again for the Belgian tennis, but nobody can know that for sure. I don't know the press is aware of that. She is rare talent on the court as well as off it. Never a part of the boisterous pack, she prefers keeping her life simple and her game extraordinary. That’s Justine for you!