Justine Henin – The Queen Who Abdicated Her Throne
There’s a Latin saying ‘’Vēnī, vīdī, vīcī ‘’ meaning ‘’I came, I saw, I conquered.’’ To realize it in our sporting heroes, there’s a need for indomitable spirit, unbridled passion and unflinching courage in them – the qualities which ring true of a perfect champion. And all these were embodied by a petite 165cm Belgian called Justine Henin – the holder of seven Grand Slam titles.
The single-handed backhand of the unassuming, white-capped Belgian, aptly dubbed as the ‘’female Federer’’ was as artistic as a painter’s swift,effortless stroke, only to be compared with that of Roger Federer himself from the current era; her forehands feisty, her variations incredible from aggressive baseline rallies to vicious volleys, her game peppered with power and precision, brilliance and brutality.
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And as the Roland Garros magic begins once again, lets take a look back into the Paris journey of this four-time French Open champion.
2003 French Open – The Williams stranglehold on the Slams had continued right from 2002 French Open to the 2003 Australian Open with Serena engraving her name on every Slam completing a Serena Slam with elder sister Venus in tow as the runner-up in all. A desperate cry for the need of an audacious challenger, fearless enough to thwart the impervious Serena juggernaut, was palpable.
Arose the two Belgians, Justine Henin and the effervescent Kim Clijsters [a future U.S. Open winner] who had each reached a Grand Slam final before, only to fall at the last hurdle.The newly married Henin-Hardenne was pitted against Serena in the semi-final.
In a 2 hour 20 minute mouthwatering thriller, aided by a partisan French crowd, from 2-4 down in the 3rd set, Henin-Hardenne used her weapons to great effect in penetrating into the vulnerable game of Serena Williams 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 that reduced the American to a sobbing wreck.
The final contested between two Belgians for the first time ever, saw her blanking her compatriot, Clijsters 6-0, 6-4 and becoming Belgium’s first-ever Grand Slam champion.
A new star was born, who dedicated the win to her deceased mother whom she had lost to cancer at the tender age of 12. The newly-earned confidence saw her emulate her feat at the U.S. Open that year and end the year as the No.1.
2004 French Open – After capturing the Australian Open trophy and amassing an unprecedented 7626 points in the erstwhile WTA point system, she returned to Paris. But bogged down by hypoglycemia and a cytomegalo virus she tumbled out in the second round losing to Tathiana Garbin. The only silver lining after this was her Athens Olympics Gold.
2005 French Open – She returned to the Tour after a seven month layoff caused by the emaciating illness and a knee injury but given the ferocious fighter Justine was, she stormed back magnificently winning titles at Charleston, Warsaw and Berlin which soon catapulted her as the undisputed favourite for the French Open once again.
Biggest test came in the fourth round, where sheer determination made her overcome a spirited challenge from Svetlana Kuznetsova in an exhausting three hour battle, 7-6, 4-6, 7-5 after saving two match points. This remained as the last time she was stretched to the 3rd set in the premier claycourt event till the end of her career.
Self-belief allowed a visibly fatigued Justine to breeze through to the finals with subsequent wins over Maria Sharapova, Nadia Petrova and in the final she displayed some superlative tennis to subdue home favourite Mary Pierce 6-1, 6-1, en route to her second success at Paris.
2006 French Open – After receiving a lot of flak from the media for abruptly retiring midway through the Australian Open final citing abdominal pain, she came to Paris without a single claycourt title that season. But Roland Garros soon reverberated with sounds of ‘’Allez’’ as the irrepressible Belgian wreaked havoc on her adversaries, steamrolling Clijsters 6-3, 6-2 in the semis and Kuznetsova 6-4, 6-4 in the final.
The year saw her reach the finals of all the 4 Grand Slams and she became only the 7th woman to do so. A bid for a career Slam ended in despair in a stunning final to Mauresmo at the ever-elusive Wimbledon and she also grabbed the Championships that year.
2007 French Open – The year began with a heart-breaking dissolution of her 4 year marriage which forced her to skip the Australian Open. But her superior mental stamina made her rise above the occasion and dispelled any doubt people had about her.
In a highly-anticipated quarter-final, Serena fizzled away 6-4,6-3, Jankovic was drubbed 6-2, 6-2 in the semis by an unflappable Henin. An inexperienced Ana Ivanovic fell prey to Henin’s stupendous shot-making 6-1, 6-2. The Belgian thus emulated the great Monica Seles’s feat of a hattrick of Roland Garros titles.
In the best season of her career, she laid claim to her second U.S. Open title, second Championships title along with seven other titles.
2008 French Open (The Farewell appearance) – After some stumbles in the early part of the year, the famed mental toughness finally gave way. Justine Henin aged 25, sent shock waves through the tennis world with the announcement of her sudden retirement and became the first player ranked No.1 to do so, creating a gaping hole in women’s tennis that will take a long time to heal…
As the selfless Queen relinquished her throne with 41 titles and a staggering 117 weeks atop the rankings in total, the legendary Billie Jean King aptly commented "pound for pound, Henin is the best tennis player of her generation.’’
And that year, as she came to present the new champion Ana Ivanovic with her Suzanne Lenglen trophy, the intention was clear – the baton was to be passed on to the next generation...
May be she was absolutely burned out, may be the passion had faded away…still, enigmatic as she always had been, what exactly prompted her to retire so early remains a subject of many debates…
The stoic Henin, as placid as a calm ocean, was an epitome of true professionalism, never clamouring for extra attention in the age of hard-core marketing and pin-up girls which was always so refreshing to see. The dimension, the finesse that she brought into the game are irreplaceable.
Hard to deny she was one of the very reasons I got totally absorbed into tennis since 2003 and observed my transformation into one of her most ardent and emotional fans.
On 14th May, 2008 when she dropped that sudden bombshell of shock retirement, I stood absolutely stunned, speechless, forlorn...face-to-face with ruthless fate and unable to fathom the reality as my heart smashed to smithereens and tears welled up in my eyes...
How I wished I would wake up from this nightmare and see my heroine, my icon swinging her racquet once again which I fervently used to wait for, but that was never to be...
A hunger yet to be satiated, a thirst yet to be quenched and most importantly a desire never to be fulfilled again...she escaped from our clutches like a flying bird perhaps never to return again...
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