Justine Henin

Early life

Justine Henin, occasionally spelled Hénin, was born in Liège to José Henin and Françoise Rosière. Rosière, a French and history teacher, died when Justine was 12 years old. She has two brothers and a sister. When she was two years old, Justine's family moved to a house in Rochefort, situated next to the local tennis club, where she played tennis for the first time.

Henin's mother routinely took the young Henin across the border to France to watch the French Open. In 1995, shortly after her mother's death, Henin met her coach Carlos Rodríguez who guided her career both before her retirement in 2008 and during her 2010 comeback.

Tennis career

Early career

Henin, known as "Juju" to many of her fans, was coached by Carlos Rodríguez of Argentina. In 1997, she won the junior girls' singles title at the French Open. Early in her junior career, she regularly reached the late rounds of international competitions and won five International Tennis Federation (ITF) tournaments by the end of 1998.

Junior Slam results:

Australian Open: –

French Open: W (1997)

Wimbledon: QF (1997)

US Open: QF (1997)

She began her professional career on the Women's Tennis Association tour in May 1999 as a wild card entry in the Belgian Open clay tournament at Antwerp and became only the fifth player to win her debut WTA Tour event. She also won her hometown event, the Liège Challenger, in July 2000.

Henin established herself as a major competitor in 2001, consequently reaching the women's singles semifinals of the French Open and then upset the reigning Australian Open and French Open champion Jennifer Capriati in the semifinals of Wimbledon, losing to defending champion Venus Williams in three sets in the final. By the end of the year, Henin was ranked 7th in singles, with three titles to her name. Also that year, she reached the French Open women's doubles semifinals with Elena Tatarkova and helped Belgium to win the 2001 Fed Cup.

Moreover, Henin played for the German tennis club Weiß-Blau Schweinfurt in 2001.

In 2002, she reached four WTA finals, winning two of them, and finished the year ranked world No. 5. 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 No. 2 and No. 5 ranked players, respectively. At Wimbledon 2002, Henin beat former world No. 1, Monica Seles, in two tough sets.

2003: Ascent to No. 1

Henin started the year as the 5th-ranked player in the world but lost to Kim Clijsters in the semifinals of the Medibank International in Sydney. In the fourth round of the Australian Open in Melbourne, she 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. She then lost to Venus Williams in the semifinals in straight sets.

Henin also lost to Clijsters in the semifinals of the Proximus Diamond Games in Antwerp. At the Dubai Tennis Championships one week later, she defeated Monica Seles in the final 4–6, 7–6, 7–5 after Seles had a match point at 5–4 in the second set.

Henin's next tournament was the Tier I Miami Masters. She lost in the quarterfinals to world No. 10, Chanda Rubin, 6–3, 6–2.

At the clay court Family Circle Cup in Charleston, South Carolina, Henin defeated world No. 1 Serena Williams in the final. This was Williams' first loss of the year after 21 wins.

The following week, Henin reached the semifinals of the Bausch & Lomb Championships in Amelia Island, Florida, losing to eventual winner Elena Dementieva 3–6, 6–4, 7–5. Henin then helped Belgium defeat Austria 5–0 in a first round tie of the Fed Cup.

In May, Henin successfully defended her title at the German Open in Berlin. In the final, she saved three match points in the third set before defeating Clijsters.

At the French Open, she was the fourth seeded player and defeated the defending champion, Serena Williams, in a controversial semifinal 6–2, 4–6, 7–5 which saw Henin asked to acknowledge her raised hand during a Williams service motion. In the final, Henin defeated Clijsters in straight sets. This was her first Grand Slam title, and she was the first Belgian ever to win a Grand Slam singles title.

Henin then began her preparations for Wimbledon. At the grass court Ordina Open in Rosmalen, she lost in the final to Clijsters; she was forced to retire from the match after injuring her finger. At Wimbledon, Henin was the third seeded player. She defeated Mary Pierce in the fourth round and Svetlana Kuznetsova in the quarterfinals before losing to Serena Williams in straight sets.

2004: Australian Open and Olympic gold

Henin started 2004 by winning a warm-up tournament in Sydney and then the Australian Open in Melbourne, defeating Clijsters in three sets in the final.

By the end of 2004's spring hard court season, Henin had built a 25-match Tier I win streak and 22–1 win–loss record, winning her first 16 matches.

At the start of the spring 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 but barely had the strength to brush her teeth, let alone play competitive tennis.

Although Henin decided to defend her French Open title and was seeded first in the tournament, she lost her second round match to 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 she had lost before the fourth round.

After months of layoff because of a virus, Henin returned to competition in August and won the women's singles gold medal at the Summer Olympics in Athens, defeating Amélie Mauresmo in the final 6–3, 6–3. Henin reached the gold medal match by defeating reigning French Open champion Anastasia Myskina in a semifinal 7–5, 5–7, 8–6 after having trailed 1–5 in the final set. Her medal ceremony was attended by fellow countryman and IOC president Jacques Rogge.

In September, she was unsuccessful in her defence of her US Open title, losing to Nadia Petrova in the fourth round. This defeat caused her to lose the world No. 1 ranking, which she had held for 45 non-consecutive weeks. She then withdrew from the ten remaining tournaments of the year in an effort to recover her health and improve her fitness.

2005: Second French Open and injuries

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 25 March, after more than six months away from competition, Henin returned to the WTA tour at the Miami Masters. 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. She won two more clay court titles before the start of the 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 in the final in straight sets 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 dating back to Zurich in October 2003. In capturing the title, she defeated Kuznetsova in the fourth round, Sharapova in a quarterfinal, and Petrova in a semifinal. Henin saved two match points to defeat Kuznetsova in the fourth round 7–6(6), 4–6, 7–5 and thus became only the second woman to win the French Open after saving a match point.

With her French Open victory, Henin moved from world No. 12 to No. 7 in the women's singles rankings. She was a perfect 24–0 on clay this year and 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.

At Wimbledon, her win streak of 24 matches was snapped in the first round by Greek Eleni Daniilidou 7–6, 2–6, 7–5. It was the first time that a reigning French Open champion failed to win a match at Wimbledon. A hamstring injury sustained earlier in the year eventually limited her to playing only 11 more matches for 2005.

Henin next played the Rogers Cup in Toronto, where she reached the final after beating Mauresmo in a semifinal before losing to Clijsters in straight sets. She lost in the fourth round of the US Open to eventual finalist Mary Pierce 3–6, 4–6. Following this, she played in Filderstadt, but after losing her first round match to Flavia Pennetta, she decided not to play for the rest of 2005.

2006: All four Slam finals

In January, Henin returned to competitive tennis at the tournament in Sydney, a tune-up for the Australian Open. She was seeded fifth and played former world No. 1 (and newly returned to competitive tennis) Martina Hingis in a much hyped first round match. Henin won 6–3, 6–3.

At the Australian Open, 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, citing intense stomach pain caused by over-use of anti-inflammatories for a persistent shoulder injury. Henin stated afterwards that she feared possible injury had she continued to play. Henin was criticized by the press because she had stated after her semifinal win against Sharapova that she was at the "peak of her fitness" and was playing the "best tennis of her life". This was only the fourth time that a Grand Slam women's singles final ended by retirement since 1900, and the first ever during the open era.

Henin captured her second title of the year at the Tier II event in Dubai defeating Sharapova 7–5, 6–2. This was her third Dubai title, having won previously in 2003 and 2004. At Tier I Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, Henin lost in the semifinals to fourth-seeded Elena Dementieva 6–2, 5–7, 5–7, after leading 6–2, 5–2 and serving for the match twice. Henin also lost in the second round of Tier I Miami Masters to Meghann Shaughnessy 5–7, 4–6.

On clay, she failed to retain her title at the Family Circle Cup, losing in the semifinals to third-seeded Patty Schnyder 6–2, 3–6, 2–6. It was her first career defeat at this tournament and the end of her 27-match winning streak on clay. Henin then helped Belgium defeat defending champion Russia in a Fed Cup quarterfinal. She beat fifth ranked Nadia Petrova 6–7, 6–4, 6–3, and 9th ranked Elena Dementieva 6–2, 6–0. Petrova had come into the tie with two consecutive clay court tournament victories and a ten-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. Three weeks later, Henin played the Tier I Qatar Telecom German Open, defeating Mauresmo in the semifinal 6–1, 6–2 before losing to Petrova in a three-set final.

At the French Open, Henin defeated second seeded Clijsters in the semifinals 6–3, 6–2. She then defeated Kuznetsova in the final to win her third French Open singles title in four years. Henin captured the title without losing a set and became the first French Open champion to defend her title successfully since Steffi Graf in 1996.

2007: Dominance

On 4 January 2007, Henin withdrew from the Australian Open and the warm-up tournament in Sydney to deal with the break-up of her marriage. Not playing those tournaments caused Henin to lose the world No. 1 ranking to Maria Sharapova.

In Henin's first tournament of the year, she lost in the semifinals of the Open Gaz de France in Paris to Czech Lucie Šafářová 6–7(5), 4–6. She then won two hardcourt tournaments in the Middle East, the Dubai Duty Free Women's Open (for the fourth time in five years) over Amélie Mauresmo and her first Qatar Total Open title, defeating Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final. She also reached US$14 million in career prize money and on 19 March, regained the world No. 1 ranking.

At the Miami Masters, Henin reached the final for the first time in her career, where she lost to Serena Williams 6–0, 5–7, 3–6 after holding two match points at 6–0, 5–4. Her next tournament was the J&S Cup in Warsaw, which she won, beating Alona Bondarenko of Ukraine in the final, 6–1, 6–3. Later, at the Qatar Telecom German Open in Berlin, Henin won her quarterfinal against Jelena Janković 3–6, 6–4, 6–4 after being behind 4–0 in the third set, only to lose her semifinal against Kuznetsova 4–6, 7–5, 4–6. The loss was only her second to Kuznetsova in 16 career meetings.

At the French Open, Henin was the two-time defending champion and top seed. In a highly anticipated quarterfinal match against Serena Williams, Henin won 6–4, 6–3. She then defeated Janković in the semifinals 6–2, 6–2. In the final, Henin defeated Ana Ivanovic in straight sets, 6–1, 6–2 to claim her third consecutive French Open title, equalling Seles's open era record. She also surpassed US$15 million in career prize money earnings. Henin won the tournament without dropping a set and had not lost a set at this tournament since the 2005 French Open quarterfinals. She had not lost a match at the French Open since 2004. This proved to be the last successful women's singles title defense at the French Open in next 16 years, until Iga Świątek defended her title in 2023.

The International Women's Open in Eastbourne was Henin's first grass court tournament of the year. She and Mauresmo reached the final, which was the first time in nearly 30 years that the Eastbourne final included both finalists from Wimbledon the previous year. Henin recovered from a breakdown in the final set to win in a third-set tiebreak for the second consecutive year.

2008: Retirement

Henin started the year as the world No. 1. 14 January marked Henin's 100th career week as world No. 1, and on 10 March, Henin became only the seventh female player to be ranked world No. 1 for 12 consecutive months.

The Medibank International in Sydney was Henin's first tournament of the year. She defeated Ana Ivanovic in the semifinals 6–2, 2–6, 6–4. She then defeated world No. 2, Svetlana Kuznetsova, 4–6, 6–2, 6–4, overcoming an 0–3 deficit in the final set.

At the Australian Open in Melbourne, Henin won her 32nd consecutive match in the fourth round, defeating Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan 6–2, 6–2. The winning streak ended in the quarterfinals when Sharapova, the eventual winner, defeated Henin 6–4, 6–0. This was Henin's first 6–0 loss since the 2002 French Open and the first time since the 2005 US Open that Henin had been defeated in Grand Slam singles before the semifinals.

At the Proximus Diamond Games in Antwerp, Henin defeated Karin Knapp in the final. This was Henin's second singles title in her native Belgium. Two weeks later at the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships, Henin was the defending champion but lost for the first time in eight meetings to Francesca Schiavone in the quarterfinals 7–6(3), 7–6(4). Henin had struggled for three hours in her first match against Katarina Srebotnik, eventually winning 7–5, 6–7, 6–3.

After taking a four-week break, Henin's next tournament was the Miami Masters. She lost in the quarterfinals to Serena Williams 2–6, 0–6. Henin then withdrew from the Tier I Family Circle Cup because of an injury to her right knee.

At the Tier I, clay court Qatar Telecom German Open in Berlin, Henin lost in the third round to Dinara Safina 7–5, 3–6, 1–6, in what turned out to be her last match before retirement. In their five previous career matches, Henin had never lost a set to Safina. The day after her defeat, Henin withdrew from the Tier I Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome, citing fatigue.

Henin announced her immediate retirement from professional tennis on 14 May 2008, and requested the WTA to remove her name from the rankings immediately. Her announcement was a surprise because Henin was still ranked world No. 1 and was considered the favorite for the French Open, where she would have been the three-time defending champion. She said she felt no sadness about her retirement because she believed it was a release from a game she had focused on for twenty years. She also said that in the future, she would be concentrating on charity and her tennis school.

2010: Comeback

Belgian newspaper L'Avenir reported on Tuesday 22 September 2009 that Henin would formally announce her return to competitive tennis after 16 months of retirement. Later that day, she confirmed her return to competition.

Henin mentioned seeing Roger Federer finally complete the grand slam of titles by winning the French Open in 2009 had been an inspiration, as had Kim Clijsters' return to the tour and her victory at the US Open.

Henin made her return to tennis at the Brisbane International where she was given a wildcard. She defeated No. 2 seed Nadia Petrova, Sesil Karatantcheva, No. 7 seed Melinda Czink and No. 3 seed Ana Ivanovic to make it to the final. She then nearly won, losing to her compatriot Clijsters in a riveting final, 3–6, 6–4, 6–7(6) lasting 2 hours, 23 minutes. At one point, Henin was up 3–0 in the third set before Clijsters rallied and took the match to a tie break. Down 1–5 in the tiebreak, she fought back to 6-all before Clijsters took the final two points.

At the 2010 Australian Open, Henin was given a wildcard as an unranked player. Henin started off with a straight sets victory over Belgian Kirsten Flipkens. She set up a second round match of the tournament with No. 5 seed Elena Dementieva, whom she defeated 7–5, 7–6(5). Lasting two hours and fifty minutes, commentators felt this match was worthy of a final. Henin approached the net forty-three times, winning thirty-five of those points. In the third round, she defeated No. 28 seed Alisa Kleybanova from Russia; where she made a comeback to win 3–6, 6–4, 6–2. In the fourth round she faced World No. 16 and fellow Belgian, Yanina Wickmayer, defeating her in three sets 7–6, 1–6, 6–3. She then defeated No. 19 seed Nadia Petrova in the quarterfinals. Henin won 7–6, 7–5 after having been down 0–3 in the second set. She then went on to defeat Zheng Jie from China in the semifinals in convincing fashion 6–1, 6–0, setting up a clash with world No. 1 Serena Williams in the 2010 Australian Open ladies' final. This was the first time in their long rivalry that Henin and Serena Williams met in a Grand Slam final. Henin would eventually fall to Serena Williams in three sets 6–4, 3–6, 6–2.

A wildcard was granted for Henin to compete at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, a Premier Mandatory tournament. In the first round, Henin defeated Magdaléna Rybáriková 6–2, 6–2 in a little over an hour. Henin then lost to Gisela Dulko, 2–6, 6–1, 4–6, in a two-hour match. The result gave her a new rank of world No. 33 as of 22 March 2010.

2011: Second retirement

Henin started her season at the Hopman Cup. She did not lose any sets in the competition, earning comfortable victories over Alicia Molik from Australia, Sesil Karatantcheva from Kazakhstan, Ana Ivanovic of Serbia and Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the US in the final.

Henin was the 11th seed and a defending finalist at the Australian Open. Henin defeated Sania Mirza from India in the first round 5–7, 6–3, 6–1 and Elena Baltacha in the second, 6–1, 6–3. She then fell to 23rd seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, 4–6, 6–7(8).

On 26 January 2011, Henin announced her definitive retirement from professional tennis, due to an exacerbation of the elbow injury she sustained the previous year at Wimbledon.

Playing style

At the 2007 French Open, Martina Navratilova said that "Henin's offense is just phenomenal ... it's sort of like we've got 'the female Federer', or maybe the guys have 'the male Justine Henin', because she is just head and shoulders above everyone else right now." Her footwork, balance, and court coverage—and she is adept at changing from a defensive style to an aggressive one.

Compared to the rest of her game, Henin's serve was rather inconsistent. Her tendency to take risks on her second serve could sometimes result in a high number of double faults. When she first came onto the tour, Henin used a pinpoint stance (most common among the WTA) for serving, but later retooled her serve to use a platform stance, which is most common among male players. Nonetheless, despite her relatively small size, Henin was capable of producing powerful first serves, her fastest one being clocked at 196 km/h (122 mph) at the 2005 Family Circle Cup. Henin's single-handed backhand was the most powerful and accurate in the game. She could hit her backhand flat, with heavy topspin, or slice [underspin]. Her backhand could also be used to surprise her opponents with drop shots, breaking up the pattern of a groundstroke rally. Her forehand was generally regarded as her most dangerous weapon, and the stroke that she normally used to dictate play in a match. It was underrated as most only spoke of her backhand, but particularly in her dominant years of 2003 and 2007, she would dominate the tone of matches with her huge and versatile forehand.

A notable aspect of Henin's playing style was the completeness of her game—the variety and versatility she had. Her style was often compared to that of Roger Federer and to five-time Grand Slam winner Martina Hingis as well. Four-time Grand Slam winner Kim Clijsters commented "Growing up together, she's always been the more touchy player. She has good hands ... she has those quick hands." Former world No. 1 Andy Roddick praised Henin's and Hingis's racket skills, saying "She has probably the best racket skills of any female player I’ve seen, maybe her [Hingis] and Justine." Hingis herself also similarly said "Players were better educated [during my career]. Now it's sheer power. You kind of miss the players like myself or Justine Henin."

Henin was criticized for questionable sportsmanship during her tennis career, most notably at the 2006 Australian Open final and during a match against Serena Williams at the 2003 French Open. These incidents involved claims of dishonesty and questionable tactics that drew criticism from fans, rivals, and commentators.

One-handed (topspin) backhand

In a period where two-handed backhands were common in professional tennis, what distinguished Henin was her use of a one-handed backhand. The advantage of a one-handed backhands is that it has more reach, can be varied, and can produce spin on the ball. John McEnroe called Henin's one-handed backhand "the best in men's or women's tennis.

Volleying ability

Henin, who had always been considered one of the better volleyers on tour —a player with an all court game — soon established herself as one of the best in the modern era. Two-time US Open Champion Tracy Austin commented, "At the net she's quite comfortable displaying excellent technique. She knows where to position herself—a contrast to many other players who get up to the net and look like a deer in headlights." Renowned tennis coach Nick Bollettieri included Henin as one of the few female tennis players he regarded as being a successful volleyer and an adept serve-and-volleyer, alongside the likes of Martina Navratilova and Jana Novotná.

Personal life

On 16 November 2002, Henin married Pierre-Yves Hardenne in the Château de Lavaux-Sainte-Anne, and officially adopted the name Henin-Hardenne. On 4 January 2007, she withdrew from forthcoming tournaments including the Australian Open due to personal issues. She confirmed three weeks later that she had officially separated from her husband. The same year, she reverted to using the name Henin. In the meantime, following a conflict between Henin and her father over her tennis career and her relationship with Pierre-Yves Hardenne, Carlos Rodríguez became not only her trainer and coach, but in ways a second father figure for the duration of her active tennis career.

Since March 2011, Henin has been in a relationship with Benoît Bertuzzo, a Belgian film director and actor, and secretly married him in March 2015. On 12 September 2012, Henin announced that she was pregnant, giving birth to a girl in 2013. In 2017, she gave birth to a second child, a son.

Public life and endorsements

Henin has worn apparel manufactured by Adidas and used Wilson racquets for her tournaments. Uncharacteristically for a tennis pro, Henin always used to wear her sponsorship provided Rolex wristwatch even during matches. Later on this habit would be replicated by others on the tour, including Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams.

In May 2007, Henin and her coach Carlos Rodríguez started the Academy 6th Sense. At the 2009 US Open – Girls' doubles the Ukrainian tennis player Maryna Zanevska became the first "6th Sense player" to win a Junior Grand Slam title.

On 30 November 2007, Henin opened her own tennis academy Club Justine N1 (in French, "N1" is pronounced almost identically to "Henin").

After retiring, Henin became involved in two Belgian reality shows in 2009. In May, she starred in De Twaalf Werken van Justine Henin – Les 12 travaux de Justine Henin (The 12 Labours of Justine Henin). The show followed Henin as she completed 12 personal challenges. In June 2009, she hosted a musical TV show that revolved around Belgian-Italian singer Lara Fabian.

Career statistics

Year-end championships (WTA Finals)

Singles: 2 (2 titles)

Records

Records in bold indicate peer-less achievements.

She is the only female player in the decade of 2000 to 2009 to reach the title match of all four grand slams at least twice.