Full text source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justine_Henin (because I'm too lazy to do my own knowledge about her which also has the possibility of wrong facts about her, so just copied and pasted it from wikipedia)
| Country |  Belgium |
|---|---|
| Residence | Belgium |
| Date of birth | 1 June 1982 |
| Place of birth | Liège, Belgium |
| Height | 1.67 m (5 ft 5 1⁄2 in) |
| Weight | 57 kg (130 lb; 9.0 st) |
| Turned pro | 1 January 1999 |
| Retired | 14 May 2008 return: 4 January 2010 retirement: 26 January 2011 |
| Plays | Right–handed (one-handed backhand) |
| Career prize money | US$20,863,335 * |
| Singles | |
| Career record | 503–109* |
| Career titles | 43 WTA |
| Highest ranking | No. 1 (20 October 2003) |
| Grand Slam results | |
| Australian Open | W (2004) |
| French Open | W (2003, 2005, 2006, 2007) |
| Wimbledon | F (2001, 2006) |
| US Open | W (2003, 2007) |
| Other tournaments | |
| Championships | W (2006, 2007) |
| Olympic Games |  Gold medal (2004) |
| Doubles | |
| Career record | 47–35 |
| Career titles | 2 |
| Highest ranking | No. 23 (14 January 2002) |
| Olympic medal record | ||
| Competitor for Belgium | ||
|---|---|---|
| Women's Tennis | ||
| Gold | 2004 Athens | Singles |
Tennis experts cite her mental toughness, the completeness and variety of her game, her footspeed and footwork, and her one-handedbackhand (which John McEnroe has described as the best single-handed backhand in the women's or men's game) as the principal reasons for her success.
Critics and all-time-great players have made testament to Henin's talent. Upon Henin's first retirement from the WTA in the early part of the 2008 season, Billie Jean King said that "pound for pound, Henin is the best tennis player of her generation." as well as that "Justine is the best women's athlete I've ever seen." Andre Agassi said of Henin, "Justine Henin is one of the most talented women ever to have played the game of tennis." In 2007, 18 time Grand Slam winner Martina Navratilova said that "She is head and shoulders above everyone else right now" John McEnroe concurred, saying that Henin is "The player I most like to watch." Henin made a return to the WTA in early 2010, losing the final of the Australian Open in only her 2nd tournament back.
On 26 January 2011, she announced that she had been forced to retire from professional tennis once again because of an elbow injury.
On 26 January 2011, she announced that she had been forced to retire from professional tennis once again because of an elbow injury.
Henin's footwork, balance, and court coverage are exceptional and she is adept at changing from a defensive style to an aggressive one. Henin's volleying skills are considered exceptional. She utilized serve-and-volley play with more frequency prior to her 2-year long retirement. Henin has started approaching the net more often, in addition to utilizing serve-and-volley going after quicker points rather than opting for long rallies like she used to.
Despite her relatively small size, Henin has a powerful serve, which has been measured at a top speed of 196 kmh (122 mph) at the 2005Family Circle Cup. Henin's single-handed backhand, is one of the most powerful and accurate in the game. She can hit her backhand 'flat', with heavy topspin, or slice [underspin]. Her backhand can also be used to surprise her opponents with dropshots, breaking up the pattern of a groundstroke rally. Her slice backhand is regarded as one of the best of all time. However, Henin's forehand is generally regarded as her most dangerous weapon, and the stroke that she normally uses to dictate the play of a match.
Justine Henin is a globally recognized tennis player, who has had huge success on all surfaces of the game, and has so far achieved Grand Slam success on clay and hard courts, winning 4 French Open titles, including 3 consecutive titles between 2005 and 2007, which ties Monica Seles' record of most consecutive Roland Garros titles won by a woman. This achievement has made her the most successful female clay court player of the last decade (2000–2009). She has also won 3 Grand Slam titles on hard court, winning the US Open title in 2003 and 2007, and the Australian Open title in 2004. She has also reached the Wimbledon final 2 times, in 2001 and 2006; the only Grand Slam singles title she has not won.
*The above is only an excerpt, full text from wikipedia in the link above. Note: As this is a direct copy, it may not be the most updated version.
I'll post the part of her career in 2007 from wikipedia here cos I think that was when she had her peak period of her career:
I'll post the part of her career in 2007 from wikipedia here cos I think that was when she had her peak period of her career:
2007 (copied and pasted directly from wikipedia-sorry for the copyright stuffs)
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 7–6(5), 6–4. 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 in Doha, 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 0–6, 7–5, 6–3 after holding two match points at 6–0, 5–4. Her next tournament was the J&S Cup in Warsaw, Poland, which she won, beating Alyona 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 6–4, 5–7, 6–4. 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 Ivanović 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 has not lost a set at this tournament since the 2005 French Open quarterfinals. She has not lost a match at the French Open since 2004.
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 break down in the final set to win in a third set tiebreak for the second consecutive year.
At Wimbledon, Henin lost to Marion Bartoli in the semifinals 1–6, 7–5, 6–1, one day after Henin defeated Serena Williams in the quarterfinals. It was Henin's first win over the American on a surface other than clay. In the semifinal, Henin was up a break at 1–0 and 4–3 in the second set but could not hold the lead.[34]
In August, Henin won the Tier I Rogers Cup in Toronto, defeating Janković in the final. The tournament championship was Henin's 35th on the WTA tour, moving her past Clijsters who retired with 34 tournament championships.
At the US Open, Henin defeated her first four opponents in straight sets, with a 6–0 set in each match. Henin then faced Serena Williams in the quarterfinals for the third consecutive time in a Grand Slam tournament, and for the third time, Henin won, 7–6(3), 6–1. In the semifinals against Venus Williams, Henin was up a break in the first set but could not hold it. She finally won the set in a tiebreak. In the second set, Henin was ahead 3–0 before Williams leveled the set at 3–3. Williams then had three break points on Henin's service but could not convert and lost the game. Henin then broke Williams's serve and held her own serve to go up 5–3. Williams then broke Henin to pull within 5–4 but Henin broke Williams again in the last game to win the match 7–6(2), 6–4. Henin became only the second player to defeat both Williams sisters in the same Grand Slam tournament (after Martina Hingis at the 2001 Australian Open).[35] In the final, Henin won her second US Open singles title, defeating Kuznetsova in straight sets, 6–1, 6–3. Henin won the tournament without dropping a set.
Henin won her next tournament, the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, defeating Tatiana Golovin in the final. Two weeks later, Henin won the Zurich Open, her ninth title of the year, by again defeating Golovin in the final.
At the WTA Tour Championships, Henin won all three of her round robin matches, defeating Anna Chakvetadze, Janković, and Bartoli. Going into the match against Bartoli, Henin had won 22 consecutive matches since Bartoli defeated her in the 2007 Wimbledon semifinals. Although Henin had already clinched a spot in the semifinals, both Henin and Bartoli did not know Bartoli had to replace Serena Williams until several hours before the match and lost 6–0, 6–0.[36] In the semifinals, Henin defeated Ivanović 6–4, 6–4. In the final, Henin overcame Sharapova in three sets[37] in a match that lasted 3 hours, 24 minutes. Sharapova won the first set on her eighth set point in the 12-minute last game. Henin won the match on her fifth match point in the final game of the match. This was Henin's longest ever match, the longest final in tournament history, and the twelfth longest women's match ever.[38]
This victory extended Henin's winning streak to 25 matches. She only lost three sets after Wimbledon. This victory made her the sixth player to successfully defend her title at the WTA's season-ending championship and the first player to claim at least 10 tour titles in a year since Hingis won 12 in 1997. She also became the first woman to break the US$5 million barrier in prize money in a year, and by crossing US$19 million, Henin is now ranked fifth on the all time prize money list.
Henin ended the year ranked World No. 1 for the third time in her career, having done so previously in 2003 and 2006. She was the first player since Steffi Graf to end the year ranked World No. 1 consecutively for two years (Graf was ranked year-end World No. 1 in 1995–1996). She also ended the year with a 63–4 record, having lost to only four players: Lucie Šafářová, Serena Williams, Svetlana Kuznetsova, and Marion Bartoli.
