Bel(gian) Of The Ball - 網球

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=3076764&name=tennis
Henin unbeaten since Wimbledon
by: James Martin, TENNIS.com posted: Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Life is good for Justine Henin. She's preparing to celebrate the grand
opening of her tennis club, La Palestre, which she bought back in 2005, in
Belgium. And this Saturday she will be in Mannheim, Germany to play an
exhibition against her childhood idol, Steffi Graf.

The two never crossed paths during their playing days -- Graf retired the
same year Henin turned pro, 1999 -- but they share much in common. Like Graf,
Henin is all business on the court, driven to succeed to the point where
she's been criticized for being cutthroat. (It's a total double standard, of
course, because Henin is no more single-minded in her desire to win than
Roger Federer is.) Like Graf, Henin is a bit of a mystery to her fans,
choosing to keep her emotions in check. Far from an open book, she reveals
little about her private life. She's old school that way.

And like Graf, Henin has proven herself to be a dominating No. 1 player. In
fact, she's quietly, unassumingly put together an exceptionally strong
season. After a tumultuous start to the year, in which she skipped the
Australian Open because of her divorce, Henin returned to the tour and won
Dubai and Doha.

Most impressive was how she turned around a tough loss to Serena Williams in
the final of Miami in March. A lesser player would have been devastated after
relinquishing a set and 4-0 lead. Not Henin. Refocused, she came to Roland
Garros and dispatched Serena in straights. She edged Serena in three sets at
Wimbledon, too; it was a grueling match that clearly took something out of
Henin, who suffered the only real hiccup of her season in the next round,
losing to Marion Bartoli.

It's the last match Henin has lost this season. She'll be heading into her
final tournament of the year, the Sony Ericsson Championships in November, on
the strength of a 20-match win streak.

This year, Henin has a tour-leading 58-4 record (Jelena Jankovic has more
total wins, 73, but also 23 losses) and nine singles titles, including the
French and U.S. Open championships. How does that compare to the player who
reaps all the accolades these days? As of Oct. 24, Federer had a 58-7
win-loss record and six singles titles.

This is Henin's best season since 2003, when she won eight singles titles.
And while it's impressive by any yardstick, it does fall a bit short when
compared to the seasons of other great WTA players. Two that come to mind: In
1984, Martina Navratilova went 86-1 and was two wins (she lost in the semis
of the Australian Open) from winning all four Grand Slams, and in 1988 Steffi
Graf achieved a Golden Slam -- all four majors plus the Olympic gold medal --
to go along with her 72-3 record.

That's no knock on Henin. Far from it. In a season when many stars have
struggled to find their form, or even show up, Henin has displayed peerless
discipline and consistency to put up Federer-like numbers. No matter what
happens at the season-ending championships next month, she's already wrapped
up honors for WTA player of the year.


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