Extreme Justine, on court and in flight! - 網球

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Extreme Justine, on court and in flight!
16/08/2005:

Justine plays her first match in two months on Wednesday at the Rogers Cup
(Center Court 13:00hrs). She feels it getting closer to her idealized vision
of 100% tennis form, but it's not quite there; just yet.

Justine arrived last Friday in Toronto, has adjusted to timezone changes,
acclimatized, and ready for her first match opponent Diaz-Olivia. Between
practice sessions at Rogers Cup Justine spoke with journalists. She said in
earnest "I am not yet at 100%, but I am better".

Following her rare early elimination at Wimbledon back in July, Justine took
a few weeks off to rest, and heal her body. She did about 15 days of tennis
preparation work in Monaco, and an additonal two weeks of physical fitness
work in Saddlebrook. Rogers Cup Toronto will be the only warm up event for
Justine prior to the US Open. "I worked very hard these a few last weeks, but
I still miss matches. My principal goal remains the US Open, and I hope that
I will be able to play many matches this week ," she said.

A year ago last summer Justine wasn't able to defend her Rogers Cup title;
but what she missed the most were the emotions, and the adrenaline rush from
hard fought on court tennis. "I couldn't get excited. When you love this so
much, when you're on the court, when you have to save break point when you
serve for the match, wow, you're just getting excited. I didn't have that
last year when I was sick. I had to find something else," she explained.

Husband Pierre Yves directed her to one of his favorite thrill seeking
hobbies; sky diving. Justine has now accomplished 19 jumps from 4000 meters
in the air. "You forget about everything else, who you are, the people who
live with you. You just fly for a minute. It's amazing, everybody should do
it," she beamed. Now that Justine's back on tour, she doesn't need the sky
diving jolt to the system, and only does a jump every so often. Justine's
rivals surely prefer her back in the air, and off the court; rather than
dominating finals.

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