Henin doubles up Williams sisters - 網球

內容有點長 可能去點網址比較好 這是前球后的Tracy Austin的評論喔
寫得很中肯 分析的也很透徹 算是很用心的球評啦 不會只是節錄賽後訪問....

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20649754/
Henin doubles up Williams sisters
All hail petite Belgian, who's a lock to notch her second U.S. Open title

Justine Henin has shown through her play at the U.S. Open that despite her
lack of height, she unquestionably towers over all the other players on the
women's tour, writes Tracy Austin of MSNBC.com.

COMMENTARY
By Tracy Austin
MSNBC contributor
Updated: 1:10 a.m. ET Sept. 8, 2007

NEW YORK - Of course they play doubles at the U.S. Open -- just not the kind
of doubles top-seeded Justine Henin has played in the singles draw at this
major.

The brilliant Belgian, who stands just 5-foot-5, but who also stands alone at
the top of the women's tour, wrapped up the 'Williams double" by beating
Venus in straight sets (7-6, 6-4) in the semifinals on Friday, just three
days after she defeated Venus' younger sister, Serena, in the quarterfinals,
also doing so in straight sets.

Fans who witnessed the Venus-Henin match got a real treat to some top-notch
tennis, and both players can be proud of the skills they put on display and
the efforts they put forth. But for the Williams group of family and friends
there was no upgrade in post-match emotions. The sting of disappointment
stung even harder the second time around. First Serena gone and then Venus
exits -- and all before the final weekend in Flushing Meadows. And, in
contrast, for Henin, the smile only grew wider and the confidence just shot
higher after these two message-sending wins.

Unless something goes seriously awry, come Saturday night Henin will win the
second U.S. Open title of her career, the first coming in 2003. Fourth-seeded
Svetlana Kuznetsova, whose one major title came in the 2004 U.S. Open awaits
Henin in the final, but with all due respect to the Russian any fan who
closely follows this sport would bet just about anything that the semifinal
tilt between Henin and Venus determined the woman who will hold high the
championship trophy.

Tight match, but Venus' flaws exposed
There was definitely very little difference between Henin and Venus in their
showdown. For the most part both played high-quality tennis, indeed the type
of match worthy of a U.S. Open semifinal. But if there was something that
broke down for Venus in her loss it would be the same old thing always talked
about when the subject comes up over where Venus can become vulnerable. While
it wasn’t very noticeable, the trouble she did get into was with her
forehand -- the shot she tends to make errors on when she's in pressure
situations.

Also hurting Venus' chances at victory was her second serve that just didn't
have the pop it should. And another thing not good for Venus was that she
started off slowly by losing her serve in the opening game, which meant that
she was always playing catch up. Sound familiar? Playing catch up was just
what Serena did in her match against Henin, and we all know how that worked
out for little sister.

Henin KO’s Venus, plays Kuznetsova in final
The Belgian bundle of brilliance got tight in the 10th game of the first set
so instead of Henin being able to take advantage of three set points, Venus
evened the score to 5-5. At 6-5, 30-30, Venus was just two points from
closing out the set, but Henin held on to her serve and from there she raced
through the tiebreaker and eventually to a 3-0 lead in the second set.

Venus had a big opportunity to change the momentum of the match when she
pulled even at 3-3 in the second set. She had Henin at 0-40 in the seventh
game. That was the point when Henin really solidified her supremacy in the
match -- she held on to her serve for a 4-3 lead, broke Venus for a 5-3 lead,
and the rest was history. Not the kind of history that will get a lot of ink
in the Williams' family archives, but history that will be a blast for the
ages in Belgium.

A key negative should not outweigh the positives
That Venus is going to come away from her loss to Henin disappointed is just
a natural reaction. But she must not stay disappointed for too long. When
Venus has had some time to really think about the defeat to the Belgian, she’
ll see the overall positive in her year. She went into Wimbledon barely being
considered a factor and came out a champion -- doing so as the No. 23 seed, a
feat never before accomplished. And since her win on the London lawns, Venus
has -- for the most part -- been playing excellent tennis.

She’s 27, fit and healthy. She's in a strong position to play quality tennis
not only for the remainder of this year, but also for years to come. If she's
in top condition to start the 2008 season all things are possible for her as
she'll possess a great deal of confidence and self belief .And I also have
little doubt that when Venus brings herself to mentally step away from the
loss to Henin, she'll recall how well she has played this year, and let it
sink in that she has played some of the best tennis of her life.

Since Wimbledon Venus only played two Federation Cup matches in mid July, and
four matches at a WTA Tour event in San Diego early this month. Even though
Venus played little this summer, her coming off a title at Wimbledon worked
in her favor at Flushing Meadows. Whenever a player wins a major there's a
great boost of self confidence. Raising the championship trophy at a major
has a carry-over effect.

Unlike at Wimbledon where Venus' first few matches saw her try to wind up her
"A" game right from the first ball struck in each encounter only to instead
appear at times susceptible to an upset due to her slow starts and sluggish
play in the early going of those early England tests, at the U.S. Open she
was sharp from the start and only getting sharper with each match. Her only
problem: there was one sharper player in the draw, and by Venus' bad luck
that player -- Henin -- was in her half of the draw.

Belgian has changed for the better
For Henin beating Venus was a significant victory since she hadn’t defeated
the older Williams sister since their first-ever encounter at the German Open
in 2001. From that point on the Belgian lost her next seven matches against
the American, and was struggling to contend with Venus’ power game. But the
most interesting thing is that at this U.S. Open these two were facing each
other for the first time since the 2003 Australian Open semifinal (won by
Venus in straight sets) so in a very real way their history wasn’t a factor.

Henin is a very different player since the last time she and Venus collided.
She’s now the No. 1 player in the world, and she has won all six of her
majors after that 2003 Melbourne defeat to Venus. Being a six-times-over
champion at the majors gives Henin a great amount of confidence, a confidence
she just didn't have before achieving such success.

And Henin has come up with a winning approach to playing the Williams
sisters. She is so willing to attack, so aggressive in her play. And by
consistently employing this style she manages to keep Venus and Serena on the
defensive for the most part. Henin also keeps the sisters on the run,
steering them in one direction and then in another along the baseline until
she finds an opening to launch her brilliant backhand or a well-placed
forehand. She has got their number.

Henin is unlike her top American rivals in that she lives and breathes tennis
while Serena and Venus have so many outside interests that their focus is not
always where it needs to be as far as their tennis career is concerned. In
all the years I’ve watched Henin play she has been the consummate
professional. When Henin walks on the court, she stands tall despite being
one of the shorter players in the game. She’s always in shape and ready to
play. She's always ready to summon all she can from her game in order to win
another title.

None better than Henin in the clutch
The opportunity to win a seventh career Grand Slam title was there for both
Venus and Henin in this the year's final major (Serena is the leader among
active players in majors won with eight), but now that opportunity exists
only for Henin. It's the easy and wise thing to do to predict that the
Belgian will have little trouble beating Kuznetsova in straight sets in
Saturday night’s final. So I predict just that.

It’s hard to say that in doing so I'm going out on a shaky limb since Henin
holds a dominating 14-2 record over Kuznetsova. Although the Russian won
their last encounter on clay at Berlin this spring, that victory occurred in
a very different arena and on a very different surface than what we find at
the U.S. Open. Kuznetsova is a streaky player, and while she is capable of
getting hot during a match, it would be extremely surprising if she could
keep up a high level of play during a big-time match. Her nerves can cost
her. They have in the past, and they likely will again in the future.

Henin has too much firepower and experience for Kuznetsova to contend with,
especially when the Belgian puts her game into high gear in such a huge
match. Henin is an all-around better player than her Russian counterpart. The
one thing that Henin needs to be careful of is not getting caught up and
distracted by her achievement of beating Serena and Venus at the same major.
That's quite a feat -- done only once before and that by Martina Hingis back
in her prime.

While nothing is certain, knowing Henin she's not likely to fall in the
look-what-I-have-done trap. To her it was tremendously rewarding to dispatch
the Williams sisters in back-to-back matches. But she won't allow herself to
linger on thoughts of that success. She knows winning the title is what it's
all about.

It's been an emotional, up-and-down year for Henin. A divorce kept her from
playing the Australian Open. Reuniting with her family after a seven-year
break helped fuel her to a fourth French Open title in the last five years.
Now another U.S. Open title is within her grasp. It's one win away. She' been
a one-woman wrecking crew these two weeks here, and who's to question that
she's ready to take her demolition game at its full force against Kuznetsova
and reduce to rubble the final challenger standing in the way of her winning
this hard court major for a second time.

c 2007 MSNBC Interactive

--