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Henin trumping recent pain with run at Biscayne

March 29, 2007
By Jamey Eisenberg
Fantasy Writer
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KEY BISCAYNE -- March has never been an easy month for Justine Henin. Heartache
and pain have usually dominated her thoughts, which is surprising for someone
who prides herself on mental toughness.

Henin lost her mother to cancer in March 1995 when she was just 12, and the
Belgian tennis star still carries the painful memory with her. That's not
something a child easily forgets.

Henin doesn't use her personal life as an excuse, but maybe this explains
Henin's previous struggles at the Sony Ericsson Open. Henin has won five Grand
Slams and is currently the No. 1 player in the world, but she never advanced
past the quarterfinals here.

Until now.

Henin defeated No. 9 seed Anna Chakvetadze 6-2, 6-3 in the semifinals Thursday.
She will face the winner of Thursday's late match between Serena Williams and
Shahar Peer on Saturday in the final.

Henin knows winning the title here won't numb the pain of losing her mother,
but she's just trying to enjoy herself now. And maybe make March a little
brighter.

"I just try to move forward," said Henin, who is seeded second but reclaimed
the top ranking last week from Maria Sharapova and will remain No. 1 next week.
"You can take something positive from any experience in your life, and that's
what I'm trying to do. I had a couple of tough times in my life a long time
ago. You can say, 'I'm not lucky, I don't have any chance, it's not fair.' Or
it can make you stronger. That's what I've tried to do, even if I feel it's
unfair sometimes. That's what I'm still doing now."

Her mother's death isn't the only thing tugging at her heart right now. Henin
recently split from her husband, Pierre-Yves Hardenne. She dropped Hardenne
from her surname and chose to miss the Australian Open in January while she
came to terms with the divorce.

She has leaned heavily on her coach, Carlos Rodriguez, who has worked with her
since she was 14. And she has used tennis as a way to regain a sense of
normalcy.

Henin is trying to focus on what's ahead for her, which is hopefully another
championship.

"I just live for now," Henin said. "I'm not in the past anymore. And the fact
is that I try to enjoy every moment. I'm trying not to project myself too far
in the future and forget a little bit of what happened in the past. I just feel
lucky to do what I love so much. I feel very happy about that." Henin said her
mental toughness has carried her through this difficult time.

"I feel that's my biggest quality," Henin said. "In the past I proved it many
times. I could come back in tough matches, and even when I was younger not a
lot of people believed I could become a great tennis player. I proved a lot of
things to those people but also to myself. I love tennis so much because it
brings me a lot of emotions."

Henin's determination was on full display at this tournament. In the third
round against Virginie Razzano, Henin fought back from a 5-1 deficit in the
third set to win 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 (7-5). And in the quarterfinals against No. 6
seed Nadia Petrova, Henin finally got past her troubling round with a 7-6
(7-4), 7-6 (7-4) victory.

Against Chakvetadze, the latest Russian to crack the top 10, things were much
easier. Henin won the first set in 33 minutes, and Chakvetadze lost 20 of 35
points on her first serve and was broken five times.

Chakvetadze felt like she never had a chance.

"There's no strategy if you can't hit more than three balls over the net,"
Chakvetadze said. "Justine played pretty solid, but I don't know. I just felt
very tired. I felt like I couldn't run. I was not in the match."

Chakvetadze is now 0-2 against Henin, and Chakvetadze marvels at how Henin
adjusts to her different opponents. That will be a key for Henin when she plays
in the final.

"She sees the ball very good," Chakvetadze said. "She's a great champion.
Justine, she can mix up her game. That's why she's No. 1."

Henin knows the final will not be easy, but nothing for her ever has,
especially lately. She is doing her best at a difficult time, and she is
succeeding.

March may be a hard month for her, but maybe a victory could help make this
year a little better. And she is trying to stay positive. After her semifinal
victory, Henin pumped her fist and punched it the air.

She might finally be having fun at this tournament after all.

"It is a challenge for me," Henin said. "Everyone knows it's not my favorite
event, but I hope match after match, being focused on every point, I can build
something better this year."


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