Justine Henin returns to her 'garden' with sights on fif - 網球

Justine Henin returns to her 'garden' with sights on fifth French Open title

‧ Belgian back in Paris for first time since fourth triumph in 2007
‧ 'This is the tournament of my heart, a love story for a long time'

* Simon Cambers in Paris
* The Guardian, Saturday 22 May 2010

For Justine Henin, the memories come flooding back every time she walks through
the gates at Roland Garros. "It's very strange, not only the same images, but
it's always the same feeling, even the smell," the Belgian says. "It's
something very strong. Every year when I go back it's always very special.
It is my garden."

It's not surprising, given that Roland Garros and the French Open, which begins
tomorrow, are central to Henin's story, personally and professionally. She
first came here to watch the tournament with her mother in 1992, two years
before her mother died of cancer when Henin was 12 years old. Henin vowed to
return to Paris and in 2003 she won her first grand slam title here – the
first of her four French Opens to date.

Five months into her comeback after a brief retirement, she is seeded No22 and
is the bookmakers' favourite to win her fifth title.

Three weeks before she was due to defend her French Open title in 2008, the
then 25-year-old quit the sport, saying she no longer enjoyed it. But 18 months
later, after trying out a variety of pursuits, including two reality
television shows in Belgium, Henin was back with a renewed spirit and seemingly
a new, more open attitude.

Reaching the final of the Australian Open in January showed that Henin still
has what it takes, and although she has been relatively inconsistent of late,
she is the one they all want to avoid.

It was the former world No1 Boris Becker who described Wimbledon as his
personal living room, so at home did he feel on the grass at the All England
Club. The same is true of Paris for the 5ft 5in Henin, who seems to grow in
stature once inside the gates. Everyone, including the usually fearless world
No1, Serena Williams, whom she could meet in the semi-finals(不是QF嗎?), knows
that if Henin plays her best then she is virtually unstoppable. Plus ca change,
as they say in these parts.

"Well, it's my garden," Henin said. "It doesn't mean I am going to feel
comfortable when I walk there. But I am a very emotional person and I need the
emotions to give my best. I have to feel something strong and must have a
history. The history of the French Open was that I went there with my mum in
1992, and for my whole life it's going to be something special.

"The fact also that I love [is] when my friends or family, the people that I
love, can come and watch me play, that gives me extra motivations. In Paris
it's very easy, it's so close to home.

"And clay is the surface that I grew up on and a surface that not a lot of
players like. Not many players like to slide, or know how to slide on the clay.
It's not an easy surface. I think you need to be very complete to win in Paris
and I definitely feel very at home there."

You have to go back six years to find Henin's last defeat on the clay courts
at Roland Garros, a second-round loss to the little-known Italian
Tathiana Garbin when Henin was suffering from an immune- system problem that
then forced her off the tour for three months.

She won the title here for three years in a row – from 2005 to 2007 – and,
having not played since then, is defending a winning streak of 21 matches and
35 consecutive sets.

Not even a freak injury, when she broke the little finger on her left hand
during training for a Fed Cup tie in April, set her back for long. Henin won
the tournament the following week in Stuttgart and although a bout of flu
cost her a first-round defeat in Madrid last time out, she is still full of
confidence. "The French Open has been, I would say, a love story for a long,
long time," she said. "It's the tournament of my heart."





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希望這篇能增加一點大家的信心
雖然Ju目前並不是很穩定
But~~C'mon,35盤連勝耶,應該能給大家多點信心吧
而且Ju比其他人更知道在法網的紅土上該怎麼打
雖然法網的場地和過去不太一樣了,或許是個比較潛在不確定的因素
還有Ju v 2.0更新版的打法,到底在紅土上會有多少成效呢?
如果她能增加穩定性,並打出對JJ和Stosur的第三盤的狀態,那某程度還是令人放心的
所以大家就靜觀其變吧:P

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