To Win... - 網球

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To Win...
18/01/2006:

Justine defeated an injured Hana Sromova in the 2nd round today 7-6(7-2) 6-1.
It wasn't pretty tennis, nor kind tennis. She views this as an integral part
of the grand slam competition; the mental challenges, and the physical risks.

You have not played her before. Is that why it took you so long in the first
set?
"I wasn't feeling that great on the court. Not very comfortable. I didn't
know her at all and it took me almost a set to get used to her game. There
was no rhythm in the match. I was doing the mistakes and the winners. That's
not the kind of game I like. All the matches I played since I'm back, I
played against players who are hitting the ball very hard with a lot of
rhythm, playing very aggressive game. That's what I like, you know. Today I
never really found the good balance between the aggressivity and the
patience. It took time. But, that's the kind of match you have to win even if
you're not playing good."

Are the top players vulnerable at this stage of the tournament?
"I think that women's tennis is changing a little bit. We cannot say that the
first week is easy for the top seeds. I think it's pretty different now
'cause we could see very difficult results in the first rounds, and a lot of
difficulties for the top?seed players. we have to be focused in every match
because all these players, they want to beat us and they want to be at our
place. We need to be hundred percent all the time. I think that change from a
couple years ago."

Was it difficult to play someone's that's not a regular on the WTA tour?
"I think I hate to play someone that I never saw playing and that I never
heard anything about. So it's not easy because you don't know what really to
expect. Even if you know that you have to play your game and that's probably
enough to win the match, it's pretty hard because you need to know a little
bit what's gonna happen. I don't like too much this kind of situation."

When she fell over and you knew that there was obviously something wrong. Was
it difficult to concentrate?
"It is difficult, but you need to stay focused for every point. I think that
she wasn't moving that well after the injury, so I hope she will recover very
quickly. But, it's not easy. You need to stay focused on your game and not
thinking about too much the fact that she's not playing well."


Justine's next opponent is France's Virginie Razzano (Wta #54) on Friday
January 20. They have played each other twice before in 2001. Once in the
Gold Coast, and the other time at Roland Garros. Justine defeated Razzano
both times in 2 sets. We'll give you match time details, and more right here
at www.henin-hardenne.be


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