Biography Of Justine Henin Hardenne
Nicknames: JujuJustine Henin Hardenne was incredibly mentally tough and her one handed backhand lead Justin Henin to be the best female tennis player in the world in 2003. Starting out Henin's early life was filled with tragedy, as her sister died in a car crash before she was born and her mother died when she was only 12 from intestinal cancer. Justin Henin has not wanted anything to do with her father since, and her coach Carlos Rodriguez formed an important fatherly bond with her since she was 14. Beginning to Rise After winning Junior Roland Garros with pounding forehands and backhands in 1997, Justine Henin Hardenne began to do well in the the "futures" or the senior circuit. By 1999, Henin received a wild card into the Antwerp WTA event in Belgium and became the 5th person ever to win a WTA event from a wild card entry! However, her career really kicked off in 2001 when she reached the finals of Wimbledon and the Semi finals of the french. By 2003 Justin Henin had won: After 2003 In 2004 Justine Henin Hardenne won the warm up tournament in Sydney in January, then won the actual Australian Open... once again defeating Kim Clijsters in the final! (6-3 4-6 6-3). Justin Henin was going strong with a winning streak of 22 wins and only 1 loss but it wasn't until the clay court season that disaster struck.
In the summer of 2004 she got a strain of cytomegalovirus and barely had the strength to get up some stairs and inevitable ended in her loosing her number one spot. In 2005 Henin came storming back... picking up a 24 match winning streak that lead her to win the French Open 6-1 6-1 against Mary Pierce. This final also marked the 10th singles final she had won in a row. At the end of the year she got presented the "whirlpool 6th sense player of the year", meaning the player who shows the best tennis strategy , records, mental toughness, and heightened intelligence on the court. In a quick over view of 2006, Justine Henin Hardenne lost the finals of the Australian Open against Amelie Mauresmo. It was somewhat of a strange match as she claimed to have gastrointestinal illness. The rest of the year was a mixture of success some of the highlights being a title in the Dubai open, runner up in Berlin, another French Open title, finals in Wimbledon, and finals in the U.S open... where Kim Clijsters managed to win her first grand slam title! Playing style Martina Navratilova said in the French open that "Henin's offense is just phenomenal ... it's sort of like we've got the female Roger Federer , or maybe the guys have the male Justine Henin Hardenne, because she is just head and shoulders above everyone else right now." However, although her trade mark was defense she was extremely adaptable to defense and could change strategies on a pinpoint. Her backhand was incredible versatile and is considered one of the best backhands in female tennis history . Nevertheless, her forehand is also incredible strong enabling her to dictate play from both sides.Justin Henin had a good serve, 196km/h. This allowed her to play serve and volley and she used it in key moments to surprise and confuse her opponents. What to learn? If any player had dealt with pressure and ill fortune and been able to bounce back time after time it is Justine Henin Hardenne. When a player works hard and gives 100% they will, sooner or later, get their chances. Justine Henin took her chances and thrived off them.But even after being at the top, illness knocked her down and incredible pressure was put on her by the press for a "miracle come back". She continued to work, drill focus on her own game and therefore she improved in the long run. This was some of Justine Henin Hardenne best qualities that made her a true champion and ensured her resilience to bounce back in the short term. Return to Famous Tennis Players from Justine Henin Hardenne
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