Henin Out for Rest of Season
Belgian Justine Henin will miss the rest of the Wimbledon season after picking up an elbow injury during her match with Kim Clijsters.
Henin has a partial fracture of the ligament in her elbows, which happened as she raced into the net during her match with her fellow Belgian before slipping and falling down onto her forearms. The recovery time and impact of the injury means it is impossible for her to play tennis to the level which she would normally demand.
Henin will now focus on getting treatment for the injury and she has already said that she hopes to recover as quickly as possible in order to make it for the start of next season. It will be a huge blow to the player who would have been hoping to play well at the US Open at the end of the summer after under-performing at SW19.
The injury will also mean a few negatives in other areas, which could have an impact on Henin's game. This is something that she has to deal with but she will be eager to get back playing again as soon as she can.
Injury
The injury is one of the less common injuries that tennis players tend to pick up. The fact she has damaged the ligament in her elbow means it will be impossible for her to play any shot without feeling a great deal of pain.
She will consider herself highly unlucky because some players go and pick up injuries, which they can generally deal with and play with. However, this is not one of them and it's important that Henin relaxes and rests the injury otherwise she could risk completely tearing the ligament, which could threaten the rest of her career.
The actual ligament tear to her right elbow means she will not be able to bend the right elbow as easily as she could do normally. It is also her forehand side, which is her strongest shot. It means that if she tries to play with it then every time she hits a shot on that side she will be sending an excessive amount of force down and through her arm.
Worries
Henin will have a number of worries, which will keep going over in her head while she is out injured. While she isn't playing she cannot earn ranking points and her position will slide. This will eventually mean she will have to play more qualifying matches for a variety of events that she would otherwise qualify automatically for.
She is running out of time in terms of her career and she may have had big ideas for the US Open. The injury means that she will have to wait even longer to try and rectify the disappointment of going out of Wimbledon before making the much later stages of the event.
She is a player that thrives on confidence and form, which has been demonstrated throughout her career. When she does start playing again it will be a while before she starts playing her best tennis and she will be down in this period. Her coach will have to work very hard to make sure her head doesn't drop.
Advice
Track her injury progress but be wary of betting on her first few matches when she starts playing again. She does not always start playing well from the off so maybe wait a few matches before you start backing her to win matches outright. Utilise her ability over weaker opponents but be wary when she plays someone with a higher ranking.
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