Justin Henin: Tennis’ Belgian Sensation
Born on June 1st, 1982, in Liege, Belgium; Justin Henin had, by the age of 12, made several trips to watch the French Open at Roland Garros with her mother Francoise Rosiere.
Her first brushes with tennis came at a local tennis academy near her childhood residence in Rochefort. Henin grew up idolising German great, Steffi Graf, and saw her heroine take on Monica Seles in the 1992 French Open final. Although Henin’s German muse succumbed, the memory of the showdown remained etched in her mind for a long time.
In 1995, Henin joined hands with her trainer, Argentinean Carlos Rodriguez, who has mentored her since then. In 1997, Justin took the girl’s singles trophy at the French Open junior’s event.
By the conclusion of the 1998 season, Henin had taken five International Tennis Federation contests at the senior level. She inaugurated her professional career at the 1999 Belgian Open and marked her first WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) Tour event with a triumph.
The Belgian emerged as a potent force in 2001 when she carved her way into the women’s singles semi finals at the French Open. Henin demolished the prevailing Australian Open and French Open title winner Jennifer Capriati at the year’s Wimbledon semi finals.
At the All England Club Championship final, it was Venus Williams who brought Henin’s winning run to a halt. Having added three titles to her record and assisted Belgium in sealing the 2001 Fed Cup victory, Henin stood 7th in the WTA Tour end of year rankings.
The following season saw the Belgian battling her way to four WTA final showdowns and emerged victorious on two occasions. At the year’s German Open, Henin memorably overcame Jennifer Capriati and Serena Williams en route to the ultimate win and concluded the 2002 campaign ranked world number five.
In 2003, Henin made it to the semi finals of the Medibank International Tournament, where she was seen off by fellow Belgian, Kim Clijsters. Henin also fell in the semi finals of the 2003 Australian Open, this time beaten by Venus Williams.
She took the year’s Dubai Tennis Championships trophy after overcoming Monica Seles in the final. Henin emulated the win at the 2003 Family Circle Cup in South Carolina, seeing off Serena Williams in the ultimate contest.
Henin then overcame Kim Clijsters at the Qatar Telecom German Open final to guard her previous year’s title successfully. An impassioned Henin then marched all the way to the 2003 French Open victory, a win that marked the very first Grand Slam title of her career.
At Wimbledon, she progressed all the way to the semi finals before Serena Williams thwarted her advance. In addition to grabbing the 2003 San Diego, Zurich and Toronto titles, Henin also landed the U.S. Open Grand Slam trophy, ending the season as world number one.
Henin made a winning start to the 2004 season by taking the Australian Open title, yet her progress was cut short by illness that severely sapped her energy. Yet she managed to take the women’s singles gold medal at the Athens Olympics in 2004.
In 2005, Henin returned from injury to triumph at the Family Circle Cup in addition to sealing two more clay court titles. She then took her second French Open title after seeing off France’s Mary Pierce in the final.
In 2006, Henin took the scene by storm after taking 5 WTA titles as well as winning the French Open and Wimbledon trophies. Her sensational form confirmed she was ranked world number one as the season came to a close.
The following season Henin continued her winning streak by sealing the prestigious U.S Open and French Open titles. The Belgian took two titles in 2008 before surprising the tennis community with the announcement of her retirement from the professional circuit.
However, Henin made her comeback to the WTA tour in 2010. She made it to the final of the 2010 Australian Open, where she was defeated by Serena Williams. Henin managed to take two titles in the ongoing season before pulling out from several upcoming events due to an elbow injury she sustained at the 2010 Wimbledon showdown.
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