Justine Henin books place in Wimbledon third round
Justine Henin’s return to Wimbledon for the first time since 2007 continues to proceed as planned as she moves through to the third round with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Kristina Barrois.
While the former world No. 1 these days plays down those Wimbledon title-winning ambitions that played no small part in inducing her back to the court - saying after her first round win in SW19 “I'm very realistic as it's a year of transition, and I had some opportunities in the past, you know, that I could never take” - she is moving slowly closer to at least being part of the action in the second week.
“If I can make it [Wimbledon champion] one day, that would be, I mean, an amazing achievement, you know, thinking about this little girl that was dreaming of winning a Grand Slam. It's the only one I never won in the past, so that would be fantastic. I hope it become a goal one day and true. But it's still very early to think about this,” Henin said on day one at the All England Club.
So, like Henin, we’ll take it one match at a time and this one was another step closer to claiming the only Grand Slam title to so far elude the Belgian. While this may not yet be the same Henin who left the game as its top player in May 2008, this slightly less consistent version still has all the old weapons to call upon: cracking forehand winners; that wonderful one-handed backhand; and an all-court game that is equal to anyone in women’s tennis.
And it was an arsenal the 28-year-old employed to her full advantage against the German, hitting 32 winners to nine and winning 71% of the time she approached the net – something Henin did no less than 28 times in the match.
Henin secured the ascendency in the match from the outset, breaking the German’s opening service game, though Barrois returned the favour a few games later to ensure games once again remained on serve. Not that that lasted long.
The 2006 Wimbledon runner-up created a triple break point chance to take a 5-3 lead and when errant backhand from Barrois handed the break to Henin on her second chance, the 17th seed served for, and won, the set.
Henin then prevailed in the tussle for the opening game of the second set, securing the 1-0 lead with the third break point chance against Barrois’ serve, and broke again to take a 4-1 lead in the second set, but stumbled when serving for the match at 5-2 in the second, with some wayward serving not helping her cause.
It was enough to give Barrois some belief that she may still be in the match, and the unseeded player went on to hold serve and break Henin once again to level the set at 5-5.
Though Henin went on to break Barrois again in the 11th game of the set and then held serve to love to win the match, it was another example of what has proved to be a c***k in Henin’s armour since her return to tennis this January, and that’s her ability to close out a match – an issue that could prove more problematic against higher ranked opponents as the tournament progresses.
Regardless of that potential problem, Henin’s quest to become Wimbledon champion now continues for at least one more round.
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