Tennis: Justine Henin is “realistic” about comeback
Belgian tennis star Justine Henin will be making a return to the game after suffering an elbow injury that prematurely ended her 2010 season. Henin will play in the Hopman Cup, which begins this Saturday in Perth.
“I am realistic,” says Henin. “It is my comeback. It has been a difficult year.”
This will be Henin’s second “comeback” to the game. She announced her retirement from tennis in May 2008, while she was ranked world number one and considered a favourite for the 2008 French Open. Sixteen months later, she announced
her return to competition. Her performance after returning to the tennis circuit was highly appreciated by tennis critics and fans from all around the world. At the 2010 Australian Open, the Belgian managed to reach the final before losing to former world
number one American tennis star Serena Williams. Her 2010 season ended prematurely when she sustained an elbow injury during her fourth-round defeat to Kim Clijsters at the 2010 Wimbledon Championships.
“It is six months since the injury and I can't say I am 100 percent,” the seven-time Grand Slam winner said on Wednesday. “I am working very hard on it and I spend two hours every day on my rehabilitation. When we heard about the
serious injury there were concerns about the future of my career as it was pretty serious. Now step by step I can improve, but it will probably take a few more weeks and maybe months before I can be 100 percent.”
Currently, Henin is preparing to play at the Hopman Cup, where she will be able to play three singles and three doubles matches – enough for a test-run before the 2011 Australian Open begins on January 17 in Melbourne.
Henin said her elbow would be assessed during the first Grand Slam tournament of the year, and she doesn’t have high hopes for her performance, saying, “Just the first round [of the Australian Open] for me is going to be important
and then we'll see, step by step.”
“No one is dominating women's tennis, there are a lot of ups and downs,” said the 28-year-old. “Serena (Williams) is not going to be there so it is going to be wide open, but I don't consider myself one of the biggest favourites.”
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