My Sportsman: Justine Henin
Belgian dominator finally let her tennis do the talking
By Elizabeth Newman

Sports Illustrated will announce its choice for Sportsman of the Year on Dec. 3. Here’s one of the nominations for that honor by an SI writer. For more essays, click here.

For the record, I am not a fan of Justine Henin; I never have been. Yes, she was a proven tennis champion, a winner of five Grand Slams — including three French Open titles — entering the 2007 season. However, her vapid personality and sullen, Ivan Lendl-like court personality never made me want to break out a “Let’s go HEN-in” cry and cheer her on to victory.
Her “incident” during the ‘03 French Open semifinal against Serena Williams, in which she refused to acknowledge raising her hand during Serena’s service motion — thus leading to a service fault on Serena’s part — nearly gave me a conniption fit.
Her decision to retire in the ‘06 Australian Open final after trailing Amélie Mauresmo 6-1, 2-0, simply because her tummy hurt, denying Mauresmo the glory that comes with a Grand Slam victory, was blasphemous in my book. Her cries of “Alléz!” when an opponent misses and (in my mind) feigning injuries to catch a breather would bother any tennis purist.
So, no, I’ve never had much love for Henin and I most certainly never thought I would mention her name in the same breath as the phrase “Sportsman of the Year.”
Yet for all of her failures and past transgressions, there was something different about Justine Henin in ‘07. Something about her personality that was less unnerving and bothersome. Maybe it was the fact that she chose to skip this year’s Australian Open to deal with a messy divorce. Maybe it was the fact that she reconciled with her estranged father and siblings, whom she had not spoken to in more than 10 years.
Or maybe it was the fact that, in the face of personal turmoil and anguish, she didn’t buckle, but rather took a quick breather before putting her game into fourth gear and beating the snot out of her opponents like David over Goliath (after all, she’s only 5-foot-5, compared to the 6-2 Maria Sharapova).
Whatever change happened to Henin in ‘07, it made her seem less like the insular, detached young woman with the bad manners on the court and more like a champion whose game I wanted to pay attention to and admire.
And admire I did. This year Henin was Federer-esque, enjoying her best season to date by going 63-4 and winning 10 titles, including two majors. That made her the first player since Martina Hingis in 1997 to record double-digit tournament victories in a season.
Her win at the French Open in June was her fourth overall at Roland Garros and third in a row. At the U.S. Open, she became the first woman to stare down and defeat both Williams sisters in a Slam before going on to win the title.
Her year-end victory at the WTA Tour Championships gave Henin her 25th straight win, improving her record to 21-1 against top-10 players in 2007 and giving her a year-end ranking of No. 1 in the world for the second straight year. Not bad for the tennis queen I loved to hate.
More than any other athlete this year, Henin made me focus less on the scowl and the ‘tude and more on her achievements and spectacular play. For that alone, she is my Sportsman of the Year.

Pero’ ti voglio solo far notare una parte della risposta che Federer ha dato della sua rivalita’ con Nadal
“Il tennis è uno sport pulito, educato…lottiamo ma ci rispettiamo molto”

Si, io sono ovviamente fissata per il fair-play , perche’ questa frase mi ha colpito molto. C’e’ lottima ma ci rispettiamo ma c’e’ anche il tennis e’ uno sport educato

Va be’ ci risentiamo per la storia delle TdS

Endurance queen
Long year ends with lasting memories for Henin

Last Sunday, Justine Henin captured the Sony Ericsson Championships in Madrid with a three-plus-hour win over Maria Sharapova, and it was fitting. It was the longest match ever played in the finals of this event, an epic way for the Belgian to cap a remarkable year.
On and off the court, Henin’s biggest strength lies inside, encompassing the heart of a champion that she has proven to us all this year. Who would have thought in January — when Henin revealed she would not play in the Australian Open because she was divorcing her husband of five years, Pierre-Yves Hardenne — that the months to follow would lead to the best season of her career.
Adversity is something Henin seems to handle better than most. From the death of her mother at an early age, to the strained relationship she had with her family until this year, Henin has always seemed to find a way to bounce back.
With her win in Madrid, she became the first woman since Steffi Graf to win 25 consecutive matches. Henin hasn’t dropped a match since losing to Marion Bartoli in the semis of Wimbledon. Since then, she has gone on a ruthless tear, winning tournament after tournament, including the U.S. Open, her fourth French Open, and the year-end Championships.
She compiled a 63-4 record for the year, captured 10 WTA Tour events, and ended the season with a stranglehold on the No. 1 ranking. Not to mention that she’s the first female player to earn more than $5 million in prize money in a single season.
Pound for pound, Henin is arguably on her way to becoming one of the best ever. In a day and age when bigger is better, where height is essential and power rules the top 10, Justin stands 5-foot-6 and hits as hard as anyone. Her signature one-handed backhand has more pace and accuracy than most overheads. Her “weaker side,” the forehand, is constantly being fine tuned by her long-time coach, Carlos Rodriguez.
Henin’s practice and fitness routines can easily be compared to her idol, Graf. Each day, Justine’s only goal is to be better than she was the day before. All you have to do is watch the twosome at work on the practice court. Almost machinelike, it’s as though they don’t prepare for tournaments, they prepare for each day.
Inevitably, there have been comparisons to Roger Federer and his dominance on the men’s side. Yet lately, you see how even Roger the Great can sometimes lose that intensity and stumble, as he did earlier this week in Shanghai. That’s something you haven’t seen Justine do in a very long time. Her focus is obvious, given the results in the latter part of the year.
It hasn’t always been roses for Henin and her relationships with both the fans and the media. There have been times when she has been tagged with the unsportsmanlike label. The infamous hand incident at the French Open against Serena Williams, as well as the retirement against Amélie Mauresmo in the finals of the Australian Open, left a bad taste in the mouths of the general tennis public.
That said, Henin has been slowly changing the tide. Over the past six to eight months, she seems happier and more at peace. No one can argue what she is capable of achieving on the court, nor question her heart or desire to be one of the greatest to ever play the game.
As we head into the offseason, players will take some time to reflect on the past year, rest up and recharge before heading back to Melbourne in January. I’m sure Henin will rest body and mind, but it won’t be long before she’s back on those practice courts with Rodriguez, striving for excellence and wanting more.
For us players, professional tennis is a sport that we have been fortunate and blessed to play. But not for Henin. It’s her life’s passion. To anyone watching, it’s quite obvious.

Five-time women’s doubles Grand Slam winner Lisa Raymond writes for SI.com on alternate Fridays.

Oltre al piccolo particolare, piccolo ma non insignificante: se fai cosi’ poi non ti puoi stranire se un’altra giocatrice si comporta come te.
Ho scritto un episodio che ha raccontato Silvia Farina quando commentava per Eurosport. Se vuoi lo puoi leggere in “L’asma, il vero rivale della Henin”
Evito di riscriverlo anche qui per non intasare con commenti doppi.

ok, c’e’ modo e modo, e non discuto, qui, antipatia per la henin o per chiunque altro.
eppero’
secondo te allora sul 5a1 5a0 contro chiunque- tornei prof circolo non fa differenza - ah vabbe’ basta grinta autoincitamento tic- tanto stai vincendo netto. !… prima si. ora no, basta adrenalina.
ma che ragionamento e che tennis e?
certo non pugnetterei contro un tennista in carrozzella-che pure quelli pistano, altroche’, ma contro una fortissima che magari non mollera’ o che perfino ti ha gia’ battuto…
non capisco e non ”TI” approvo.

ripeto
se salti la rete e mi insulti,”ti sto’ umiliando,pippetta”, allora sei str…
ma se ti carichi ed esulti -magari non proprio sul doppio fallo o la volta che ho inciampato nei lacci- tanto di cappello.

dopo la stretta di mano, allora ci odieremo amichevolmente - in campo l’odio non e’ precisamente quello.

non convinta,eh?
capisco, con te volevo vincere 60 60………….