JUSTINE HENIN
Former World No.1 professional tennis player, Justine Henin made a comeback. She announced her return on September 22 2009. She had announced her retirement from professional tennis from May 2008 at the age of 25. She was ranked World No 1 at the time of her retirement. The reports showed that she is undergoing vigorous training to have a strong comeback. She took this decision after sawing the win of her friend Kim Clijsters, at the US Open. She has won the French open title three times. She is the gold medal winner of the 2009 Olympics.
BIOGRAPHY
Justine Henin was born in Liege, Belgium on June 1, 1982 . Her father is Jose Henin and her mother is Francoise Rosiere, who died when Justine was 12 years old. She has two brothers. Her elder sister was killed in a car accident before she was born. In 1995 she met her coach Carlos Rodriguez, who trained her until her retirement. On 16 November 2002 she married Pierre-Yves. In January 2007 she withdrew from the upcoming Australian tournaments. She had later separated from her husband. In the 2007 French open, she played matches for the first time in her professional career. She starts her professional career on the Women’s Tennis Association tour in May 1999. She established herself as a major competitor in 2001 when she entered the women’s singles semi-finals of the French open. By the end of the year she was ranked seventh in singles.In 2001, she reached the finals with Elena Tatarkova and won the Fed cup. In 2002, she reached four WTA finals, winning two of them, and finished the year ranked World No. 5. In 2003 at the Dubai Tennis Championships, She defeated former World No. 1 Monica Seles in the final 4–6, 7–6, 7–5 after Seles had a match point at 5–4 in the second set. In the same year, in US open final she defeated Clijsters. The win raised Henin’s ranking to World No. 2. In 2004 Olympics, she won the woman’s singles with a gold medal by defeating Amelie Mauresmo of France in the final 6–3, 6–3. In the same year, she won the Australian Open in Melbourne, defeating Kim Clijsters in three sets. In the 2005 French open, Henin defeated the French player Mary Pierce in the final in straight set to achieve the title. In 2006, Henin defeated kuznetsova in the final to win her third French Open singles title in four years. By winning the WTA championships in 2006, she became the first woman to win at least one Grand Slam singles title in four consecutive years. At the 2007 French open final, Henin defeated Ana Ivanovic in straight sets to claim her third consecutive French Open title. At the WTA Tour Championships in the same year, Henin won the match on her fifth match point in the final game of the match. This was Henin’s longest ever match, the longest final in tournament history. She started the year 2008 as the World No 1 tennis player. She announced her retirement from professional tennis in 14th May 2008.
AWARDS
Justine Henin won several awards in her career. She had won UEPS European Sportswoman of the Year award in 2002, 2003, 2006, and 2007. In 2003, 2004, 2006, and 2007 she became Belgian Sportswoman of the Year. She also became the ITF World Champion in 2003, 2006, and 2007. She was elected as the WTA Player of the Year in 2004 and 2008. She was also selected as the Whirlpool 6th Sense Player of the Year for 2005 and 2007. In 2006 she was appointed as the UNESCO Champion for Sport. She also achieved the Belgian sports Personality of the Year in 2007. In 2007 she had also won the awards like USSA Female Athlete of the Year and EFE Sportsperson of the Year. In 2008 She became Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year.
