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ARIS — The destruction was complete after a crisp forehand volley winner, and Justine Henin bent over the net, dropped her racket and broke into a wide smile after winning her fourth French Open crown with a 6-1, 6-2 devastation of Ana Ivanovic in the final on Saturday.
The 25-year-old Belgian knows that she’s by far the world’s best clay courter and given how high she sets the bar for herself, she must be already thinking about what she has to do to seize the mantle of the best player of her generation from Serena Williams.
She coolly handled Serena in the quarters in straight sets and then shattered the dream of tiny Serbia, woman-handling then ambitious Jelena Jankovic in the semis. She then dismantled Ivanovic, the charismatic 19-year-old who had blown out Maria Sharapova in her semi, but who in the final, had no idea what hit her.
“Queen of Clay is good,” said Henin when asked what moniker fit her. “It’s amazing. When I was a little girl and dreaming of coming here and playing the tournament and winning it, then I did it four times, and three times in a row, and two times without losing a set. It’s just great.”
Henin is a tornado on clay — and a controlled one at that. She’s a master of execution and intensity who understands very well that on a great day, no other player can touch her, because she simply brings too much to the table. No other player can run with her, slide with her, mix and match shots with her. When she first became a significant player in ‘01, she was an itsy bitsy retriever with variety but little power. Now she can slug it out off both wings and is awfully daring.
While she may have been able to beat Serena, Jankovic and Ivanovic by playing steely defense and challenging them to hit through her, she took a different tack, choosing to attack early on. She went for big serves, forehands and heavily topspinned backhands. Most importantly, she leapt into her returns, taking her foes’ second serves early and on the rise, and punishing balls deep and at their feet. All three opponents were out of it by the second set because they knew that if they couldn’t sting a first serve, they would be forced into blocking back a mid-court ball that Henin was ready and willing to crush for a winner.
She drained them of their confidence and before they knew it, they were off the court.
Henin never lost her focus, not for a second. She played every point like it was her last and won most of them. Court Philippe Chatrier is her palace and in four finals there, she’s never lost a set and has dropped only 13 games. That’s the stuff of legends — like what Monica Seles, the last woman prior to Henin to win three straight crowns, or all-time great Steffi Graf, who won six titles did in their dominant stretches. “I keep fighting on every point. I don’t want to give anything to anyone,” Henin said. “I was ready for a big fight. I was ready for an easy match. I was ready for everything. It’s good not to expect too many things, and just live the moment. “
Ivanovic can learn a lot from Henin, as she showed little composure in the contest, and was completely frozen by the big occasion, never unleashing the powerful, attractive game that had brought her to her first Slam final. Henin and her longtime coach, Carlos Rodriguez, had a long talk after the first week about how she would be able to bring out her best if she believed in herself, and once she rediscovered her faith in her possibilities, she felt more at ease and soared skyward. “It’s only at the end of the tournament that I felt better,” said Henin. “I feel free. I feel myself. But I am an anxious person anyway. So I never want to miss any points. I always want to be there when needed. I always was very consistent because I had a very strict discipline. I don’t want to lose control, and sometimes when I do things wrong, I can feel it.”
What the Belgian does on court is think about how she should construct points, rather than become enveloped in the meaning of the occasion, which is why even in her losses in Grand Slam finals, she has never been wiped out. “I was trying to put the nerves aside, emotions aside. It just hit me. She’s been there before, and she won Slams many times before. She knew how to deal with the nerves,” Ivanovic said.
Henin is still two major crowns short of Serena’s mark of eight Slam titles. They are the same age, but Serena has had to deal with more severe injuries. and it’s hard to see her going all out for another four years, especially when she still maintains a number of off-court pursuits.
The Belgian doesn’t have those kinds of distractions, which means that in great health, she should be able to push herself into contention at every major and threaten Serena’s position as the best of the best. With her life coming to together off court (see sidebar), a bigger task lies ahead for Henin on court — winning the one major crown that eludes her at Wimbledon. But who is to doubt Henin, who always seems motivated, and is always deadly serious about playing the perfect match. When asked what she’s feeling now, she chose the word “joy” over pride. She’s put her troubles behind her and can see the future clearly with a grin on her face.
“I make my decisions,” she said. “I just try to build on something, pretty strong. I just turned 25. I just want to know how I’m going to be happy in my life. And I did big steps, huge steps, and life is short. I think if I hadn’t had the courage to go forward, I would have had a lot of regrets. And I am very proud and happy that I was able to do it. Things are not always simple, but it’s important to go forward.”
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