Henin back. More drama for women’s tennis?
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With former No. 1-ranked Justine Henin having officially announced she is making her tennis unretirement official, one’s first reaction might be to wonder if Serena Williams is considering a fresh throat might be worth sticking a tennis ball down. And the next reaction is to hope Henin and Serena get a chance to play each other at the Australian Open.
Tennis needs emotional rivalries, and Serena and Justine can certainly offer that.
It was at the 2003 French Open when Serena accused Henin of cheating. Henin had raised her hand to take a timeout while Serena was serving. The chair umpire didn’t see the signal, but Serena did. Her serve landed in the net. Henin chose not to indicate she had raised her hand, something that is an accepted courtesy. Serena lost the point and an emotional match and she was booed.
It wasn’t only Serena who was the recipient of what seemed to be unsportsmanlike behavior on the part of Henin. Rather than play out an Australian Open final in 2006 where she was getting pummeled by Amelie Maursemo, Henin quit the match when she was down 6-1, 2-0 and cited an stomach upset. Respected tennis writer Peter Bodo titled his story on that match, The Little Backhand that Quit
She also heard some boos at the 2003 U.S. Open when she dramatically suffered from cramping against Jennifer Capriati. Henin said after the match that she had been reluctant to call a trainer after getting criticized at another tournament that year for calling a trainer during a match against Kim Clijsters. The normally good-natured Clijsters had expressed displeasure during that interrupted match. Among other things, Clijsters accused Henin of ‘gamesmanship’ and the two Belgians didn’t have a warm relationship.
Besides the drama, Henin usually offers a powerful backhand and the willingness to play at the net.
But the drama will be fine too.
-- Diane Pucin