seriously, i haven't been this excited for a season since Martina Hingis decided to come back (in 2006)... seeing Justine Henin kick some serious ass in her FIRST MAJOR semifinal BACK from a 2 year long retirement....
zomg.
like i've always said... tennis is one of the toughest sports out there (minus, maybe figure skating...) you are physically pushed, mentally strained, and totally alone with only your opponent to keep you company. You are not allowed a coach... and the crowd has ever greater power to mess up your game. Plus, it is a YEAR-LONG season... none of this half-year or spring training shit. It kicks off with a major and ends with another major on the other side of the world.
It is, simply put, the most UNDERRATED sport ( minus figure skating... um, which may be due to all the sequins on the guys).
Justine Henin is so special because she can paint with her tennis racquet. She is known equally for her artistry on court, as she is for her athleticism. For about a decade now, the women's game has been privvy to what Mary Carillo has penned as "big babe tennis." Humongous serves, humongous ground strokes, humongous girls. I.e. Serena & Venus... Lindsay ... Masha... Ana etc. and then there are the so called "scrappy players" who try to hang in... Jelena Jankovic. Zheng Zie. Carolina Wozniaki. Only two from these category have successfully been able to absorb the "big babe" tennis and balance it with their DEFENSIVE SCRAMBLE: Kim Clijsters & Justine Henin.
I've always been more of a Kim Clijsters fan. She seemed more approachable...bright. happy. yet super gnarly, with her ripping forehand, and crazy athleticism. Justine Henin was sort of an aloof, tense creature... while her variety of shots and unique one handed backhand was always heralded... her scandalous reps for pulling rank during majors always seemed to plague her (2002 French Open... 2006 Australian Open). It's hard to like a poor sport.
One by one, my favorite tennis players retired. Lindsay did. Martina was caught doing cocaine. Kim got married. and then, JUSTINE, no. 1 on top of her world, suddenly dropped out.
I was shocked. Not only at the unfathomable decision of the woman who was comparable to the mighty Fed... but at how much it impacted me. All of a sudden, the women's game was dominated by... well, the second tiers... names in the top 10 were as interchangeable as my netflix queue. You still had some regulars, like the Williams sister... but Jankovic at no 1? Dinara Safina a real threat?! UGH.
Which is why, when Kim came back and won her 2nd tournament back... the US Open... I couldn't believe it.
and which is why, the idea of a Justine Henin vs Serena Williams championship is INCREDIBLY ORGASMIC.
See, Justine Henin, as inexplicable as she can be... is the perennial underdog. The one who always has to fight tooth and nail to get a chance... the one that surprisingly always wins. For that matter, she has the heart and will of a top dog. She doesn't know how to lose. or lose well. Maybe that's why she's such (*or was) a poor sport... she's always had to fight SO HARD to win, and of course, it'd be that much harder to lose.
Maybe it's because I'm older. and I seem to understand all her travesties as a woman (?) that much more... I can respect all the shit that she's gone through in her life...and relate. she's only 2 years older than me (RIDICULOUS) and she's won 20 million dollars and retired, a hall-of-famer, and has made a comeback.
She's only 5'5...and she can compete with Serena Williams, and beat her. Her first serve percentage today was only 54% and she won the match 6-1, 6-0. After not having touched a tennis racquet in over two years, she is now in a grand slam final, set up in a fight against the world's number 1.
To me, Justine can will the seemingly impossible. That is why she was such a great champion. and is still. She constantly defies all the odds against her. She constantly evolves. She constantly hungers. She constantly drives.
allez Justine Henin. welcome back.
Good GOD, i love tennis.
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