Henin retires from tennis
Reports from a Belgian newspaper are saying that Justine Henin will retire from the sport of tennis today. According to the article, Henin will call a press conference to announce her retirement from the game.
Henin is currently the #1 ranked player in the world, but has been in a slump for the entire year. Henin has won two Tier II tournaments this year, but she was beaten soundly by Maria Sharapova in Australia and Serena Williams in Miami. She also lost last week in Germany to Dinara Safina.
It isn’t exactly known if Henin will retire immediately, at the end of the year, or after the French Open. If she does retire immediately, it seems to come at an odd time, as she is the three-time defending champion at Roland Garros. Also, she is only 25 years old.
The one thing about Justine though is that she never really seemed to be motivated by the fame and fortune, and that is why it doesn’t really shock me to see her walk away. If she isn’t winning matches that she thinks she can win, and she isn’t happy then I definitely understand. It is funny the way things work out sometimes. Who would have thought at the beginning of the year that Henin would be playing her last year on the WTA Tour? It certainly didn’t seem like that at the end of 2007.
Whatever the case may be, I wish Justine the best of luck in whatever she decides to pursue next. She has had a wonderful tennis career and is one of the best women ever to play the game. Her heart and hustle on the court were basically unmatched by anyone else on the tour. I feel it was this, more than her wonderful groundstrokes, that enabled to her to be the best. Good luck to Justine and thank you for everything you have done for the sport.
I hope this trend of youthful retirements doesn’t have an effect on the future of women’s tennis. I could see a hard working junior being discouraged by the fact they need to be established and make their mark in the pro rankings by the time they are in their early 20’s.