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Justine Henin (born 1 June 1982), known as Justine Henin-Hardenne between 2002 and 2007, is a Belgian retired professional tennis player and former World No. 1.
Henin won 43 WTA singles titles and seven Grand Slam singles titles, including four French Open titles, one Australian Open title, and two US Open titles. She has also won the year-ending Sony Ericsson Championships twice and the singles gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics.
Tennis experts cite her mental toughness, the completeness and variety of her game, her footspeed and footwork, and her one-handed backhand (which John McEnroe has described as the best single-handed backhand in the women's or men's game) as the principal reasons for her success.
Critics and all-time-great players have made testament to Henin's talent. Upon Henin's first retirement from the WTA in the early part of the 2008 season, Billie Jean King said that "pound for pound, Henin is the best tennis player of her generation", as well as that "Justine is the best women's athlete I've ever seen." Andre Agassi said of Henin, "Justine Henin is one of the most talented women ever to have played the game of tennis." In 2007, 18 time Grand Slam winner Martina Navratilova said that "She is head and shoulders above everyone else right now." John McEnroe concurred, saying that Henin is "The player I most like to watch." Henin made a return to the WTA in early 2010, losing the final of the Australian Open in only her second tournament back.
On 26 January 2011, she announced that she had been forced to retire from professional tennis once again because of an elbow injury. In June 2011, she was named one of the "30 Legends of Women's Tennis: Past, Present and Future" by Time.
Justine Henin was born in Liège. Her father is José Henin; her mother, Françoise Rosière, was a French and history teacher who died when Justine was 12 years old. She has two brothers (David and Thomas) and a sister (Sarah).
When Justine was two, her family moved to a house in Rochefort, situated next to the local tennis club, where she played tennis for the first time.
Henin's mother routinely took the young Henin across the border to France to watch the French Open. Henin saw the 1992 final involving her idol Steffi Graf and Monica Seles. Although Graf lost, the experience impressed Henin.
In 1995, shortly after her mother's death, Henin met her coach Carlos Rodriguez who guided her career both before her retirement in 2008 and during her 2010 comeback. Following a conflict between Justine and her father over her tennis career and her relationship with Pierre-Yves Hardenne, Rodriguez soon became not only her trainer but in some ways a second father figure.
On 16 November 2002, Henin married Hardenne in the Château de Lavaux-Sainte-Anne, adopting the name Justine Henin-Hardenne.On 4 January 2007, Henin withdrew from forthcoming tournaments in Australia, including the Australian Open, due to personal issues. Henin confirmed three weeks later that she had officially separated from her husband. The same year, she reverted to using the name Justine Henin.
She has been in a relationship with Benoît Bertuzzo, a Belgian cameraman, since March 2011. On 12 September 2012, Henin announced that she was pregnant and expecting her child in March. She gave birth to a girl named Lalie on 20 March 2013.
Henin won 43 WTA singles titles and seven Grand Slam singles titles, including four French Open titles, one Australian Open title, and two US Open titles. She has also won the year-ending Sony Ericsson Championships twice and the singles gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics.
Tennis experts cite her mental toughness, the completeness and variety of her game, her footspeed and footwork, and her one-handed backhand (which John McEnroe has described as the best single-handed backhand in the women's or men's game) as the principal reasons for her success.
Critics and all-time-great players have made testament to Henin's talent. Upon Henin's first retirement from the WTA in the early part of the 2008 season, Billie Jean King said that "pound for pound, Henin is the best tennis player of her generation", as well as that "Justine is the best women's athlete I've ever seen." Andre Agassi said of Henin, "Justine Henin is one of the most talented women ever to have played the game of tennis." In 2007, 18 time Grand Slam winner Martina Navratilova said that "She is head and shoulders above everyone else right now." John McEnroe concurred, saying that Henin is "The player I most like to watch." Henin made a return to the WTA in early 2010, losing the final of the Australian Open in only her second tournament back.
On 26 January 2011, she announced that she had been forced to retire from professional tennis once again because of an elbow injury. In June 2011, she was named one of the "30 Legends of Women's Tennis: Past, Present and Future" by Time.
Justine Henin was born in Liège. Her father is José Henin; her mother, Françoise Rosière, was a French and history teacher who died when Justine was 12 years old. She has two brothers (David and Thomas) and a sister (Sarah).
When Justine was two, her family moved to a house in Rochefort, situated next to the local tennis club, where she played tennis for the first time.
Henin's mother routinely took the young Henin across the border to France to watch the French Open. Henin saw the 1992 final involving her idol Steffi Graf and Monica Seles. Although Graf lost, the experience impressed Henin.
In 1995, shortly after her mother's death, Henin met her coach Carlos Rodriguez who guided her career both before her retirement in 2008 and during her 2010 comeback. Following a conflict between Justine and her father over her tennis career and her relationship with Pierre-Yves Hardenne, Rodriguez soon became not only her trainer but in some ways a second father figure.
On 16 November 2002, Henin married Hardenne in the Château de Lavaux-Sainte-Anne, adopting the name Justine Henin-Hardenne.On 4 January 2007, Henin withdrew from forthcoming tournaments in Australia, including the Australian Open, due to personal issues. Henin confirmed three weeks later that she had officially separated from her husband. The same year, she reverted to using the name Justine Henin.
She has been in a relationship with Benoît Bertuzzo, a Belgian cameraman, since March 2011. On 12 September 2012, Henin announced that she was pregnant and expecting her child in March. She gave birth to a girl named Lalie on 20 March 2013.