Justine Henin likes to speak of a “little voice”. After the then-world No.1 was crushed in the quarter-finals in straight sets by Maria Sharapova here two years ago, the voice told her that she’d had enough.
“I wasn’t into it anymore. I needed something else at that time, to breathe differently again without tennis, to prove different things to myself,” she said recently after yet another remarkable win on her run to the Australian Open 2010 final.
“You’re not able at that age to take the distance you need to understand that, yeah, there is something else than tennis, really to find a good stability ... it's not easy.”
Henin’s extended lay-off allowed the Belgian to explore other aspects of life, including travelling to Cambodia and the Congo as an ambassador for UNICEF, and focusing on her Florida-based tennis academy, 6th Sense. She is keen to pass on her wisdom to her young charges, having learnt her lessons the hard way.
“I just try to help them a little bit, you know, talking to them a lot about this life on the tour, how difficult it is. Especially after what happened for me in the last two years, when I retired and discovered a lot of things, I just tried to help them to realise that tennis is important, [but] it's not everything.”
Henin, who won the 2004 title here, has certainly experienced life’s challenges. Her mother passed away when she was just 12, and she was exiled from her close-knit family for around seven years after conflicts between Henin and her father. These ranged from disagreements over long-time coach Carlos Rodriguez to her relationship with Pierre-Yves Hardenne, whom she married in 2002 and split from in 2007, which in turn led to her withdrawal from that year’s Australian Open.
Her run here has astonished onlookers, as she has returned to her best on the back of a new-found outlook on life. Without a WTA ranking, Henin was awarded a wildcard into the 2010 tournament and has had to do things the hard way by eliminating world No.5 Elena Dementieva, 27th seed Alisa Kleybanova, world No.16 Yanina Wickmayer and Nadia Petrova, who had thrashed an in-form Kim Clijsters.
“The way is still very long for me. I feel it. Even if people are expecting things, I don't feel that pressure that much at the moment,” she admitted after her stunning second-round win over Dementieva.
It remains to be seen if that has since changed, given Henin will take on Serena Williams for the title on Saturday after obliterating Zheng Jie in just 51 minutes to reach her third final at Melbourne Park. Despite their peerless records over recent years, the American and the Belgian have never met in a Grand Slam final until now.
“It's more than a dream. I'm so happy to play against her because if I want to win another Grand Slam, I'll have to beat the best player of the world,” Henin said.
“And that's just the biggest challenge I could get.”
The petite Belgian began her comeback at this year’s Brisbane International, refreshed and determined to enjoy her tennis. There, she was defeated in the final by compatriot Clijsters, who won the 2009 US Open in just her third tournament after the birth of her first child, daughter Jada. Henin took inspiration from Clijsters’ performance, but her own comeback was driven by intrinsic goals.
“I think I love challenges. That's the way I am. I cannot live like normally. I need always to push myself and to push the limits back. And I feel, again, that I'm very proud of what I'm doing right now. I enjoy my game out there. That's the most important thing.”
Henin is more relaxed now, and still possesses the best backhand in the women’s game. Perhaps most critically though, is something that can’t be seen on court.
Now, she says, the “little voice is very positive.”
