Queen of clay Henin laments demise of surface specialists
Last woman to retain French Open reflects on roller-coaster career with Charlie Eccleshare
Is there a more unpredictable event in the sporting calendar than the women’s French Open? Ten different winners in the past 12 years, no back-to-back champion since 2007, a favourite this year with odds of 4/1 – in stark contrast to the absolute rule of Rafael Nadal in the men’s event over the past decade and a half.
The moment it went from dynasty to democracy is May 14, 2008, when world No 1 Justine Henin announced her shock retirement on the eve of that year’s Roland Garros, aged just 25, citing mental and physical exhaustion.
Henin had won four out of five French Opens between 2003 and 2007, and all three in the years before her retirement – the second two without dropping a set. She was on a run of 35 straight sets won at Roland Garros, a sequence she would extend to 40 when she returned briefly in 2010. So why has there been no queen of clay since her abdication? “There are not many players who really use the surface nowadays,” she tells The Daily Telegraph, speaking from the Justine Henin Academy near Brussels.
“The clay season is short, and hard courts have got slower in the last few years, so the surfaces came closer in speed. As a result a lot of the girls play the same way on every surface. I was really trying to use the clay – sliding a lot, using the different trajectories, variations and everything.”
At her own academy, which hosts players of all abilities, Henin places huge importance on learning from an early age: “On clay you have to use your hands in different ways. On hard it’s a more simple game, you hit the ball and you have less time.”
Henin has been coaching youngsters since retiring for good in 2011, after a 12-month comeback was ended by an elbow injury. She has been out of the game so long it is easy to forget that Henin is only 36, a year younger than Roger Federer and Serena Williams. Williams, in fact, was an opponent Henin relished playing, and one she beat in six of their 14 meetings, including three in a row at grand slams.
Henin ended her short career with seven major titles – as well as the Fed Cup and an Olympic Gold.
However, she reached a point of mental and physical exhaustion. At just 5ft 5in and slight of build, Henin was tiny compared to most of her competitors, and compensated by getting as fit as possible through a brutal fitness regime. This, coupled with off-court difficulties such as
the break-up of her first marriage, left her so drained she became the first player to quit while world No 1.
“The fact I was not so tall and had to work so hard physically meant I couldn’t have a long career,” she says. “And I did things at 300 per cent so I really lived in my bubble away from a lot of things, and it’s hard to live like that for 20 years. But I have no regrets. I know myself. It would have been hard for me to be not at the top anymore. That’s the way I am.”
Henin has been approached by a number of players about full-time coaching. Thus far though, she has limited herself to consultancy roles, for players such as Elina Svitolina and Ukrainian rising star Dayana Yastremska, both of whom have trained at her academy.
Her reluctance to become the latest supercoach stems from her devotion to her children, Lalie, six, and Victor, two. She lives 10 minutes from the academy and juggles working with looking after them, supported by her husband, Benoit Bertuzzo, a Belgian cameraman.
“It’s harder for a woman to travel after they have kids,” she says. “It’s moving in the right direction, but that’s the main reason.”
Henin is in Paris on French TV commentary duties and will catch up with former rivals such as fellow Belgian Kim Clijsters. With the days of intense competition behind them, the pair will meet for a coffee and a catch-up.
There will be less cordial relations with Amelie Mauresmo, Andy Murray’s former coach, who is now working with Frenchman Lucas Pouille. The pair have not spoken since Henin retired from the 2006 Australian Open final mid-match, which Mauresmo felt tarnished her long-awaited first major.
“I’m always open to talk about it, but we both moved on,” Henin says. “I only want to look forward.”
Just do not ask her to look forward to Saturday June 8 and forecast which woman will be holding aloft the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen. After ruminating on the candidates, she shrugs and says: “It will be very open.”
As it has been since the moment Henin hung up her racket.