Justine Henin Biography
Justine Henin (born 1 June 1982), between 2002 and 2007 Justine Hénin-Hardenne, is a Belgian former professional tennis player known for her all-court style of play and notably being one of the few female players to use a single-handed backhand. She spent a total of 117 weeks as the world No. 1 and was the year-end No. 1 in 2003, 2006 and 2007.
Henin set high standards as a junior competitor, taking the Junior Orange Bowl international tennis championship crown in Miami in 1996 and winning the French Open junior championships the following year. She turned professional on Jan. 1, 1999, at age 16, and in 2000 she finished among the top 50 players in the world.
Henin won seven Grand Slam singles titles; winning the French Open in 2003, 2005, 2006 and 2007, the US Open in 2003 and 2007 and the Australian Open in 2004. At Wimbledon, she was the runner-up in 2001 and 2006. She also won a gold medal in the women’s singles at the 2004 Olympic Games and won the year-ending WTA Tour Championships in 2006 and 2007. In total, she won 43 WTA singles titles.
Tennis experts cite her mental toughness, the completeness and variety of her game, her footspeed and footwork, and her one-handed backhand as the principal reasons for her success. She retired from professional tennis on 26 January 2011, due to a chronic elbow injury. In June 2011, she was named one of the “30 Legends of Women’s Tennis: Past, Present and Future” by Time. She is widely considered one of the greatest female tennis players of all time. In 2016, she became the first Belgian tennis player inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
Justine Henin Wedding
The ex-tennis champion wed Pierre-Yves Hardenne on 16th November 2002 in a colourful ceremony in the Château de Lavaux-Sainte-Anne.
Justine Henin Husband
Henin’s 1st marriage to Hardenne in 2002, from which she adopted the name Justine Henin-Hardenne. However in 2007, Henin withdrew from forthcoming tournaments including the Australian Open due to personal issues. She confirmed three weeks later that she had officially separated from her husband. The same year, she reverted to using the name Henin.
Since March 2011, she has been in a relationship with Benoît Bertuzzo, a Belgian cameraman, and secretly married him in March 2015. On 12 September 2012, Henin announced that she was pregnant, giving birth to a girl in 2013. In 2017 she gave birth to a second child, a son.
Justine Henin Backhand
Source: https://www.optimumtennis.net/justine-henin-backhand.htm
Justine Henin’s backhand is unique for style, elegance and perfect technique. She used a strong eastern (sometimes called the semi-western grip). She turned her whole body sideways into a closed stance and coiled her shoulders and hips, using the left hand on the throat of the racket to guide it back. She took the racket head up to head level and focused on the ball, head motionless.
Justine Henin Backhand: Downswing
Justine’s feet were always comfortably apart providing good balance, with the weight on her back foot and her knees bent according to how high or low the ball is coming at her.
Justine Henin Backhand: Non Dominant Hand
Justine Henin Hardenne’s left hand stayed back to act as a counterbalance. She hit hard through the ball while the racket head remained at a 90 degree angle with respect to her forearm. Only after contact did the shoulder rotate and bring the racket head up to vertical. Justine Henin usually put topspin on her backhand, so her extension and external shoulder rotation was quite exaggerated. Her follow through was long and her weight transfer complete but she remained in perfect balance and quickly recovered back to the ready position.
Justine Henin’s Backhand – A versatile stroke
The backhand was a tremendous defensive shot as well. She could disguise lobs by simply waiting until the last moment to steeply swing upward and create massive topspin and arc. She did not use her wrist but rather kept the similar mechanics as on her regular topspin backhand, only changing the direction of the swing (more upward instead of forward). She could also change the pace with slices and drop shots.
Henin Backhand – Backswing
She shifted to the continental grip for these shots and took the racket back high. With the same closed stance and complete coil of the hips and shoulders as her topspin, she knifed through the ball, coming from high to low.
Her long follow through and weight transfer resulted in a deep, low and biting slice. On drop shots, she had a more abrupt and delicate high-to-low motion and a generally shorter follow through with less weight transfer.
Justine Henin Academy
On 30 November 2007 Justine Henin decided to found her own Tennis Academy. After her outstanding career as a tennis player, she wanted to implement a range of concepts devised and lived during her long experience. She aims to pass on a range of values of sports training like courage, fighting spirit, respect and discipline.
Since her creation, great champions like :
- Anna Chakvetadze (best WTA ranking: 5)
- Daniela Hantuchova (best WTA ranking: 5)
- Yanina Wickmayer (best WTA ranking: 12)
- Elina Svitolina (best WTA ranking: 39)
- Monica Puig (best WTA ranking: 44)
- Lesia Tsurenko (best WTA ranking: 60)
- Stéphane Robert (best ATP ranking: 61)
- Mirza Basic (best ATP ranking: 202)
- Ilija Bozoljac (best ATP ranking: 101)
- Ruben Bemelmans (best ATP ranking: )
have practiced at the Justine Henin Academy in order to enjoy the facilities and the experience of Justine Henin and her team.
Justine Henin Club
The Club Justine Henin is an infrastructure founded by Henin to carry out her academy project. At the club she is also surrounded by an an experienced team that shares her know-being and knowledge.
Justine Henin Net worth
On 26 January 2011 Justine announced her retirement due to an elbow injury. She has a net worth of $14 million.
Justine Henin Awards and Honors
- 2001 – Belgian National Sports Merit Award
- 2002 – UEPS European Sportswoman of the Year
- 2003 – Belgian Sportswoman of the Year
– ITF World Champion
– UEPS European Sportswoman of the Year
– Dame Grand Cross in the Order of the Crown, by Royal Decree of H.M. King Albert II - 2004 – WTA Player of the Year (for 2003)
– Belgian Sportswoman of the Year - 2005 – Family Circle/State Farm “Player Who Makes A Difference”
– Whirlpool 6th Sense Player of the Year - 2006 – Appointed UNESCO Champion for Sport
– ITF World Champion.
– Belgian Sportswoman of the Year
– Member of the Belgian Sporting Team of the Year (Fed Cup team)
– UEPS European Sportswoman of the Year - 2007 – Whirlpool 6th Sense Player of the Year
– Belgian Sportswoman of the Year
– Belgian Sports Personality of the Year (career award)
– ITF World Champion
– USSA Female Athlete of the Year
– EFE Sportsperson of the Year
– UEPS European Sportswoman of the Year - 2008 – Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year – WTA Player of the Year (for 2007)
- 2010 – WTA Comeback Player of the Year
- 2016 – International Tennis Hall of Fame
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