Henin wins US OPEN 2007

Henin Wins Second US Title By Stomping Kuznetsova
By Matt Cronin
Saturday, September 8, 2007


She might not be the tallest or strongest player on the planet, but No. 1 Justine Henin is the mightiest and showed it by devastating Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-1, 6-3, to win her second US Open title on Saturday.

Working her way through a super tough top half of the draw, Henin played standout tennis all the way to the title, becoming the first player to step on Serena and Venus Williams in the same Grand Slam and then go on to win the title.

“I'm really proud not being that tall and I can compete and be the best player in the world,” the 5-foot-6 inch Henin said. “Not a lot of people really thought I could do it, and that's why I'm really proud of it because probably [my coach] Carlos [Rodriguez] has been the only one that told me every day, 'You can do it, you can be the No. 1 player in the world.' Not a lot of people thought I could win this Open with the draw I had, and I did it. It's amazing for me.”

Henin didn't drop a set during the tournament, showing off a whizzing forehand, high variety backhand, significant serve and amazing foot speed. She took care of her points around the net when she needed to and teed off on her foes' second serves. While she admittedly got nervous at times, she was still able to close the deal, which is why she's won three of the last seven Slams she's entered, reached three other finals and one semifinal.

“It was important to me,” said Henin, who also won the 2003 US Open. “I was feeling confident when I arrived in New York because I proved a lot of things this year and I've been very consistent and I knew that Serena and Venus were going to be dangerous, especially Venus. I think she was the other big favorite. And we proved it with the match we played because it was a high-quality match. That gives me a lot of confidence like four years ago: I won two the French and US Open. But I did everything the same like four years ago. I went to Niagara Falls after Toronto . It's been the lucky thing. I felt great during these last two weeks. I hope I can keep a lot of confidence from this tournament. Because beating Venus, Serena, then to win this way today, must give me a lot of confidence.”

The match was never really in doubt from the outset, as Henin broke Kuznetsova with a forehand winner in the opening game, broke her again to 3-0 on a forehand crosscourt and broke her a third time to win the set when she forced her into a forehand error.

Kuznetsova brought a higher level into the second set as she began to work Henin over with her forehand and charge the net, but she was still way too inconsistent to hang in the match.

Henin broke the Russian to 3-1 when Kuznetsova erred on a forehand. She then fought off two break points in the next game, the second one with a backhand crosscourt winner.

The Russian went down fighting, holding two break points in the final game, but was unable to convert and Henin won the match with a short forehand volley.

She then fell to her knees and later climb up to the Friends' box to share a hug with her longtime coach Rodriguez.

“She get a little bit like a break or something, I think she's getting more relaxed and she plays better,” Kuznetsova said. “This is very tough. She plays pretty unusual game. I didn't play nobody like that in this tournament. All the girls I play totally different tennis. Justine, she's No. 1. athlete. She deserves it.”

Henin had a rough start to the year, as she separated from her husband, Pierre-Yves Hardenne and, as a result, skipped the Australian Open. But she came back more determined than ever and a more mature player.

After racing to her fourth Roland Garros title, she looked like a good bet to win her first Wimbledon title after she took down Serena in the quarters, but then was shocked in the semis by France's Marion Bartoli. But that loss taught her a big lesson.

“It was disappointing for sure in Wimbledon,” she said. “But I could accept that I lost against a better player that day. Did I do a mistake? I don't know. I was pretty tired emotionally, physically. It's not easy all the time to push yourself and be at your best level. Sometimes you have to accept that you have downs. I could take a lesson from that. A lot of humility also. That's very important, because I have a lot of respect for my opponents.”

In winning her seventh Grand Slam title, Henin passed Venus, who has six and now is just one behind Serena, among current players. There will be a long, extended foot race to capture first place in the history books over the next few years and the Belgian cannot be counted out at finishing on top. If nothing else, she's determined to improve and she showed at the 2007 US Open that she loves the battle.

“Who knows what's going to happen in the next few years?,” she asked. “When I was a little girl, I was dreaming of winning just one Grand Slam in my career, and I won seven. It's still hard to believe that I did that. All these numbers that are talking to me, that give me a lot of confidence. It's more than a dream. I gave everything for tennis for 20 years, and it's going to be like that for the next few years. Just going to try to enjoy a lot my game on the court, win as many matches as possible, and just staying healthy. We'll see what's going to happen.”


ARTHUR ASHE STADIUM - Women's Singles - Finals

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