My One and Only Tennis Champ

It has been over 10 days since Justine Henin announced her retirement from WTA. But upto now I still feel sad about it because truth be told, I only watch tennis because of her. Now the French Open does not seem exciting at all. It is because of her human spirit, her sheer determination to defeat all odds and making her victorious all the time that has made her a true inspiration -- an inspiration not just in tennis but in life even.

I support, though, her decision to retire. In fact, I admire her for it. Her reason for stopping is because the passion to win is gone. This speaks a lot about her character. If she continues to play without being able to give it her all then she will just short change herself and her fans. This goes to show that this lady truly knows herself. I salute her! ALLEZ JUSTINE!!!

Smashing Year-end for Justine

What a year it was for Justine Henin! She started the year taking a leave from Australian Open as she has to attend to her divorce. Everybody thought can she make a comeback with such an emotional upheavel at the back of her mind. But more than comeback she did. She dominated the tennis scene winning the French Open, the U.S. Open, the year-end Sony Ericsonn Championships and a lot other second/third tiered tournaments.

Justine is simply the best...Despite her small frame (just look at the picture below, she's the smallest but she's the toughest), she can out win everybody else with sheer smart quick-minded plays and total determination. What an inspiration!

ALLEZ JUSTINE!

Wimbledon belongs to Justin Henin!

Am I a fanatic or what?! :-) ALLEZ JUSTINE!!! She's smoothly winning every game at the 2007 Wimbledon!!! But I am still a nerve-wreck :-/ as I still am crossing my fingers and storming heaven so that Justine will have her first Wimbledon crown this year!!! ALLEZ JUSTINE!!!

Hail to the Queen of Clay!

YES! YES! YES! Justine Henin is again the Women's Champion in the recently concluded French Open. Making her the undisputed Queen of Clay of this generation. She won this title 4 times already and this is her 3rd consecutive win. I already mentioned in one of my old posts that Justine's my favorite because of her powerful at the same time sweet backhand. She started to be my favorite when she was against Serena Williams in the 2003 French Open championship and looking at the builts of these two women, I thought Justine was the underdog -- and so I rooted for her, until she did get to win the title. From then on, I am a fan. And whenever I watch her play, I really get nervous because although you know she's really good, you still can't predict if she's going to win or not...It is really nerve wrecking to watch her. Just like this French Open championship versus Ana Ivanovic -- the first two games, Justine was not doing anything right and to think that this is Ana's first grandslam. It is a good thing that eventually Justine was able to control her nerves so she was able to get hold of the game. Then, Ana this time lost her nerves that is why the game was uhhmmm boring as Ana was no match to Justine's powers. But I think Ana has lots of potentials as this is just her first grand slam -- I am also getting to like the girl! But Justine is still my No. 1! ALLEZ JUSTINE!

Allez Justine!

It is French Open Season...and I am getting excited and at the same time nervous...because I want Justine Henin to win!!! Allez Justine!

Superlate Post on Wimbledon

I know Wimbledon is already out of season...just like the World Cup...but it is only now that I found time to post something on the women's championship. As made obvious by my previous post, I am a fan of Justine Henin-Hardenne. At first I was really apprehensive with how she is going to fare on grass as she has always been praised for her game on the clay court. But when I heard that she won at Eastbourne which was sort of the "warm-up" for Wimbledon, I said to myself - may pag-asa. So I was so happy to see how easy it was for her to reach the finals without losing any match (set? game? ano ba tawag don? sabi ko na sa inyo, I am not a tennis player - a J.Henin-Hardenne fan only). However the inevitable happened, my favorite lost to Amelie Mauresmo...Henin-Hardenne committed a lot of errors and Mauresmo's serves were really superb...well, it is not yet Justine's time to earn that prestigious Wimbledon title...Better luck next year...

Hooray for J.Henin-Hardenne

I gave a sigh of relief when Justine Henin-Hardenne won the 2006 French Open making it her 3rd French Open championship. She once again proved that she is the "Queen of Clay". It is not often that I watch sports on tv but whenever J. Henin-Hardenne plays I always find myself watching...until eventually, I find myself rooting for her. My first taste of J.Henin-Hardenne's tennis was also at a French Open tournament in 2003. I already admired how she played the game then. But I started rooting for her I think when she was up against Maria Sharapova in the Quarter Finals of the French Open 2005....of course, most people (or men) were rooting for Sharapova being the more "appealing" player...But then J.Henin-Hardenne proved to be the better and smarter player (Sharapova was the stronger hitting one) so she moved on to become the French Open 2005 Champion beating Mary Pierce...From then on, I became a certified fan of J.Henin-Hardenne. But ever since 2003 I am always looking out for her at every tennis grandslam. There were times though that she was not playing due to health reasons so I was so happy when she came back to play again in full-swing last year but this time she just chooses the tournaments she is going to join. The only grandslam she has yet to win is the Wimbledon. I hope she wins it this year. You just have to see how sweet her backhand swing is. And she really plays smart although lately she seems to be playing less of her drop and volley shots. I notice that this time she's going for the baseline. I hope I can see more of the running game...but what do I know? I am no athlete. I usually start with buying equipment (tennis, golf, badminton, etc.) and then everybody (including myself) just gives up on me ever learning the sport...But anyway, as long as I enjoy watching J.Henin-Hardenne with the illusion that I have the same sweet backhand swing...that can do for now ;-)