I am always amazed of the bravery and the consistency of Justine Henin's one-handed backhand. A very rare talent nowadays. And she always keep the best for last - serve and volley. It's almost like a signature to conclude her winning game. Although she lost that point but the intensity and the intent is undeniable.
I think it will get better (can't get much worse than it is right now!) but yeah this era was top notch, with a least 7-8 players who were real competitors to win at the Grand Slams. Amazing that Serena competed so well against the likes of Venus, Henin, Clijsters, Davenport, Mauresmo, Hingis, and Sharapova during this period.
Short players always had the best chance against Serena because she’s basically unstoppable from the waist up. However, low balls that make her but up have always been harder for her. Henin used the Federer tactic of keeping the ball low waiting for Serena to hit up on it and attacking that ball. She also had one of the most complete power game of a player of her size at the time. I’m a Serena Stan but always respected Henin’s game as a fellow shortie lol
Probably the best single handed backhand in men’s and women’s tennis. Wawrinka’s and Gasquet’s are nice to look at as well. As far as Federer goes, his most important shot is his forehand.
Serena wasn't the loudest player on tour, but she was screaming like a banshee here throughout the entire match. Sometimes she'd scream on delicate touch volleys.
@@Ricky-mo6mv well at least they kept fighting, unlike your idol, who cheats even to the point of faking upset stomach to not give Mauresmo a convincing win.
Henin had a way of making Serena look clumsy on the court at times. If Serena wasn't at her best, Henin could really expose some of the weaknesses in Serena's game - though she had few said weaknesses.
Good fight from Serena despite having no backhand , I remember she hand sprain her thumb from the fall from cramping last match , that why she sliced her bh so much In this match and in the 3rd set she couldn’t even fully follow though anymore
Henin's performance here was sublime. Great pivoting from defense to offense, especially towards the end of the match. A great closing mentality as well.
Henin is too quick she's just floating on the court.Never seen a player like henin she's pure magic amazing talent the tennis racquet becomes a magic wand in her hands.she should have won more slams it's a pity.there can never a player like henin.henin read serenas serve better than any other player
I share the same opinion. Henin is by far the most fun to watch play. There is no one like Henin. She is missed so much, especially during this very special period of time for women’s tennis.
Henin got the touch and racket skills.. she and Hingis are on par with this... Henin got more flawless and solid executions and Hingis is more intelligent with court geometry and anticipation from her opponent's shot.
Only in 2006. She was sensing a decline in 2008 and it was a match against Serena in Miami 2008 where she strongly considered about retiring before she voluntarily stepped down from tennis and relinquished her no 1 ranking right away in May just before the French Open, her most beloved tournament. Had she given herself a chance to see whether she has made the right decision by playing at the FRENCH Open and waited long enough to see the outcome, I think there could be a possibility where she would have changed her mind because French Open is her most personal tournament that is connected deeply to her inspirational roots, her childhood memory with her mother and her first Grand Slam triumph. I guess we never know, but I still want to believe if she chose to play there before she retired in 2008, there might be a huge outcome in terms of her mental desire & preparation because unbeknownst to us at the time, it took her a year and half to finally consider to come back, thanks to her long time rival outstanding comeback and success, Kim Clijsters. However, I still to this day will say that Justine Henin best tennis performance came in 2007. It is not just her best season, it is a year where everytime there are going to be big matches ahead of her, she didn't just deliver her Grand Slam level performance, i think she was able to reach a higher level than she already was even before,by becoming a grand slam finalist in 2001 and a strong season in 2002, breaking the Grand Slam curse by beating the other slam champions regularly(Serena, Capriati, Davenport, Clijsters; no 1 at the time etc) and becoming the Grand Slam champion in 2003 for the first time, becoming an Olympic Champion in 2004 despite being injured most of the season, came back during the spring in 2005 just enough time to prepare herself and win Roland Garros, ending the 2006 in style as the world no 1 by a small margin despite a strong competition between her, Sharapova and Mauresmo,and she reached all grand slam finals in 2006, then she took a few months break due to her marriage ending in divorce as well as other personal issues but came back to reach the final in Wta Miami and lost to Serena after holding two match points and leading the first set against her 6-0. Then, the rest is history. Her Wimbledon SF loss was a big choke, i think she got carried away towards the end of the second set and her head just went off somewhere. She underestimated Marion Bartoli for being a newcomer, and couldnt figured out herself big time. The Us Open 2007 was the peak level of Justine Henin, check out her matches in that 2007 tournament IF you haven't seen them before, I would rather call it Justine Henin's best form at any grand slam level. Indeed, this tournament was the most obvious showing of her tactical mastery and variety display, as well as her superb ability in neutralising two of the biggest servers in Women's tennis, Venus and Serena, who is still the best server in women's tennis today.And none of her 7 matches went to the distance in 3 sets, which was beyond impressive considering that she was in the same quarter with both grand slam champions that year, Serena Williams the 2007 Australian Open champion, herself the French Open champion, and Venus Williams the 2007 Wimbledon champion and annihilated the sisters in straight sets within back to back matches at the QF AND THE SF. When she came back in 2010, she was still looking steady and quick around the court, but there was something missing that made her come back not looking like the top level peak that she was IN 2007. She was still very good i would say, she could beat the other top players other than Kim and Serena. It was a shame the elbow injury ended her career for good, i really miss having her on the tour since then although I love Maria the most. But Henin deserves all the high praise and love, she is one of a kind, a special talent with a smaller body frame who could beat against all odds with her magnificent one hander, thunderous forehand, beautiful tactical game display, complete technical skills , delicate volleys, superb movement around the court and the master of tennis craft and intelligence just like Roger Federer. Her serve is the only part of her game I consider as her weakness, her first serve in were always on average between 50%-65% and against the top players it needs to be higher than 70%. But her first serve is strong, as well as her second service. They weren't those type of attackable serves when she landed them in, her second serves range AVERAGELY between 94mph to 100mph at her peak almost the same speed for average 1st serve speed among the top 20 today. But, it was way too inconsistent considering all parts of her game is top notch.
Whether Serena was injured or not, Justine played a great match. Shots were beautiful. Sadly, it looked like Serena was not moving well and getting to the ball. I think if she’d been moving well, it would’ve made for a more intense match.
There were a few players who could beat Serena on a consistent basis. And Serena knew this. These players were Justine Henin, Venus Williams, Alizé Cornet, Martina Hingis and Elena Dementieva.
@@magnetmac1 Indeed. But 4 players did have a winning record against her: Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario (4-3), Naomi Osaka (3-1), Bianca Andreescu (2-0) and Sybille Bammer (2-0). Serena was awesome but definitely not invincible.
@@SOT233 I simply pointed out that the few players YOU MENTIONED did indeed beat Serena more often BUT NEVER had a head-to-head advantage over her. I didn't need to be reminded that Serena was not "invincible" because I never suggested she ever was.
I’m convinced Serena would’ve won if not injured. I will say, I never realized how varied her slice is. She can give every slice in the book. She adapted her gameplay to use slice since she couldn’t hit the ball hard off the backhand wing. Still took a world class talent like Henin to three sets and fought till the end even with an injury. She is the goat for a reason. Incredible!
@@alohahihisingleboy8832 yes, but I felt she would have won this match. The other losses that year Henin was just superior. This was the one where I felt Serena was actually better but her injury held her back.
maybe. who knows. I feel like Serena did well with a gimpy backhand though. It caused a lot of errors from Justine so even though she wasn't hitting it the way she wanted, it wasn't like a total disaster where she was losing every point from that wing.
@@willybeama1 Thank you. They are both great players. I love them both but one hand back hand of Henin and the way she moves her body set her apart from other female players. Henin moves like Roger Federer. Hahaha. Nice day.
@@alohahihisingleboy8832 Serena was not totally healthy lmao. Serena spent the entire year injured after Miami. Serena withdrew from Charleston mid match with a thigh injury. Serena then picked up a calf muscle injury and sprained her thumb at Wimbledon. Serena’s dad begged Serena and did interview saying he wanted Serena to skip Wimbledon and the US Open to be able to fully recover from injuries, and she wouldn’t do it. Serena withdrew from a Fed Cup tie, Los Angeles, and Cincinnati. Serena came into the US Open with no matches since Wimbledon and no training. You’re delusional if you think she was “totally healthy”.
Here is the watch that is full of contrast: brute force vs finesse. The modern game prefers the two-handed backhand and oftentimes the one-handed backhand is viewed by many as the weaker side. Justin proves the contrary. She is the only player who faced Serena head-on and she was actually toying her most of the time to play that Serena did not own: slice backhand, committing to the net which is not her territory so-to-speak. And the set up of Justin's backhand, if not an outright winner, set up for winners. Just awesome to watch the brilliance of Justin's tennis nowhere to be found in the women's tour since then.
Hit a lottt of slice against Steffi 1999 IW final (and won). But yes bc of her sprained thumb, she was forced to here n nearly won despite not being able to run at even half speed bc of calf injury
@@brucegardalake1869 believe it or not taking one out of three sets means you had a chance at winning, which she did, even tho she was basically playing with one hand on one foot. Henin’s total Wimbledon titles remains at ZERO. She has truly nearly won nothing.
That was the year Henin could have won Wimbledon. I was watching the SF live on TV and when Henin was 6-1, 5-3 up against Bartoli I decided to go out assuming she had the match in the bag.....
@DutchHPfan1992 And yet She beat Venus in the US Open semi-finals later that year. On a surface that favoured Venus. She simply had an off day against Bartoli. It happens.
Justine got threw an injured serna but lost in the very next round and I was glad..and let's say she made to the finals she was not gonna past venus..no way.
Justine was one of the few players I think Serena genuinely feared, especially during this era. I still don’t understand what happened to her and the way her game disintegrated in the next round. Bartoli played a good match, but not outstanding.
A lot of people play their best against Serena because they know they have to. So they might lose to players less challenging than Serena after they play her
Injuries took their toll on Justine. She was a smaller and thinner player than most. If Justine was as tall as Serena she would completely dominated for years
If you can absorb serena's power and have her running around the court by returning every ball she loses steam fast. That's what halep did in that wimbledon final too.
anyone knows that females loses a step or balance after having a child. Go sit down somewhere. Serena let nerves get to her in every final after having Olympia. None of those players maybe outside of Kerber could do anything to hurt Serena
@@jwashington4863 you go sit your lying gums down somewhere. Stats dont lie. Contrary to what you'd like to fantasize serena did have losses before her pregnancy. This was way in 2007. Go away.
Of course she is. Her shot making was absolute top class, her backhand looked like it came directly from another category. Actually, she's always been renowned for playing some of the very best tennis ever seen among women, and that's mainly because of her shot making qualities. However, you just can't put her among the very restricted number of female GOATS, because of her relatively short career and sudden early retirement.
It's because the decade she existed in an era that was dominated by the William sisters, she always had to deal with one or the other. She got her wins here and there but also suffered devastating losses. Kind of like Hingis, people started overpowering her and she was no longer feared.
Henin played well but you do have to consider that Serena had a thumb injury so she couldn't fully hit out on her 2 handed BH & still took Henin to 3 sets.
It's difficult to read which way henin hits the tennis ball and also very to to pick thoes slices and drop shots overall it's difficult to read henins game
Man, for a woman that's 5'4 inches tall, and about 120 lbs, she could sure get some hot mustard on that ball. She had a backhand just like Roger Federer. You have to admire this woman, as most women wilted when playing Serena, but Justine got the better of her in the grand slams, Remarkable feat for a smaller woman, but man did she have game. Record 4 - 3 in majors vs Serena, and 3 - 0 in 2007. Very very impressive indeed.
A bunch of people have said this, but she looked to be hitting her backhand just fine. (She hit a pretty good backhand right at Justine from about 3 feet away on the first point.) Serena has always been uncomfortable when people persist and/or throw off her rhythm (e.g., with slices), and there was plenty of that from Justine.
I think for players who were top 10 caliber back then, the trick is to not be afraid and not be intimidated by serena. Instead be aggressive like what people who beat her did. Unfortunatley, very few people have that belief that they cam beat her
People need to realize Justine forced Serena to become a better player, 3 QF losses in '07 at the Grand Slams. She really got under Serena's skin. I think if Justine and Kim had been around longer, she would have had tougher competition for the years to come, but of course it speaks to Serena's character that she has been at the top for so long, when Kim & Justine's desire was different.
She had a thumb injury. You can see the tape around her left thumb and hand. And it effected her to the point where couldn't consistently hit over her BH with two-hands so she resorted to slice.
@@TressBraga ...with a sprained thumb and a calf injury, and Serena still took a set. Henin is weak af on grass, hence her lack of ability to win Wimbledon in many attempts. Also Henin cheats in this match too, before her first match point she looks directly at her coach and says "Serve and volley?" waits for a response, nods, and tries (and fails) to serve and volley. Pathetic!
@@bryanmartin5901 Let's talk about Serena's outbursts on court, the penalty points she got, the disqualifications, the coaching, etc. Pathetic is the word that comes to mind, but I have no problem admitting Serena's the GOAT. Have at least the decency and sportsmanship - I know, however, you don't - to acknowledge Justine's technical abilities, brilliance and intelligence on court. The little Belgian could do anything on the tennis court, despite her small physique as opposed to the brute power of Serena, constantly screaming her way through the match. There were two players who were able to defy and regularly defeat the Williams sisters during their short careers: Clijsters and Henin. The only reason why Henin in particular didn't win more grand slams and Wimbledon in particular is her short career due to mental issues and injuries.
@@l.t.6180 Sadly you are quite mistaken. Serena may have had emotional outbursts, but she never intentionally cheated her opponent like Justine has on at least two accounts, verified by video. Of course Justine has technical brilliance (no need to attack me, as you don't know me and have never seen me play tennis, but thanks), but she was weak mentally in the most pivotal moments on this surface. She failed to complete the career Slam; even Sharapova was allowed to do that. And speaking of, if you want to talk about a game that is designed exclusively around power and size, that is Sharapova, not Serena. Serena is only 5 foot 9, yes Justine is smaller, but Serena's serve comes down to flawless technique, identical ball toss, incredible pinpoint placement and variety--it has nothing to do with her muscles or physique, or else all the other women on tour who are taller and stronger would have 23 slams just like her. "Screaming her way through matches?" Again, there are ample matches, probably over 50% of all her career matches, where she doesn't make much sound, no more than other "shriekers" on tour. Your beef with that, by the way, is meaningless since the WTA investigated and decided not to impose rules against grunting. Working hard against the talent in today's game and exerting effort with grunts and screams after amazing points and break point saves at crucial stages in a match is not "screaming her way through matches." And lastly, take a look at the h2h between Serena and Clijsters; despite their final meeting, Clijsters got walloped by Serena overall... Clijsters, like Justine, was a very entertaining player but, also like Justine, was mentally weak, blowing huge leads at the biggest stages. And if you think Serena received "coaching" I hate to break it to you but a hand gesture to move forward behind an obese man 200 feet away, that is not coaching. White European WTA players received intentional coaching from their boxes ALL THE TIME and it never gets called. Mouratoglou saying "I admit I was coaching" does not imply that Serena saw him, and to this day, even if she saw him, you don't think "move forward" wasn't already discussed in their gameplan or that Serena, a 23x GS champ and veteran player (who did not use on-court coaching even when it was legal) wouldn't have considered that herself? It's all totally preposterous and an attempt to neglect 99.5% of all her matches played where she has showed tour-leading sportsmanship. You think you can get away with all these baseless criticisms bc you "have no problem admitting she's the GOAT," but then you go to to trash her with false accusations. Cracks me up!
@@bryanmartin5901 I have no problem admitting she's the GOAT because figures don't lie. But I'll take Justine's brilliant tennis anytime over Serena's.
@@ajittheinvincible serena fans love to discredit everyone who wins against her. They discredit osaka and new girls bcoz they defeated old serena. Like should they time travel? Serena lost fair and square
@@akizaizinskii What a weird logic. It wasn't her best season statistically because of matches like this where she got beaten despite being in top form. And injuries? Sure. The one player who never lost when not injured 😂 She was obviously fit enough to play, so no excuse there.
@@fundhund62 No, it wasn’t because of Henin. She withdrew from Dubai, retired in Charleston and Zurich and the WTA Finals, withdrew from the entire USO summer swing where she usually does well and her leg was wrapped up during the fall. So no, she was doing okay in 2007, but she was definitely not at her best or “peak Serena” like you seem to be trolling here. Henin is an excellent competitor and she did beat Serena in her prime in 2002 and 2003, but 2007 was nowhere near Serena’s best, sorry.
The grunting of Serena is awful. Idk if she's not louder than Sabalenka nowadays (edit. she literally screaming at the end of the video, how was it even allowed?)
that female commentator, whether she admits it or not, was more often than not hostile to the Willams sisters..the guy though try to at least show he's trying to be fair..
Venus won in 2007 & 2008 followed by Serena in 2009 & 2010. Even at her zenith, Henin never managed to break through the Williams Wall and win Wimbledon.
Wow the classless Serena shows her true thug colors the first point ! Justine’s game is just so much more sophisticated than all the WTA players of her time, and today!
I'm glad Justine didn't cheat like she did at the French Open when she stopped play by raising her hand when Serena was serving. Then she didn't come clean when Serena called her out. That's her legacy.
please! serena has used her antics to intimidate all her opponents. the loud grunting, the stares, the loud come on's plus her appaling behaviour on court. is that her legacy?
Serena definitely wasn't at her best in this match. I forgot how scratchy her play could be from time to time. What's interesting is that Henin went on to lose to Bartoli in the semifinals. Marion blasted her off the court!
One of the worst games from Serena I have ever seen. Plenty of dodgy hits, mishits, hesitation, and an act of desperation. In the end, though, Henin never won Wimbledon.
