Justine Henin

Justine Henin has been known as a great player with an unpredictable mind. If her nerves stayed in check she could beat anybody. But it's that 'if' that has prevented tennis pundits from calling her the unquestionable number one player in the world. If Serena or Venus are on their game, if Sharapova has her serve, then well ... Henin can't stand up to that.

Tonight, Justine Henin made those reservations seem a little silly. She won her seventh Grand Slam and second U.S. Open in the most dominating and convincing effort of her career.  read more »

After a divorce so messy that it caused her to withdraw from the Australian Open, Justine Henin-Hardenne returned to the 2007 tennis season with a new attitude and a new name: Justine Henin. Her triumph tonight was a coronation of her redemption and her personal struggle back to the top.

In a post-match ceremony on center court she was congratulated by Dick Enberg, the CBS announcer and stadium MC, who then introduced her as ... Justine Henin-Hardenne.  read more »

After her stellar straight-sets semifinal victory, a reporter told Justine Henin that Venus Williams said she wasn't feeling 100 percent today.

"I'm surprised," interrupted Henin, in a deadpan voice.

This evening, Justine Henin become the first player since Martina Hingis at the 2001 Australian Open to beat both Williams sisters in one Grand Slam.  read more »

What's wrong with Venus Williams?

"I just was feeling dizzy, a little sick to the stomach," she said. "Was just having some energy problems. I'm not really sure what's wrong with me."

Neither does anyone else. After making 56 unforced errors in her agonizingly close quarterfinal match with Jelena Jankovic, Venus made 35 this afternoon—compared to 26 winners—in a straight-sets loss to Justine Henin.

Williams said she's been feeling strange—dizzy, tired, depleted—since she got two days off after the fourth round. That's when she told her mom, Oracene Williams, that something was wrong.

Oracene spoke to a group of reporters afterwards and revealed that Venus was feeling was sick after Wimbledon and was diagnosed with anemia.

"She was happy when she found out she had anemia and she thought that was it," said Oracene. "Now there's something else wrong. We need to get this checked out."

Venus told Oracene she was feeling sick after her match against Ana Ivanovic. It was a match where Richard Williams told me that something seemed a little off. Oracene recalled Venus telling her that when she hits a ball it feels like the ground beneath her is moving (sort of like vertigo). Oracene spent the last two days racing to Whole Foods buying up oranges for Venus, finding anything that could boost her energy.

Venus' boyfriend, Hank Kuehne, told me last week that he spends her matches paying close attention to her body language. While packing up the Williams family Lexus this evening he told me: "She looked zapped. I won't know what's wrong until I get in in the car with her tonight."

Venus was asked if she told her sister Serena about the apparent illness. "Serena was my opponent in the draw, too. I didn't tell her how I was feeling," she said laughing.

Maybe it's just fatigue after playing a three-set match the other night, or maybe it's something serious. The only thing that we do know: Venus didn't have the energy to keep up with Justine Henin today.

I tried it once, and nothing terrible happened.

So here, for our second attempt at live-blogging the Open, I'll be presenting a running account of the women's semifinal between Venus Williams and Justine Henin at Arthur Ashe.

If you feel like taking part in the coverage, chime in in the comments section or get me on AIM at ‘Jets20012.’

4:14: If Venus and Justine have a rally that lasts more than 10 seconds this sellout crowd might freakout. They were dead silent in the first match

4:15: Three early errors from Venus and an early break. Might she be nervous?

4:20: Janet Jackson is sitting in the Williams' family box, again. She was here earlier in the tournament.

Click 'Read More' for more live action!  read more »

As Jelena Jankovic was picking up some final things at Arthur Ashe Stadium yesterday after her loss to Venus Williams in the quarterfinals, I asked her if Venus needed to pick up her level of play to beat Justine Henin later today, especially since she made 56 unforced errors in their match.  read more »

A week ago today, Anna Chakvetadze won in straight sets in a little-noticed second-round match. She won a little bit after 12pm on a backcourt at a time when the majority of the gallery crowd was still in transit.

Afterwards, there was such little interest in the media in talking to her that her post-match press conference was conducted in a player’s lounge area—not an interview room—with two bloggers.

“There were more interesting matches to put on the show courts,” she said in her straightforward manner.  read more »

My friend Goldburn took issue with me calling last night’s loss one of Serena’s worst.

Goldburn: I don't think it was one of the worst losses of her career
me: if you consider henin is (1) a rival and (2) serena unraveled against that rival and lost to her for a 3rd time in a GS this year and (3) you don't put up a fight -- that’s pretty devastating.

(More, if you can bear it, after the jump.)  read more »

Before the last night's match, Justine Henin's coach Carlos Rodriguez said he wanted Henin pressuring Serena.

She did, and it worked: In the match, Henin converted 11 for 14 net chances.

“If I'm too far from my baseline, if I don't move forward, I have no chance to win this kind of match,” said Henin last night.  read more »

Moments after one of the worst losses of her career, Serena Williams walked into the women’s locker room sobbing.

When she met with the press 20 minutes later she was still teary-eyed. And she did not want to talk about her match.

“I really don't feel like talking about it, to be honest,” she said. “It's like I don't want to get fined. That's the only reason I came. I can't afford to pay the fines because I keep losing.”  read more »

In anticipation of tonight’s fantastically wonderful match-up of Serena Williams and Justine Henin, I’m trying something new: live-blogging from Arthur Ashe Stadium. Instant analysis!

If you feel like being a part of this bold venture, chime in in the comments section or get me on AIM at ‘Jets20012.’

8:16: One minute from the first serve and the seats here are barely filled since it took so long to kick people from the day session out. Why do they schedule these matches so poorly?

8:23: Early break! Notoriously slow starter Serena loses the first game on her serve. Think Henin is invested? Pumps her first pretty theatrically in front of Serean's face.

8:30: Monica Seles is here, sitting next to David Dinkins (?!). Also Tony Bennett is here. My friend James' take: "it really is pathetic what passes for celebrity at the open. how long before they cut to rosanna scotto"

Click 'Read More' to follow the live action!  read more »

Justine Henin came off the practice court at 5, some two hours before her much-awaited rematch against Serena Williams tonight.

I caught up with Carlos Rodriguez, her coach, and asked him about the match.

“We come here to play these type of matches,” he said. “It’s exciting and it’s difficult. It's my job to help Justine to do her best in these type of situations.”

How’d she look in practice? “She looked good but practice and the match -- there is no relation. I hope she hits the ball tonight like she hit now.”  read more »

Before the Open began, Serena Williams discussed how eager she was to take on Justine Henin, who she’s lost to at both the French Open and Wimbledon this year:  read more »

Is Serena Williams secretly injured?

After her match against Marion Bartoli, she was asked if anything was affecting her physically: “I would be the last person to tell you just in case Justine or Safina reads it, and they're like, ‘Oh, I know what to do.’”

Then her father, Richard, had this to say to me two days ago: “I think Serena can beat anyone when she’s well. Serena’s really not well. I know she’s not well. I won’t let you find out what’s wrong with her, but she’s not well.”

Let's see if Henin can figure it out.

It's time to start talking about tonight's match between Serena Williams and Justine Henin, the latest installment in what some of my favorite tennis experts consider to be the greatest rivalry going on the women's side.

“Serena-Henin is the best,” said Jon Wertheim, a senior writer for Sports Illustrated. “There’s some history there. They played three times already this year -- Serena won one and saved a match point, Justine won at the majors.”  read more »

Don't look further than Day 7. This will be the best day at the 2007 U.S. Open.

The Williams sisters both have fantastically difficult challenges on Ashe today. We’ll preview both matches this morning and find out exactly what their opponents need to do to win.

Meanwhile, Justine Henin gets Dinara Safina in an extremely intriguing night match on Ashe (as we’ve mentioned, playing at night is not Henin’s favorite). Novak Djokovic will follow by playing the young Argentine prospect Juan Martin Del Potro.

The Ahsha Rolle story is over, as Marat Safin's sister Dinara Safina put her away in straight sets. Justine Henin once again rolled in straight sets, 6-0, 6-2. She's trounced her opponents 36-9 through three rounds.

Novak Djokovic and the grisly Czech veteran Radek Stepanek are playing a thrilling match at Louis Armstrong. Stepanek took the first set in a tie-break, Djokovic took the second in a tie-break and Stepanek is up a break in the third. Djokovic's serve is iffy, but he's showed no nerves on big points. Stay with the match here.

After last night's exhilarating action, we've got some great tennis to follow up.

At 11am, Justine Henin plays at Ashe while Novak Djokovic plays at Louis Armstrong. In the afternoon, Ana Ivanovic, Tim Henman, Marion Bartoli and Serena Williams all play.

Lleyton Hewitt will play on Louis Armstrong at night, while Venus Williams and the injured Rafael Nadal play at Ashe.

Match to watch for: Mardy Fish v. Tommy Robredo at 1pm on Ashe. Fish is hot and he gets the big stage to take on the nunmber 8 player in the world. A solid chance for a major upset.

After a slow day yesterday, we're back to a really strong lineup of matches today.

Rafael Nadal debuts at the Open at Arthur Ashe, right after Ana Ivanovic and Venus Williams finish up against their unknown opponents.

Streaky Marat Safin plays at 11 this morning on Louis Armstrong, followed by Justine Henin. Next door, at the very loud Grandstand there will be a delightful lineup full of Americans: Meghann Shaughnessy, Robby Ginepri, Mardy Fish and upstart Ahsha Rolle.

On Court 11, Elena Dementieva plays the second match, followed by former French Open Champion Carlos Moya. Over at Court 13 there are back-to-back matches featuring Spaniard Tommy Robredo and the lovable Marion Bartoli.

Match of the Day: giant American John Isner takes on South African Rik De Voest (10 inches shorter!) in the battle of 100-something seeds at night time in Louis Armstrong. The winner gets a crack at Roger Federer. Expect electricity.

Men's number one seed Roger Federer will play tonight and women's number one Justine Henin will play a little after 12 p.m.

Which is fine by each of them.

Here's how Federer on night matches: "I prefer them over the day sessions, to be honest... It's more special--electrifying. The crowds come out in big numbers."  read more »

Are the Williams sisters still a major mental block for the number one player in the world?

During a press briefing on Saturday, Justine Henin explained her shocking semifinal loss at Wimbledon to the delightfully out-of-shape Marian Bartoli by saying that she may have focused too much on Serena and Venus Williams.  read more »

We've written about Novak Djokovic and Ana Ivanovic, but we haven't mentioned the other Serbian making a major impact on the current field: the 22-year-old no. 3 player in women's tennis, Jelena Jankovic.

Jankovic's ranking has rocketed this year due to a remarkably extensive playing schedule. She's played 80 matches in 2007, compared to Justine Henin's 48 and Maria Sharapova's 42.

Jankovic, who kicks off her US Open play today against Jarmila Gajdosova, said she wouldn't play mixed doubles in Queens– where she won at Wimbledon – because she's overworked.  read more »

Each morning here at the Observer's U.S. Open blog we're going to tell you what to look out for in the day's action. Today's tip: arrive early!

The heavy-hitters -- Jelena Jankovic, Justine Henin, Roger Federer -- will steal the spotlight at Arthur Ashe today. But you know how these first-round matches go: some of them are over in 40 minutes. If you have a pass that lets you into Arthur Ashe, don't be late.  read more »