First of all I have to say that I am a big fan of Justine!!! I admire her a lot, she is one of these women who was born to do great things in life. She definitely has an incomparable gift and I am sure she is this world to be one of the best players in this wonderful sport. She is a different player. She is like anyone on court. Her agility and her technique are two of these enviable qualities that took her to the number one spot for a long time. However, she is a good loser, a quality that only belong to the best players. Even though she is one of the best players in tennis history she really know when is time to admit that her rival had been better than her.

Now, I think Justine comeback is going to arrive with a lot of surprises. I am sure she is going to refresh female tennis with her intelligent game, her imcomparable agility in her movements and her concentration in every single match in 2010. She is going to help to change the current situation in WTA: the control of the rusian players and powerful William sisters. She really has tennis to do that. She will bring more excitement to each tournament due to her unique fighter spirit.

Several months ago when Justine did the anouncement of her retirement, she left me surprised, but afeter had been thinking I really understood her. She was living a difficult situation in her life after got divorced. She is a human being and she just needed to concentrate in other things. Currently, we can not be more expectant of her comeback, specially after the unvelievable comeback of Kim Clisjters that make us think about the exploits that Justine will do and how better can be the Justin comeback.

It is not a secret that in female tennis is really hard to find a consistent player, but Justine is one of these players who play tennis with passion and who has the consistent required to be a leader in WTA circuit, a circuit that have not had a real leader since she left the competition. This is a real proof that female tennis and us really need her playing again. I think 2009 was not a great year for the competition and WTA, specially because of the absence of players like Justine. Furthermore the absence of Maria Sharapova, the flimsy Ana Ivanovic during the whole year, the instability of Dinara Safina who was not capable to win a Grand Slam being the “best female player” in the circuit almost during the whole year, the rude attitude of Serena Williams on court as we had never seen and a new young star Yanina Wickmayer in legal truobles. Besides, the big amount of injuries didnt let the tournaments be more interestings specially at the end of the year. These are just some of the principal events that according to me do not let 2009 be a memorable year for female tennis. However, the upcoming 2010 promise to a be an unfogettable year for female tennis regardind the comeback of this dear player who gave us memorable moments during her whole career and who will bring old rivalities to the tour and a speaciall gift to us our fans who were waiting for her during these months.

Finally, I would like to say that I felt very proud of Justine when I watched her beating the best ones before her retirewment. For that reason I just can not wait for watching her again using her backhand and her incomparable technique on court. Justine is for me the only player who had been capable to broke the tennis patters and who had been so strong to beat any obstacle in her life. When any person wants to practice an sport starts to hear what are the physical and mental qualities requires to be a succesful player. Tennis is not the exception. Everyone tell you that you must be tall to have a strong service and to have a better game in general. But Justine is a strong woman who did not pay attention to these steretypes and despite of her 5'53/4"(1.67 m) she demostrated us with her perfect game that our dreams can came true if we go for it with determination, passion, faith, confidence and hard working.

I really want to see her on courts again as an example of succes, as an icon, as a great human being and the most important as a model to be followed for little girls who are discriminated against because of the stereotypes that prevent these young players follow their dreams and be succesfull in what they really want.Do not give up!!!

Thank you Justine for letting us have you as an inspiration in our lives!!!

Tuesday 22 September 2009 was just another ordinary day for planet earth, but inside a very special individual, a “flame had lit up once again” and that inferno ignited perhaps a new revolutionary era for something called Women’s tennis. The international tennis community fingers cracked, keyboards suffered, blog traffic hit its exponential peak and some women who did serve, became very, very distressed. Emotions running high, nerves tested, sweating palms, ‘is the world ready for the return of Justine Henin?’

The reaction was common; the Queen will prevail and restore order and glory, like spectrum of colours penetrating the deep, dark and murky waters of the game. But what do the facts and statistics say? Has anything changed within the 16 months off the court, how has the equilibrium of power, force and dominance shifted? In assessing the possible changes and effects of Justine Henin’s comeback, we must consider both the state of the game then and now, threat from possible new competition, strategy and tactics and of course Justine: her passionate fire burning intensely for that Wimbledon trophy, history of returns, her weapons and presence and those remarkable, promising exhibitions. Oh and of course, we’ll try to decipher the subliminal messages in her recent interviews to truly assess where she will stand in the 2010 arena.

What was the pre-retirement Justine like?

Despite personal affairs delaying her 2007 season, she succeeded in two hardcourt tournaments in the Middle East, the Dubai Duty Free Women's Open (for the fourth time in five years) and recorded a debut win at Qatar Total Open title in Doha, also regaining her World No.1 ranking. Other victories included the J&S Cup in Warsaw, Rogers Cup, Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, Zurich Open. She dominated at Roland Garros, as the victorious two-time defending champion and top seed, prevailing against Serena Williams, Jankovic and Ivanovic to claim her third consecutive title without dropping a set. She also succeeded at the US Open, beating both the Willams sisters and Kuznetsova to conquer the title and finally at the WTA Tour championships, where she defeated Sharapova in the longest final in the tournament’s history.

Henin was indisputably at the pinnacle of the game, the quintessential embodiment of excellence, sportsmanship and class, the first player to claim at least 10 tour titles in a year, (since Hingis in 97) and ended the year ranked World No.1 for the third time since 03 and 06.

In 2008, she started the year as the World no.1 and on the 14th January had reigned at the top for 100th career week, on the 10th March was the 7th player to be ranked 1st for 12 consecutive months. Henin conquered Kuznetsova in the finals of the Sydney international, claimed her 32nd consecutive match in the fourth round, though was remarkably humiliated by Sharapova in a 6-4, 6-0 loss, as mental cracks were starting to show in her game. Though she won in Antwerp, two weeks later lost for the first time to Francesca Schiavone in Barclays Dubai championship, with a string of losses to Serena Williams, and Dinara Safina in Miami and Berlin respectively. This was the final straw, the ‘end’, as Justine declared her retirement on the 14th May 2008, citing fatigue, a withered passion and lack of drive. She was still ranked the best in the world.

It is evident that between 2007 to early 2008, she was still dominating with her mental stability, shot diversity and excellence and amazing footwork/speed earning her distinction.

Will the same Justine return?

The Justine that retired was withered, she claimed herself, ‘I was exhausted – mentally, physically and emotionally.’ "I didn't want to be on the court any more, the tennis itself wasn't a problem. The problem was motivation. I just felt: 'Please don't talk to me about the French Open or Wimbledon'. To me it wasn't important any more. I felt it was the time to go away”.

So if we were to take her words for the truth, we can confidently deduce that the same Justine that is Justine pre-fatigued will return. After all, she suffered no career ending injuries or significant drop in form; she simply succumbed to a mental lapse in focus and drive. And now? She’s perfectly reinvigorated and more prepared than ever’ "I think I'm physically as well prepared today as I was in the past, but we're trying to be smarter in our work." "I need to relax and take some oxygen when I can," she said. "That's what I couldn't do in the past.

But it’s been a year and a half; will the current WTA circuit be a challenge to Justine?

After her retirement, a gargantuan, mega-watt powered debate ensued, with the Justine fans succeeding in persuading the world, that it was a much necessitated return for the WTA, whose fate and credibility had been tarnished by a destructive tornado of controversies, turmoil and unrest as it plunged into depression of new talent, quality and consistency. It was plagued by a crippling disease transmitted by these pass the parcel snatchers of the No.1 plaque, featuring the ‘Dina dominance at sunrise Dina demise by midnight’ tragedy, fluctuations from troughs to recessions by the Anas and Jelenas and selective, ‘pick and peak’ performances of the powerful Williams. Ivanovic after winning the French Open, was plagued by a self-destructiveness that saw her lose the World No.1 title and drop to World No.22, whilst the highly inconsistent play of Jankovic and a mentally fragile Safina at the most crucial moments in Grand slams saw them enter the history books as former ‘Slamless World No.1’. The Williams sisters dominated here and there and did not rise to the position of the Imperial reign occupied by Justine, only succeeding on the hard and grass courts of Grand slams, leaving the clay courts and smaller tournaments for others to dabble at.

Is there a future for Women’s tennis? We bit our nails nervously praying for the remedy hopefully from the younger generations, was it going to be the committed ‘Caro’, aka, extremely consistent Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark who although topped the list most matches played in 2009, had only rose on one big occasion, the USOPEN 2008. Pehaps it was going to be the vivacious ‘Vika’ Victoria Azarenka, who was powerful and domineering, though never after the quarterfinals of a Grand slam?

It was undeniable; the WTA was a microcosmic anarchy, instigated by the abandonment of its reigning Queen and the collapse of the Golden Ages.

The WTA circuit will not be a considerable challenge, the lack of any distinctive new talent, strategic or tactical ‘weapons’ or exclusive dominance by any single player, will only ease her path towards her pursuit back to the top. Her main rivals then, including Serena Williams style has not changed or improved significantly and has been in the past challenged and defeated by Justine, most notably at the French Open and in 2007 every Grand Slam except the Australian Open. Dinara Safina, the last woman to beat Justine has suffered from an injury and her form has been exceptionally inconsistent, with losses earlier to a world no 127 and a premature third round defeat to World no.61 as the top seed at the US Open. Ana Ivanovic’s slump in form and 0-5 head to head record and Jelena Jankovic’s 0-9 head to head record will also not pose a threat to her victorious comeback. But what about Sharapova, Justine’s slayer at the 08 Australian Open? Sadly for her and promising for Henin, Sharapova’s present form has been marred by a critical shoulder injury and inconsistent play, where she lost with historic 21 double faults to the relatively unknown Oudin in the early rounds of the US open this year.

So has there been any real, substantial evidence for a victorious return of the ‘Old Henin’?

I will recycle this quote, Justine has declared in a recent interview, ‘I think I'm physically as well prepared today as I was in the past, but we're trying to be smarter in our work.’ And so far this has been evident; Henin made her first public appearance on a court since May 2008 at an exhibition tournament in Charleroi and after comfortably beating Kirsten Flipkens – she went on to beat the world No 12 Flavia Pennetta in a straight sets style 6-4, 6-4. But Henin sought to further reiterate her victorious comeback as she conquered World No.20 Nadia Petrova in a 7-6, 6-2 winner in Cairo.

A history of her returns, most notably during 2005, after more than six months away from competition also shows her ‘All or Nothing’ spirit with victories over top ranked Lindsay Davenport, Sharapova, Elena Dementieva, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Petrova and notable conquests at Charleston and the French Open.

This time the catalyst for her return is the burning fire to win Wimbledon, “I couldn’t believe that this thing inside my heart that I thought was dead was coming back — this thought that I could walk on the court again.” But Wimbledon is the one I never won and it’s going to be my challenge now and I’ll never give up.”

Judging by the history of her ‘All or Nothing’ return, spirit, and recent success, it seems a victorious ‘second career’ is inevitable.

And how will her successful ‘second career’ change/affect the women’s tennis scene in 2010?

Answer: Now that we’ve established that it is most likely a victorious return, it is logical to expect everything for the game before she left, including a reinvigorated competition field and resurrection of new rivalries, strategic and tactical diversity and excellence that is still exclusive to Justine, increased psychological pressure on the current players which may result in a change to the base rallies and shots, and hopefully the restoration of the Imperial reign and supreme leadership by the ‘Female Federer’ of the WTA.

See it this way, the circuit so far has been monochrome, but with Justine’s return, it will be ignited with a spectrum of colours that epitomises the reinvigorated passion and inspiration from the players who are dedicated to remaining part of the 2010 competition. As previously established, the circuit’s inconsistency and instability has seen a lack of clear rivalries or contention, with only a string of inconsistent performances, the survival of the fittest after dull incessant groundstroke and lack of exclusive champion trademark weapons in action. A lack of offensive, outstanding play characterised the period of her absence. Nevertheless, her strategic and tactical contribution to the 2010 scene will be prominent. Henin’s skilful footwork and rapid speed enables her to easily manoeuvre around the court to execute her extremely powerful and accurate one hand backhand, (heralded by McEnroe as the best in the ‘women’s or men’s game’) which will inevitably challenge the present monotonous rallies; the backhand which could be hit ‘flat’, with heavy topspin, slice underspin will most importantly shock and break the rally via the most skilful surprise dropshots. A complete and extremely versatile game features a remarkable 122 mph serve, superior footwork, balance and court coverage, especially clay, where as a three time consecutive FO Champion, she is unparalleled in transitions from defensive to offensive play and has the serve and volley tactic at her disposal. A signature or trademark lethal shot lacking on the tour but exclusive to Justine is the forehand which is used to dictate and conclude a match, Henin’s ‘heavy winners’ frequently featured forehand groundstroke winners. In each of her last three matches at the US Open in 2007, Henin hit substantially more winners than each of her opponents: quarterfinal versus Serena Williams, 30–17; semifinal versus Venus Williams 29–26; final versus Svetlana Kuznetsova, 25–11. This demonstrates the inevitable supremacy of her weapons to the present and upcoming 2010 year. Tactically and strategically, the game is forced to change as the players try to challenge such diverse and versatile superior quality play. They will to an extent, re-configure their mental concentration and endurance, more frequently practise and enhance their skills, and commit to more arduous training sessions to remain in competition.

The competition will be reinvigorated and old rivalries resurrected, the once defeated possibility of an all Belgian, clash of the champions, Clijsters vs Henin now a reality, with the contention with the Williams sisters renewed. The young, ‘up and comers’ will have a chance to exhibit their generation of new skills against Justine, most notably new interesting playoffs between Wozniacki and Azarenka who have never encountered Henin. Justine’s presence and psychological impact is also another crucial, a source of stress, discomfort and mental insecurity for some notable tennis players, as it induces pressure for new players and trigger old memories for the ‘veterans’. For instance, to Jankovic, whose embarrassing 0-9 h2h record against her still burns, Ivanovic’s 4-0, Safina’s 5-1and even the Williamses, who were primary and prominent rivals throughout their entire careers. Result? Interest, excitement and breathtaking displays for fans, increased ticket sales, media publicity and international women’s tennis fans at the least. In addition, the present field and contention between various top twenty players will reduce, as the ‘big names’ will dominate like before and the players who primarily acquire their rankings by quantity and not quality play will suffer in rankings. Thus the credibility of the ranking system should be restored with this increasingly intensely competitive narrowed field between old champions and new talents.

But surely there must be changes if she truly is realistic in succeeding! Indeed, Justine claims that she wants to be even more aggressive on the court in order to shorten points and conserve energy. "Physically, the only way I can handle another three or four years – or however long I stay on the tour – will be by going forward."

Now for the bit, that we have all been praying for: the restoration of the Imperial reign and supreme leadership by the ‘Female Federer’ of the WTA. As the stats, facts evidence from Justine’s fantastic form pre-retirement, the present anarchical state of women’s tennis, her comeback history and recent success suggest, it is most likely and logical that Justine’s domination at the pinnacle of the game, will prevail once more. However this exists on the final condition that she is able to maintain and enhance the form and weapons, including the unparalleled single-handed backhand, fatal forehand groundstrokes and swift footwork, court coverage, a killer 122mph serve and almighty presence that saw her titles being heralded by the Great Billie Jean King as ‘pound for pound, Henin is the best tennis player of her generation’, win 41 titles in total and now hopefully many more to come.

She has everything, the anarchical universe is waiting for its rightful queen, and so far the wind is blowing in an extremely promising direction. As she recently claimed, herself, “Everything is always possible. I did a campaign for adidas a few years ago, 'impossible is nothing', and I really think it is the story of my life. But who knows? It depends on a lot of things. What I want to achieve is the best I will be able to give; I want to be able to express it. And then the rest, we'll see”

We’ll see indeed, but in the meantime we’re all anticipating a revolutionary and much necessitated victorious return that will surely turn the WTA universe 2010 upside down, this time for good.

This competition is great by the way.

Allez Justine! On with 2010…

Women pros no longer retire. They go on hiatus. The WTA resembles the WBA (World Boxing Association) where boxers retire, then unretire as frequently as you change your socks. Recently Martina Hingis, Lindsay Davenport, Kim Clijsters and Kimiko Date Krumm have come out of retirement. Anna Kournikova is considering it.
(You can't have too many attractive blond Russians in the game.)

The newest comeback kid is Justine Henin. We can expect the following:

*Fans and aspiring juniors will have a hero they can look up to without having to look up at.

*The Law of Conservation of One-handed Backhands will be followed. Amelie Mauresmo departs;
Justine Henin arrives. Science is beautiful. So is the one-hander.

*Wilson & adidas executives and shareholders will wear smiles.

*She will again inadvertently provide adidas with a slogan, replacing "Impossible is Nothing."

*Tournament directors will delight in putting Justine in their promotional ads.

*Photographers will love zooming in on her dark eyes intently focusing on the ball she's about to strike.

*Inquiring minds will wonder, Why does she wear a Rolex watch during matches? a) is paid a sum larger than your salary. b) doesn't want to miss her 2:00 manicure appointment. c) likes accessorizing with shiny jewelry.

*Belgium will become a Federation Cup contender. But only if its French star and Flemish star deign to play together. And if its rising star stops playing Where in the World is Yanina Wickmayer?

*Controversy on tour will increase. (She held up her hand, right? Why did she quit in a major final? Are those injury timeouts legit? Who implied her strength was not achieved naturally?)

*Global warming will increase from the heat generated by her intensity while playing in cities throughout the world.

*Press conferences and interviews will see a 1000% increase in the expression "for sure." ("For sure, she is a good player. It will be a tough match, for sure. For sure,I will have to play my best.")

*To avoid pre-match interviews Justine will occasionally parachute onto the court.

*With a new perspective gained from her sabbatical Justine will have fun and enjoy it more.

We often look for role models in our life. In men and women’s tennis, there are plenty of role models to look up to. One individual that particularly sticks out is Justine Henin. She is not only an extraordinarily talented tennis player but her personality and off-court activities are truly remarkable. Her comeback to tennis will surely spur a lot of positive changes in the women’s tennis scene in 2010 especially in the areas of: competition, off-court activities, and igniting more inspiration.

1. More competition: Justine’s comeback to the game will definitely pressure players to train harder. Other female players may even change their training routines just so they are in tip-top shape to beat Justine. Their playing styles may also change and show more variety such as incorporating more of an attacking game, serving and volleying, become more of a “thinking” player to dictate strategy, effectively exploiting their opponents’ weaknesses, and so forth to make their game more level with Justine. They will also have to be more consistent with their performances as Justine held the #1 spot for consistently long periods of time. Likewise, her comeback may also induce an era of dominance and leadership (whether her or another player) which Federer currently exhibits in the men’s arena, while after Justine’s retirement, there have been waves of different women holding the #1 ranking but lacked a single dominant player ranked as #1 for a consistently long period of time. Although Justine had some exciting rivalries with the William sisters and Kim Clijsters, other players will definitely be added to this rivalry roster with Henin as the skills of these players change and evolve and there is a presence of both veterans and young guns. Justine Henin is also extremely mentally tough especially losing her mother at a young age of 12 and is also known to claw her way back and win grueling matches after being a set down. The other players will have to be just as emotionally tough in order to contend with Justine’s high standards. If the players are training harder, playing better, with a tougher mindset, it will not be surprising to see the matches getting longer and the quality of play getting better as players face more intense competition due to the improved skillset of these players and the greater variety in their games. Since Justine is such a fierce competitor, she will change the rankings dramatically. Only those good enough to contend with her can remain in the top 10 rankings and her exemplary performance will weed out other players from the top rankings who cannot keep up to par with her superior performance level. Also, as players train harder and play in more tournaments to elevate their ranking status, this may force more injuries and tournament withdrawals due to their accumulated fatigue. The worst case scenario would involve leading some current players to burnout and retirement. In essence, Justine is going to raise the bar of the whole game and bring out the best of athleticism from all the other players as the sport gets extremely competitive and intense.

2. Beyond the court: Justine Henin has done some terrific charity work. She opened “Club Justine N1” and founded “6th Sense Tennis Academy.” Other players will surely follow her footsteps and try to add more charity work under their belt. Justine is also a very dedicated tennis player and strategically avoids distractions. There are many things that can take up a player’s time from attending numerous social events, making media appearances, playing both singles and doubles matches, pursuing other contracts (e.g. modeling), etc. These activities are acceptable in moderation of course but time-consuming if done in excess. However, other players may have to alter their lifestyles in some of these areas in order to prioritize their commitment to catch up to Justine’s level of dedication and razor sharp focus. Justine is also a polite and well-mannered role model with no strong history of doing drugs, shouting foul comments during matches, or any huge scandals. This puts pressure on other players to match her level of professionalism and manners. Also, because the quality of game will improve in women’s tennis, I also expect TV ratings to increase for WTA tournaments and as a result, new sponsorships and endorsement deals to spring forth whether involving Justine or other top WTA players. Therefore, there will be some changes in activities, lifestyles, and mental qualities from Justine’s opponents.

3. More inspiration: Justine is a truly inspiring figure that will motivate others to do their utmost best. Other players, for example whether inside the top 20 or outside the top 100, may be driven to raise their performance level after being inspired by Justine’s sensational comeback. Another possible outcome is encouraging other younger female players to turn pro. These activities will again dramatically change the WTA rankings. One last possibility is for Justine to inspire others to come out of retirement (e.g. Martina Hingis) and return to the professional tour or the special events where retired champions play and make special appearances. Some players may even try to emulate Justine’s playing style, which encompasses strengths in the areas of: lightning speed footwork, rich variety and all-around game, phenomenal mental toughness, a ripping forehand, and a blazing one-handed backhand. There is of course no limit to how many lives Justine’s inspiration will touch.

Justine Henin has fire in the belly, which currently rages and blazes inside. Whether or not she will be the dominant player in 2010 depends on her calibre relative to the other players and also destiny. However, her quest for more glory will certainly fuel her to reach astounding heights of accomplishment. Justine Henin’s comeback to tennis will also poise her to leave a powerful and profound impact on women’s tennis by raising their level of game and also firing the players’ spirit and passion that burn inside.

Justine Henin is an ispiration to her fans, she's a hero, an artist, a woman filled wih lots of determination and fighting spirit so the change would most likely be evident on the side of her FANS. Watching her play tennis in the most extreme way possible because of her amazing striking ability, incomparable rythym and menacing fierce shot winners is like watching "tennis in your dreams" (you know where you want all the shots to be hit beautifully) so she'll definitely serve as a hope to her young fans to continue play all court tennis. And as she fulfill her dreams in 2010 (which I'm sure she will, I'm very positive abou it), she will also fulfill her fans dreams of waching her play fantastic tennis against the giants of the game that can only result to incredible accomplishment through sincere hardwork, sacrifes and unique passion.

She'll restore what the WTA had lost before, an amazing athlete who's achievements were accomplished through hardwork & intense passion to the game of TENNIS.