Henin-Hardenne's Grand Slam hat-trick
Henin-Hardenne's Grand Slam hat-trick
by Tim Brimblecombe
Saturday, January 31, 2004
The presence of Justine Henin-Hardenne now looms larger in the annals of
women's professional tennis after she defeated fellow Belgian Kim Clijsters
at Australian Open 2004 to win her third Grand Slam.
Henin-Hardenne's 6-3 4-6 6-3 victory secured her third title in the past four
Grand Slams making her one of nine women to have held three titles at the same
time.
The 21-year-old's record against Clijsters in Grand Slam finals now stands at
3-0 after her triumphs at last year's French Open and US Open. In those two
finals, Henin-Hardenne had comfortable straights-sets victories but at
Melbourne Park a Clijsters revival in the second set ensured Henin-Hardenne
had to dig deep.
"That's been a very emotional match in every way because I was leading,
I was playing well, and then always on the important moments Kim played well,"
Henin-Hardenne said.
"I was feeling under pressure all the time and the crowd gave her a lot of
support which I understand perfectly."
"I'm feeling very, very happy right now. It's as nice as the first one
(2003 French Open)."
Henin-Hardenne had a firm grip on the trophy after dictating play in the first
set. The No.1 seed had Clijsters on the back foot, playing some excellent
angles and pouncing on any short balls with her tremendous backhand.
Clijsters struggled to get into the match, particularly with Henin-Hardenne
boasting a 100 percent win record on her first serve.
The match continued to run according to plan for Henin-Hardenne when she
broke Clijsters in the sixth game of the second set for a 4-2 lead, but her
serve then faltered allowing Clijsters back in the match.
The 20-year-old Clijsters won the next four games to take the set 6-4 and
level the match at one set all.
In a mixed final set that included five breaks of serve, Henin-Hardenne was
aggressive early to capture two breaks for a 4-0 lead before Clijsters struck
back with two breaks of her own for a 4-3 scoreline.
The match swung back to Henin-Hardenne in the next game when two Clijsters
double-faults helped her countrywoman to break for a crucial 5-3 lead before
serving out the match.
Henin-Hardenne acknowledged that nerves got the better of her during the
second set.
"Kim likes these kinds of moments. She was playing her best tennis because
she had nothing to lose at this point of the match and I was feeling very
tense and very nervous to close the match."
"But two years ago, or 12 months ago, I wasn't coming through in this kind of
match. Today I did."
Like the match itself, Henin-Hardenne's game was a rollercoaster with 38
unforced errors and six double-faults mixed with 30 winners to Clijsters' 12.
"That was a fight today, it was a three-set match," Henin-Hardenne said.
"Even if the quality wasn't the best that we can play, we could see that it
was a big fight.
"At the French and at the US Open I won pretty easy both in two sets. But
today I could see that Kim wanted this victory a lot."
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---禪心已作沾泥絮，莫向春風舞鷓鴣---
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