AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 26, 2006

Justine Henin

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: I think it was a great match. That's the only thing I can say 'cause it's been very intense physically and mentally. Maria, she played a great match - the best I've seen her play since a long time. So I think it was great. I was dominating the first set and then on my serve I lost a little bit of aggressivity. I was too far from my baseline, and she could take the first set. Then I tried to change that in the second set, so it made the big difference that I was just staying on my baseline, instead of being three meters behind my baseline. It was tough, very intense, even in the third set. But very happy the way it ended, for sure.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: I think that generally I can be very happy with the way I played. I'm very proud of myself because I never, you know -- I kept fighting during the whole match, even the points were very long. I run like probably I never ran in the past on the tennis court. So it's been very hard for me physically, but I could handle it and be stronger at the end.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: I think that today she was very solid, very consistent. She was hitting the ball very hard and she was covering the court pretty good. And the fact that she played very smart in the first set, because I was a little bit too far from my baseline and she wasn't going for the winners all the time. So when I was trying to mix it up, my game a little bit, she wasn't in the rush and she could make the point longer, and I didn't expect that at all.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: I don't know. Someone screamed just before I hit my ball. I don't know who it was. But there is no problem about that.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: I went -- I don't know. It was maybe upper or in the box. I have no idea who did that. I was just upset against the person who screamed because it's not fair to do that during a point.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: No.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: I don't know who it was. I have no idea who screamed, but I was so upset because you don't have to do this. I don't know if it was him or somebody else.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: I have no idea, no.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: No, I don't care right now. This kind of incident can happen during a match. I don't think we have to make too much noise about that. There are many other things we can talk about now.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: No comments anymore on that.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: Yeah, I think that it's pretty amazing because after almost ten years we still have so much respect for each other. I feel like he's teaching me something new every day. So especially mentally, I think he helps me to be stronger and believe in myself. There is a great confidence between us. We know each other almost perfectly. And that's great to have this kind of relationship. For me, it's so much important because I need to have people, you know, around me and feel their support. And Carlos is giving me a great support in this tournament, like he always did. So we talk a lot, we have great communication. That's very good after almost ten years that we can keep talking a lot.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: I never thought about that 'cause I wish we could -- I wish I can do my whole career with him, for sure. That's gonna be the goal. I think he's gonna be behind me for still a couple of more years, and that's a great story, too.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: I was surprising myself for sure, 'cause when I arrived here I was coming to play a couple of matches and get my confidence back. When I see what I could do during this whole tournament, I think it's just great to come back this way. I think not all the players are doing that. I'm pretty happy about that. It's been tough for me to be injured for such a long time, and then coming back in my first Grand Slam, being again in the final, I think it's just an amazing feeling and I really enjoy that right now.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: I think I had maybe little bit of revenge to come here. I hope I can do it on Saturday because I didn't lose a match in Australia in 2004, and didn't lose yet any match here this year. I hope I can keep going this way. I love this tournament, and it's a lot of good memories, so I hope I can do it again.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: It's for sure always more special. If it will be Amelie, it will be special, too, because Amelie, I think that she wants to play another Grand Slam final. If it's Kim, for sure it's going to be different. But right now I'm not thinking too much about this final. I try to enjoy my victory today. It's gonna be time tomorrow, on Saturday, to talk about that. But I just, yeah, enjoy this moment. It's not easy to go to a Grand Slam final. And no matter what happens on Saturday, I think I can be proud of my comeback. For sure I have a lot of ambition. I want to get it. But depends also from the opponent. So we'll see. The best will win.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: No, no, no. I never watch my opponents playing because every situation is very different. I think that Maria, if I would have seen her play against Petrova, she didn't play as good as she did today, so I would have been probably surprised by the intensity of her game today. So that's not the kind of things I'm doing.