MEDIBANK INTERNATIONAL

January 9, 2006

Justine Henin

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Justine, please.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: Now I can say that. But when I knew my draw, for sure, I was a little bit not scared but a little bit nervous because I knew everybody was going to talk a lot about this first round. The first match is never easy, the first match in the season. But against Martina, it's much more difficult than that. But now I can say that I had to be focused, I had to be 100% from the first point, and I'm very happy with the attitude I got. I play with my experience, and I'm very happy about that.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: I think it's not easy to come back after three years of not playing. I think the level she has right now is pretty good because she doesn't have a lot of matches. So for sure the game improved a lot in the last three years, and so we will see. But I don't want to talk too much about that. It's not my job to judge that. She will talk about that, I'm sure (smiling).

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: I don't know. I don't know. Only the future can tell this to you. At this stage I think I have enough to think about me, and I don't want to think too much about what she's going to do in the next few months.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: I don't know if my game is -- I don't think my game is at the top right now. I need matches. But the only thing I can tell you, and I'm very happy about that, is it's the first match since Charleston that I didn't have pain in my leg. It's been I think eight or nine months, and it's great to be back on the court healthy. My leg did bother me a lot in the last few months, and I took the right decision to stop after Filderstadt. But I did suffer a little bit from the heat today. It's not easy. I need to find the rhythm in the match and in the competition and physically get used to this level again. But pretty happy because I've been consistent, and I had very positive attitude. So that's good.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: The concentration, for sure. Because you need matches to stay focused from the first point to the end. And then just the rhythm, physically you need to play a lot of rallies and get into the rhythm. So I've worked very hard in the winter season, but I know that practice and -- I mean training and competition is very different. So I need matches. That's the only thing I need right now.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: I was very focused on me. I think the key point was to deal with the special situation today, the comeback for Martina, my first round here. I think it's been very special atmosphere. But as soon as I said to myself it's gonna be like normal first round and you need to deal with that, you need to use your experience, that's what I did. So at the beginning of the match I was very focused on what I had to do, be very aggressive. I had a little bit of trouble to see where she was going to play at the beginning - down the line, crosscourt. She can mix it up very good. So that was the key point, I think.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: If it's what she thinks, that's okay. But I don't have any comments about that. That's her opinion, and I totally respect that.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: Maybe she worked a lot on her serve, but she need, you know -- training and competition is different, so she will need time. I worked a lot on my serve and sometimes I get in trouble. But you need matches, and you need to find situations where you very nervous and deal with that. But the level -- the game improve so much now. There is a lot of power in women's tennis. That's a big difference from the time she played, still three years ago.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: Yeah, but it's never been easy for me to return against a player who's serving pretty slowly. So it was a little bit -- I had a little bit of trouble on the return. I wasn't in a good rhythm, so that's why it was a little bit difficult for me.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: No, just the fact that I stayed in -- I moved from Belgium to Monaco, and I did my off-season, part -- a little bit in Belgium and then in Monaco. So that's a little bit different. I spent Christmas at home. That's fantastic. It was the first time in four years I was home for Christmas. So that's very good. I need to be home with my husband and family, Carlos' family, the kids, everyone. It's like a family atmosphere. That's what I needed in my winter season. But I worked very hard, probably a little bit differently than from the past. But we'll see. I need some weeks, maybe a few months. I need a complete season so I can make conclusions.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: I work now with Belgian guys. I'm not going in Florida anymore. I don't want to move as much as I did in the past. I need to be at home, like I said. I work with different guys now and that's working good. We did a lot of endurance at the beginning and then we worked in the gym, ball training, and then on my speed at the end. Not much different from the past, but I want to be on the tour for a couple of more years, so now probably my plan is more long-term plan. I worked very hard last few years and I won a lot of titles, but I had many health problems in the last two years. So I need to take care of my body a little bit more, recovering and everything. So we'll see.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: No, I can say that everything I have, all my titles, it's because I worked so hard, so intense. So there are no regrets about that. I have now basis, unbelievable basis that I will never lose. I just have to keep working this way but a little bit differently, a little bit -- I have to be smarter on few things during my season. So we'll see.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: I wish for everyone that everybody stay healthy for the whole season, but at this level of the game it's not easy because it's hard on the body. It's physically very hard; mentally, probably harder. It's very intense. It's a very special life. I think a few people understand that it's not easy, you have to give 100% all the time and sometimes it's really too much on your body. So I hope this season it's gonna be better for the tour, also for the tournaments, they have all the players, and then we'll have a great conference. But I cannot tell you who's gonna be dominating the tour this year.