US OPEN

September 5, 2005

Justine Henin

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Justine, please.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: Yeah, you can see it in both ways. She was playing well, and she did put a lot of pressure on myself in the first few games of the match. At that point, I was feeling a lot of pressure. I was very far from my baseline, and I wasn't aggressive enough because I was feeling this pressure from her. So she played well. After that, I started to play a little bit better. I came back in the first set. I kept fighting, had a breakpoint at 5-3. But she was just better than me at that point. Then in the second set, I've been broken twice, I think. But it's one break in the end, she could keep her serve. She served much better than I did. She took the opportunity. Too many ups and downs from my side, just considering winning the match. It's pretty hard to accept.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: Yeah, she played well. I don't think I was at the level I was at the French Open or the other times I played her. But Mary played well. I give her a lot of credit because she played a great match. She's probably playing the best tennis of her career.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: Yeah, it does. It's now a few months I have to play with it. I'll have to take some decisions in the next few days. I'm not going to walk back on the court till my injury doesn't bother me at all. I'll see how long it's going to take.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: It's tough, tough to say. Every match is different. Every opponent is different. The pressure is going to be big for all the players in the quarterfinals. It's pretty open. I don't know. I don't know.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: It depends on many things. It depends on the situation, how she will wake up in two days. It depends of many things. I have no idea about it. You know, right now that's not my biggest problem.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: Yeah, I had a lot of trouble with my serve in this tournament. I don't know. It's pretty hard. I'm disappointed today. In the few moments in the match, I was feeling I was back in the match. As soon as I had some hopes, I was losing my service game at that point. It's been tough.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: That gave me my injury, give me a lot of trouble in the last few weeks, especially on my serve. I can probably not push like I'm used to. It's not an excuse for me today.