US OPEN

August 28, 2005

Justine Henin

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Justine, please.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: Yeah, I'm much better. It's been hard to come back again after an injury in the last couple of weeks, so it hasn't been once, not twice, but three times in a year. So it's been pretty hard. But I'm getting better. I was happy with the way I played in Toronto, even if I couldn't play my best tennis in the final - far, far away from that. But I think that I am keeping from that many positive things, and it was a very good comeback. I'll try to keep that for this US Open, but I'm very happy to be back. It's a tournament I like a lot. I didn't play as much this year as the years before, so I'm pretty fresh and, yeah, very happy to be here.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: I think so. I knew before this year it was going to be a tough year for me to deal with the injuries. I knew that the problem I had in the hamstring, these kind of things could happen, because I didn't play for such a long time. So you have to, yeah, you have to take the right decisions - and not playing too much, taking off, rest, but working hard to be ready. So right now my main goal for the end of the season is to stay healthy to be ready in November to keep -- to work hard for the next season, because 2006 women's. My main goal right now, when I started in March, I said it's a year of transition. I said I will see how my level is physically, mentally, I will work on that for the next year. So my main goal is being fit and well in November to work with Pat in Tampa.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: It's always been strong. When I won at the French this year, I think it's been hard for me the couple of weeks after that because a few months ago I didn't know if I was going to be able to win one more Grand Slam in my career because I was -- I wasn't feeling well last year. So it was a big question. And then I did. And after that, you need some times to get some rest, recover mentally, because it's been a lot of -- it took me a lot of energy, my clay court season. After Wimbledon I took a good break for my leg and also to get better to keep my motivation. But it's never been a big problem in my career.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: Just to be ready to work hard. If you're injured in November, it's bad because the season starts in January and you need eight weeks of hard work if you want to get ready for the next season. And it's not easy to get ready in two months for a 10-month season.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: No. Every time I walk on the court, it's just to give my best. So every tournament I'm going to play, it's 100%. I'm not probably going to play as much as I did in the last few years because I need to stay healthy for a couple of more years. I don't want to stop in two or three years my career, I want to try to keep playing longer. But for that I'll have to be healthy, and I can do that.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: I want to be clear: I don't have any opinion on Kim's decision so I'm going to talk about myself. I always plan my career for a long time, but you never know what can happen. You have to deal with injuries, and it's getting harder and harder on the body now than probably a few years ago. But I don't see, I mean -- I want to play for a long time. I'm not going to retire in two or three years for sure. I want to try to keep longer because I love so much what I do, and I don't see myself now at home and do something else. One day it's going to be time for me to have kids, I hope, and just live another life. But I am only 23, and I think I have to take my time, you know. We have time for everything, and right now it's my tennis career because it's what I give -- for almost 20 years I give almost everything for that.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: Yeah, I am a competitor, for sure. Every time I go on the court, it's to win. I can't be happy when I lose when I didn't play my good tennis, but it's not very often I can feel that. I'm very happy when I can push my limits. It's not only about winning or losing, what I'm doing, it's about hard work, the work that I do every day, and the sacrifices and everything. I know it's a great experience, human experience, for sure.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: I think I forgot that pretty quickly because it hasn't been easy for me to deal between the happiness of winning the French Open and then losing in the first round in Wimbledon. But I think I have been -- I understood what happened, and I understood it was pretty normal after what happened in the last few months, just the little rest I got after the French and also my injury. So I knew what happened, and that's okay, you have to keep going, you have to forget about that. I just get my victory at the French Open, and that was much more important.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: I think that for me, after what happened last few months in my recovery and the fact that I started in March, there was no way I could play well at the French and at Wimbledon. My game probably -- is probably good for grass, but I would need some more time. You know, it's been my first match against Daniilidou for two years. So it's not easy. I need to play more on grass before Wimbledon, but this year I couldn't do it because I was injured and I had to take a couple of weeks off.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: What I think right now doesn't matter. We will see that on the court. That's the best answer I can give. I think we could see in Toronto that I did very good things because I had to play against very good players - Amelie Mauresmo and Kim in the final. It's been a lot for me for my first tournament back. But I think I'm ready for this. We'll see that on the court. Everything I can say right now doesn't matter; I'll try to do my best on Tuesday.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: I think so. I don't know what is the main reason, but I think that Roger is right about that point, especially in women's tennis. But it's part of the women's tennis, and I don't say it's good or bad, it's just a fact. So I don't know. Maybe you should answer this question because it's the journalists and the reporters that are doing that. But I don't have any problem with them. I think -- I am playing tennis because I love being on the court, and that's my main important thing. I know I have to do a lot of things off the court, but I need to play tennis and I don't want to forget that.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: I don't know her at all, so I cannot tell you. I don't know. I heard her name, but that's all.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: No. Sorry about that.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: I think that Kim has always been very consistent in the past, and I don't think she is playing much better than she was a few months ago before that she was injured. So I think very, very consistent, very solid. But nothing special, not especially (inaudible) changing in her game.