US OPEN

September 6, 2004

Justine Henin

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Justine.

JUSTIN HENIN-HARDENNE: I think it's this kind of day, you don't feel good, you don't feel your game, you're not in confidence. It seems like anything is going well. It's sure that I miss matches and I miss this kind of situation and this kind of tournament with a lot of pressure, and I think it's normal what happened this week. And I felt well in this tournament (sic), never felt free in my head, never felt a hundred percent on the court. I think maybe now I'm a little bit frustrating because I didn't try maybe to find the solutions today, so that's probably the hardest thing for me now.

JUSTIN HENIN-HARDENNE: In Athens, everything was so different. There was less pressure. It was different kind of situation. It was my coming back. I'm not quite sure if it helped me to win there because after that, everybody was paying again a lot of attention on myself. It's not easy. I missed this kind of tournament, that's for sure. Now that I'm healthy, that I can play, I'll need matches and I'll need tournaments, and I'll need probably until the end of the year to be ready, to be ready for the next season.

JUSTIN HENIN-HARDENNE: I think she played well. For sure, she played good match. I cannot say anything else. It wasn't my day. She served well. She took the opportunities. It was very hard for me.

JUSTIN HENIN-HARDENNE: I don't know. Like I said, I wasn't in confidence. And when you're not in confidence, you feel like you don't have any security in your game. That's what I felt today on the court. But I think I could be more aggressive, I could try to do something else. But I was very nervous and I couldn't come through.

JUSTIN HENIN-HARDENNE: Not yet. For sure I'm not at my best level. Physically, that's for sure, I'll need to play matches. During the whole tournament, I was feeling less energy. Took me a lot of energy to come from Greece, playing after the Olympics here, that's for sure. But you have to come back in competition. I think that's pretty normal in the beginning at the first tournaments. So, no, I never felt really powerful and strong like I was in the past. But I'm sure it's going to come back soon. I'll have to be patient for that.

JUSTIN HENIN-HARDENNE: I'm not disappointed for that right now. I'm disappointed the way I lost, but not because I lose my first place. I think it's normal that it happens, even if I was going to go until the end of the tournament, I wasn't sure to keep it. But after the four months I didn't play, I think it was pretty amazing I was still No. 1 coming here. I knew it was going to happen.

JUSTIN HENIN-HARDENNE: No, I think any time you lose, it's difficult. I hate to lose, that's for sure. But I think I'll have to keep lesson from that and try to keep going. I have a lot of work to do because I need to find my level again, and I'm sure I'll do it, but just give me some time.

JUSTIN HENIN-HARDENNE: Can you say what?

JUSTIN HENIN-HARDENNE: Yeah, they are coming. I think that everybody here knows that they are coming.

JUSTIN HENIN-HARDENNE: Well, yeah, it is, for sure. When I know the level I'm able to play and the tennis that I usually play, it's for sure a little bit frustrating to finish the tournament like that. But I have to accept that what happened tonight happened, and it's going to take a few days to understand what happened. But I'll go and work harder than I did in the last few weeks because now I know I can do it. So that's the most important thing. But it's going to take a little bit of time. I have no choice to accept that.

JUSTIN HENIN-HARDENNE: Before Melbourne, I still have couple of tournaments to play. For sure, I'll go in these tournaments and try to play my best, like I do all the time. But before Melbourne, for sure I'll have a good six weeks to work hard. I hope it's going to help me to find my power again because what we saw here in this tournament, I wasn't moving that well, I wasn't hitting the ball that hard, and I'll have to find it again, that's for sure.

JUSTIN HENIN-HARDENNE: I think she's probably the biggest favorite. That's my point of view. But she played great tennis in the last few weeks, and here again today she played good match. I think that she's the biggest favorite, my point of view, but we'll see.