US OPEN

August 28, 2004

Justine Henin

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Justine, please.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: I feel good. It's been a tough weekend last weekend. I came back in Belgium on Sunday, didn't sleep at all for two or three days not because I was celebrating, but because of my early flight and everything. And then we flew to the States on Monday. So I was really tired the beginning of the week, but I think now I start to recover. It's been really hot in Florida, so I could get used to the weather, so that helped - I hope. And I got here last night. So I'm happy to be back, you know. I had great experience in Athens. My coming back was better than I could imagine. I hope I can keep going. Here it's another test because I can see how I'm gonna recover. A Grand Slam, it's another kind of pressure. It's physically and mentally really different. I'll get the chance to see where I am with all these things.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: I think the fact that I never stopped working even when I was sick, I never stopped working, I did a lot of running, that was the only thing I could do, very slowly, very gentle. And then when I was able to push my limits again, I started to work pretty hard. It was probably two and a half weeks before Athens. And then I didn't know if I was going to be ready, and I was. I played five matches -- six matches in seven days, so that was pretty good, at a very high level of tennis. So I was a little bit surprised the way I came back, not only physically but more with my concentration. Because from the beginning of the Olympics until the final, I was really focus. I didn't feel the pressure at all. I was so happy to be back, and that helped me to achieve what I did. But I think that physically now I'm working hard, and we'll see. Like I said, I need matches until the end of the season to get prepared for 2005. I know I lost a big part of the season this year, but it doesn't matter because now I'm healthy, I can play, and that's the most important thing.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: Yeah, for sure, it won't. No, I'm healthy. They gave me the guarantee. It doesn't mean that I'm coming back and that I'm going to win everything, or physically and mentally I'm going to feel at my best level. I need a little bit of time. I need to be patient. That's what I said when I arrived in Athens, and I didn't change my mind because I won. Now it's the continuation. I have to keep going this way, be patient to find my level again, play a lot of matches. That's what I hope right now. But I've never been happy like I was in Athens to be on the court. That was probably the key of my success. Because when you win a lot of matches, you in the victories like I was in the last year and a half, you don't think any more about the luck that you have. And when I came back, I felt I was lucky because I could play and I could do what I love so much. So it's been a huge experience, very unique experience in Greece, and I hope that I'll keep this feeling for the rest of my career, just having this kind of motivation. It was really a pleasure to be on the court.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: That's for sure. Yeah, that's for sure. I think now, at this time, if I want to play for a long career, I'll have to be smart when I do my schedule, when I look at my calendar. I'll have to be careful because I know that it's not only physically, it's also the pressure that's around the court that takes you a lot of energy. And what happened for me from the French Open until Indian Wells this year was pretty amazing. I never stop. I was feeling like a machine. But one day you wake up, and you sick, you tired, you need something else. And I don't want this to happen again. So I'll be careful about this, not playing too many tournaments, but thinking about a long career because I want to play tennis for a long time. I want to stay at my level for a long time, but you have to be healthy for that. We cannot imagine the pressure and physically and mentally how hard it is, and now I understood that.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: I've been sick in February during the tournament in Belgium. I had bronchitis, and I didn't recover completely from this illness. So I was feeling down already when this virus came. I think this virus is bad luck; anybody can get it. For sure it came really bad situation because I wasn't feeling that good and I was tired so it didn't help. But I think it's bad luck.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: No, I think that the pressure is there every day. Even if you don't want to feel it, there is pressure. Because when you professional athletes and you have a lot of things to do off court, with the media and everything, and I accept my job because it's part of my life, but it's a lot of pressure. You have to learn how to deal with it. But we not machines, like I said. And one day, you feel tired and you need to take a little bit of time off. That's what I did. But I think it's also something that I will have to improve, dealing with the pressure and dealing with the victories. And I think I did a good job in the last few months because it wasn't very easy to be at home, to accept the situation that I was sick. And I couldn't watch tennis on TV because it was hurting me. It was very, very tough time, but I learned a lot of things, and I think I came stronger than I was.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: I was the whole time in Belgium, yes.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: You know, every match is very difficult. I think that what I did pretty good in Greece, in Athens, I was going step by step. I was going match after match. I don't want to be focus on further in the tournament. My first round is going to be my next goal right now, and I don't want to make any -- I have my own goals, that's for sure, but I want to take my time and I want to be patient.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: I think that I felt it last week at the Olympics, I was feeling less pressure. I hope it's going to be similar in here, but you never know how you gonna feel. I don't have to make this mistake again. You win, you win, and you forget how lucky you are and thhe motivation and everything. So I think I'm coming back here with the title I won last year, but it doesn't make any difference. I'll give my best every time I go on the court. I want to stay focused on the main thing, and I have to enjoy my tennis and to win a lot of matches and everything is gonna come soon.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: No, never. I promise. Never, ever. Because I was feeling so bad that I couldn't think about that anymore. I was just -- I didn't know if I was going to feel the same person - not the same player, but the same person like I was before my illness. I was feeling different, and I was -- I took care of myself - not only the player, but the person. That's the most important thing. And being No. 1 or no, maybe here if I go until the end of the tournament, maybe I'll lose my first place. So we'll see. Right now it's not my main goal. I hope I can keep it, or I hope I can be again No. 1 if I lose my place this week, but I'm not focused on that right now, not at all.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: Yeah, I hope so. I think that we learn every day. I'm very young but I already have a lot of experience, that's for sure. And I think that the experience help me when I came back at the competition two weeks ago. I think it help me to deal with the pressure and to play well on the important points, this kind of thing. I need matches, that's for sure. I know that in a career, you cannot go through without any problems, without any injuries. I'm sure that all the players have to deal with it. I'm sure it's gonna be another lesson for me and another experience, and I hope that I will be better.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: I think my level in Athens was very, very good. I think against Mauresmo I played a great match. I was feeling confident, that's for sure. I played tactically very good. I did what I had to do. I think that I was maybe at my best level, the level that I was at last summer, that's for sure. But you need to be consistent. You need to play like this every week if you want to stay at the top, and that's what I hope I'm gonna do.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: Oh, when you feeling like this, you don't see the end of the tunnel, that's for sure. I didn't see the end of the tunnel since one day I woke up and I said, "I feel better today." I didn't want to go sleep during two days. That was unusual for me since four months. I said, "Okay, I'm feeling better." Day after day I was starting to recover. But it was a very, very tough time. But I knew I was going to be back, and I knew when I was going to be healthy I would find my level very early. But in Greece I was very surprised, the fact that I never had a concentration like this in the past, and I was really focused on my match. I was playing only for myself. That was probably the first time in my career that I was on the court and I just wanted to win for me. That was very important.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: I don't see this as a mistake, because I didn't know where I was at this point. And I have no regrets because when I went to the French I understood I needed more time to be healthy and to be 100 percents. So right now I don't see it as a regret. I think it's part of the experience, and I did it. And when I take a decision, I go 100 percents. And probably I was wrong, but I understood I was wrong. That's very important.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: I think that I work pretty good in this part in the last two years. I am a different person and different player from where I was in the past. I think I grew up, I got a lot of maturity, and that helped me to achieve what I did. But the player who was saying that is not nervous before going on the court is lying because everybody is nervous and everybody is different. I think I did pretty good job, and I hope I can keep going this way.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: I watched a few games. It was hard for me to watch tennis, but I watched a few games, yeah.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: I think she played great tournament. She deserved to win. She's very young, she's very talented. She is a fighter. She is a great talent. So I think that we'll have to count on her in the future, in the next few years, and all the Russian girls. But I think she played a very high level of tennis. It's good to see different players win in Grand Slams. I think with Myskina at the French, with Sharapova in Wimbledon, I think that helps women's tennis, too.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: Yeah, I heard for sure.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: No. I think I heard about the book, that's for sure. I was off the tour, but I heard a lot of things, that's for sure. I think I have a very special history. I cannot say another thing. I think that everybody is taking part of that. But I think also it's my private life, and everybody has to respect that. I understood that -- I understand that I have a role because I am a famous tennis player, but I have my private life, and I think everybody has to respect that, like I said. I took decisions long time ago, and I think that it's part of my life. For sure it hurts a little bit because you don't want to see your private life in a book. And I think that it's part of my life, and sometimes it's difficult. But I think it's very personal and I have no regrets about what I did. I don't want to hurt anybody, and that's it.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: I didn't say bad things either. I didn't say anything because it was a family problem and that's it. I think everybody has to respect that, like I said. And that's it. That's my private life and I want to keep it private.