OLYMPIC TENNIS TOURNAMENT

August 15, 2004

Justine Henin

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Justine.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: You know, it's the first match. I was very focused on the match. And when you're focused, you don't see what happens in the stadium. So that's a good sign that I didn't see anything about that. But Belgian fans and people, that's good. I think we going to have more and more people when the tournament is going to be at the end.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: Oh, yeah, now I'm feeling good. You know, even if I was nervous during the match, I had good feelings. And I feel finally healthy, so that's the most important thing. If I play well or bad, win or lose, that's not the most important thing. I feel like I can do my job again, my passion, and that's the most important right now. During my practice, it's working very good, but it's going to take a little bit of time to be exactly the same in the matches. But it's a good first round. You know, it gives me a lot of confidence. It's not an easy match. Tough conditions. It's really windy out there. But I think I could deal with my emotions, and that was probably the toughest part of the match.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: Between two or three weeks ago, yeah. So that's not a lot, but it's enough for being here and I enjoy my tennis right now, really.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: I don't know. One day I woke up and I was feeling much better, not as tired as I was in the past. It was probably a month ago. And then day after day, I could see that I was improving a lot. I wasn't tired any more, I could practice more and more. It took a little bit of time, but a week before coming here I was feeling like I could practice totally normally, and that gave me the good point to come here.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: Oh, I don't know exactly what to expect right now. Now I have a match, so that's pretty good. I need matches before the end of the season because my main goal is going to be being ready for next year. For sure, I didn't play for a long time, so I hope I can play a lot of matches in the next few weeks. But I enjoy my tennis probably like I never did in the past right now because I've been away from the courts for a long time, and I was tired and frustrated a little bit about that. But now I'm back, and that's very good. I will enjoy the situation, the Olympic Games, and then the US Open. I go step by step. I don't know exactly where I'm going to go, but I know that I'm going to take my time, I'm going to be patient to come back in my top level.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: I have no idea because I won Grand Slams, but I never won a medal in the Olympics. It's my first one. Maybe one day I hope I can win it and I'll tell you my feeling.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: Yeah, like mononucleosis, exactly same kind of virus, same symptoms. Not as long, but exactly the same virus, yeah. So you never know. It's a very long name, tough one. You never know when it's going to be over, and that's the problem with this kind of illness. You have nothing to do; just be patient, take your time. But it was probably the toughest part of my career right now.