adidas International

January 14, 2004

Justine Henin

THE MODERATOR: We're going to start a new press conference format this year where we're going to give the players an opportunity to tell us their thoughts of the match. Justine, do you want to start by telling us your thoughts on today's match, please.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: First, I'm very happy that I won this first match. It's never easy to come in in a tournament after a long break, and especially in these conditions; it was very windy, playing Conchita in my first round is not an easy draw. So I'm pretty happy even if I didn't play my best tennis for sure. But I got a good attitude. I served pretty well. And, you know, it's not easy, like I said, but I think that Conchita, she doesn't give me any rhythm, you know, to start the match. So it wasn't easy at all, but I came through. I won in two sets. So that's finally very good.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: Yeah, the returns, especially the returns. It was very hard especially when I had the wind behind me because, you know, you have to go in the ball. I wasn't aggressive enough. But, no, generally, I mean, I played well when I had to, you know. I went to the net. I think I really improved my forehand volley, and we could see it during the match. I served very good on the important points. I just stayed calm on the court. She was leading 2-love, then came back. I knew it could be a difficult start, but very happy to win in two sets.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: You know, it's -- it takes probably a few weeks, you know, just to get used with the work that I did, you know. It's not coming in a few days. I need a little bit of more time to be a little bit quick and fast. But, yeah, I worked on my agility, but I worked in the weight room a lot, too. I feel much more stronger than I was. I don't know if I took some weight, but I feel physically ready, you know, playing a lot of matches against the strong players. So I think I really improved physically; that's very important.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: Yeah, you know, I didn't do anything special. I just tried to keep my energy for my matches. Just very good restaurants. I like the people here in Sydney. It's fun. This afternoon, it's good because you know that I have my foundation. In French it's Les Vingt Coeurs de Justine, "Winner Circle from Justine." I'm going to meet some kids who have cancer. So it's a great opportunity for myself, because I want to give them a little bit of time. I really enjoy it. That's a great opportunity just to give them a little bit of hope, a little bit of dream. They came and watched the match. So I'm really excited about that. I'll try to get more involved, you know, this year to, you know -- couple of days during the year. That's very important for myself to get involved something apart the tennis. It makes me remember that tennis is not everything, so that's very important. I am very excited about this afternoon.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: I don't have any special comments on that. I don't know exactly the story. I just want to say that we have a good anti-doping program. That's all I want to say.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: It's too early to talk about that, you know. I'm here in Sydney. I have a match tomorrow. Melbourne is gonna be next week. I don't know who's gonna play, who's not gonna play. You know, it's hard because, you know, you have to win seven matches. Even if the draw looks open, it's never easy. So you have to play your best tennis; you have to beat everybody in the tournament. A week before, it's still very early for me to talk about that.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: Because, you know, personally, you know, I just had very hard experiences in the past. I lost my mom from cancer, and I think that children are the most beautiful things on Earth, you know. That's why I chose children who are sick. That's very important for myself. There were a few months I was thinking about that, and I feel that it's time for me to get involve in something else. Just if I can help them a little bit, just being with them a little bit, just, you know... They came here, I think it's beautiful day for them. If they can forget a little bit their problems for one day, for me, it's great result. It's probably my best victory, you know. Winning the French Open, the US Open doesn't mean a lot of things when you see children like that.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: You know what, probably we gonna have six days, you know, this year. Like I said, it's not easy, you know, but I want to give them a little bit of time. I did one clinic with children in Belgium, you know, when I had an exhibition three weeks ago. It was fantastic. I really had a great time. We gonna make it in a few tournaments during the year. I don't know yet which ones and how it's gonna happen, but that's the way it's gonna work.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: That gives me a lot of power, you know. When I met the kids in Brussels, like I said, a few weeks ago, it was pretty amazing, you know. They were on the court. They were playing with me. They were smiling. I think that it reminds me that that's the most important thing for me. And so it's easier when you lose just to think, you know, it's not everything. So it's very important for myself, and I think that now it's a good time, I feel it's the right time for me to do it.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: No, no, I would do it for sure. There is a few months that I was thinking about that. And, I don't know, it came now at the end of the year because we had time to organize that and I wanted so much to achieve that. So that's pretty good. I feel very happy about that.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: I mean, you know, in the match, you win and you lose points. That's tennis. I mean, you can't win everything. And, you know, I won 6-4, 6-1; that wasn't pretty bad. But I agree that sometimes I still have to work on my concentration and be ready on every point. But first match of the season is not easy all the time. So I know that was a little bit of problems sometimes today, but I'll work on it for sure.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: Uh-hmm.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: Because conditions were really hard and it was windy. When it's windy like that, it's really tough to be in the court. Even if she's not serving very, very fast, you know, always good positions. It wasn't easy for me to return. That's the reason I was very far. When I'll have a little bit of more confidence probably I'll be a little bit more in the court.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: It's always hard to tell if I'm ready or not. I feel ready. I feel that -- I want to stay focused on what's the most important. For me, it's going to be my match tomorrow, you know. Thinking about what can happen in Melbourne is not gonna help me to achieve, to go until the end of the tournament. So I just want to stay concentrate on what I have to do every day. And, you know, Melbourne is gonna be another goal for sure. We want the best players in the world over there. I hope that Kim is gonna be there. But 128 players who want to win the tournament. And in every match, you have to be at your best level if you want to go until the end.