adidas International

January 8, 2003

Justine Henin

THE MODERATOR: First question for Justine, please.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: I was a little bit surprised because, I mean, I knew it could be a tough match for me, especially because it gave a lot of confidence to her to beat Kournikova yesterday. She came from the quallies, she had four matches. It was my first match of the year, so I was a little nervous before the match. I said, "Okay, what's gonna happen?" You never know before your first match what can happen. I was pretty happy with the way I played.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: Hopefully, because I mean, fortunately, because it's so hot out there. And, I mean, if you have to play three sets, 6-4, 7-5 and a third, yeah, you give less chances for tomorrow. So I'm pretty happy that it was quick, but it was very hot, yeah.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: It's, I mean, it's very hot, and for everybody. I mean, it's first tournament of the year. And I was in Florida to practice, but it wasn't so warm this year there. So when I came here, was big difference, and especially because you're a little bit nervous. It's the first tournament, and the heat is there. So, yeah, it's hard, but I did well today. I hope I can continue like this.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: I arrived on Friday morning, yeah.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: Yeah, I went to Bahamas after my wedding, but it was only for one week and then ten days after my wedding I started my physical preparation already. So it's, I mean, I think the break is a little bit too short because we have to start, I mean, end of November if we want to be prepared for January for the Australian tournaments. And you have also to take a break, but two weeks is nothing. I feel like I didn't stop, and it was good to have a week off, but then I started working physically because I was injured on my shoulder so... But it's okay now. I had good preparation and I'm pretty happy to be here in Australia.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: Yeah. I think the other important thing is that, you know, there is a big part of the season, I mean, is the clay court season and then Wimbledon. You have two Grand Slams in one month. Then after Wimbledon, I think we should have a break. I took the break last year, went on holidays for one week. I just practiced a little bit, but really nothing. I think it's important in July, middle of the season, to take a little break. But the calendar is -- there is a lot of tournaments at this point, and there is the Fed Cup, too. So it's pretty hard. But, yeah, it's ten months and a half in a row, and, I mean, in the middle of the year it's good to take a little break. But then you see the other players playing, and you want to play also. I didn't do this mistake last year, and I will do the same this year.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: Yeah.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: No, is just playing tennis for fun because he's teaching tennis to children, but, I mean, he tries to travel as much as possible with me but it's not always easy. Yeah, I want to keep it also little bit private, because it's my personal life and I don't want to say everything about this.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: No, he's not here, no. He's in Belgium, yeah.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: It's important week. It's a strange week. Yeah, it's the first week of the season. So I think all the players, they try to play some matches before the Australian Open, and it's always good to play before a Grand Slam. Last year, I played in Gold Coast, and the year before also. I wanted a change this year because I think it was too early to go to Gold Coast, another tournament. So I just decided to come only to Sydney, play a few matches, as much as possible before the Australian Open, and take a lot of confidence before another Grand Slam.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: Yeah, it helped a lot. I mean, everything started when I won Gold Coast, Canberra, and I did the fourth round of the Open. Then I came into Top 20 after that, so, yeah, it was a big step in my young career.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: I worked very hard physically. I did six weeks of preparation, and it was very hard. I work with Pat Etcheberry in Saddlebrook, Florida. It was great work. I really enjoyed it. It was very hard, but I had great time there to prepare the season. You know, it's important for me to be physically strong because when you see the other players on the tour, you have to be as strong as possible. I worked on my serve a lot and especially on my forehand. Today I was happy because I took my time to win the points, I wasn't in a rush, I build my points and my game, and I did well.