HOME DEPOT CHAMPIONSHIPS

November 8, 2002

Justine Henin

Q. Justine, the first couple games, four games, were pretty close and then you slipped.

JUSTINE HENIN: Yeah, I was really tired during the match, and I felt without energy and that's why at the beginning of the match it was high intensity, but I could feel that already. In the first game I wasn't going. I was sweating a lot. That's not normal for me. I feel so tired at the moment. You know, it's the end of the season, so this kind of thing can happen, and unfortunately it happened for me today. It's life.

JUSTINE HENIN: Maybe it's both. Maybe now it's done and I can feel more tired than if I have another tournament next week, but I think it's more physically than mentally. For sure, the season was very, very long. Kim played really solid and I had to play 100 percent if I wanted to win the match, but it was very close in the first set. It's 6-2 but it was so close. In the second I was completely dead and I couldn't fight like I wanted to do.

JUSTIN HENIN: Yeah, maybe a little bit. Yesterday I could feel already that I was -- you know, I slept in the afternoon. That's not normal for me. I never sleep in the afternoon. I was tired and, yeah, when I came here, I could feel that I wasn't 100 percent, but it just may be that I was tired. I don't know if it's something more, but I don't think so.

JUSTINE HENIN: No. I completely forgot that I'm getting married next week. No, no, I don't think about that. That's not a reason. I played so well in the last week, so I mean, that's not the reason for the match today.

JUSTINE HENIN: Probably, yeah, the season is very long. Everyone is tired, for sure. When you're in the top 16, that means you play a lot of matches, and there are many players I saw tired, so, for sure, the season is long. We don't have any choice. It's like this and we have to go until the end.

JUSTINE HENIN: It's hard to say. I don't think about that at the moment. I feel so tired, and I just want to be focused on me and try to get some rest. For Kim, okay, I hope that she's going to the finals, and if she has to play Venus, she beat her already this year. It's going to be tough to play her in the States, especially on this surface, but she has to believe in her chances.

JUSTINE HENIN: I helped that her level was high, so, I mean, in the first set she was in defense all the time and I did make some mistakes, but I was trying to be aggressive and not to be defensive, but in the second set, I did too many mistakes and Kim was solid for sure, but I don't know against Venus what she can do, but she has to believe in the chances, because she can go in the finals, for sure.

JUSTINE HENIN: Maybe that's the worst I ever played against her, but she played solid, for sure. She played a good match, and she played well in the last tournaments in the last three months, so, I mean, okay, she played much better than me, and she's in the semifinals.

JUSTINE HENIN: I had great year for sure. I had a great year, because, you know, I mean, before I didn't expect what I was going to be, but to finish the end in the top five is good for me and unbelievable for me. It's a little bit hard to finish like this, but it's pretty positive.