	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

PACIFIC LIFE OPEN

March 14, 2006

Justine Henin

INDIAN WELLS, CALIFORNIA

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Justine.
Q. You're playing at a pretty high level, the last three matches?
JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: Yeah, I'm playing good. Just very happy to be back here. It's great tournament. It's good memories for me from two years ago. From the beginning of the season, I just tried to enjoy my tennis. That is the only thing that is very important for me, stay healthy and then enjoy being on the court. That's my job, buts that my passion.
The fact that I really enjoy it, that makes the things different 'cause I'm very calm on the court and I just can say, "Okay, that's what's happening right now. What can I do better?" I ask the good questions to myself. So it's very good.
Q. You're feeling and seeing the ball very well?
JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: Yeah, I think that my game is very clean. I'm hitting the ball pretty good. I still have to be a little bit more aggressive on my forehand, play a little bit longer. But the surface is very good for me. It's a good speed. It was pretty similar in Dubai, and that's really the surface I like a lot because I can organize my game. When I have to be in defense, I have time. So that's very good.
Q. When you are playing that well, you say, I just have this little tiny thing I want to do better, but everything is working pretty well?
JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: Yeah, I always try to find what I can do better and how I can do it better. Sometimes you miss. That's normal. That's tennis. That's life. You cannot do always very good.
No, I just think it's great how things happen for me from the beginning of the season. I'm still concerned about a few problems with my body, but everything should be fine. I'm very glad that I'm again in the quarters.
Q. What did you say to yourself after the 6-0, 6-0 victory the other day, what can you do better?
JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: No, because, you know, every match is different. It's another day. You have to start again. Today I think that Sugiyama was pretty dangerous for me. I had a little bit of revenge. I lost last time at The Championships in 2003. That's the kind of situation I like a lot.
No, yesterday I played consistent, but today I knew I had to be more consistent and more regular. That's what I did. You just have to go step by step and forget about what's happened the day before.
Q. When you play someone like Sugiyama or Dulko, who like to bring a lot of balls back, is it important not to try to play with too much power all the time?
JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: That's right. I think my coach is going to tell me tonight that sometimes I'm too much in a rush, that I want to finish the points too early probably, and I have to build my point maybe a little bit more just to go on the right shot. You need to find the angles. You need to play powerful. You need to mix it up a lot.
They like to play the same rhythm all the time. I can use my slice pretty good - much better than I did in the past. For sure, the style of game that I have helps me a lot to play against this kind of player.
Q. The other day you spoke about how you lost weight. In this country people pay lots of money to lose weight. How did you do it?
JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: Just eating better. Actually I worked a lot on my nutrition. I think that's very important. I understand a lot of things now. I think I can -- I take care of myself much better than I did in the past.
Then we worked a little bit differently in the gym and on my running and everything. It's good. I feel better because I move better on the court. I'm not as massive as I was still last year. Just feeling good in my body, and that's very important to play well.
Q. When you talk about nutrition, meaning did you get rid of meat?
JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: I'm not going to give my secrets (smiling). I come from Belgium. I'm a big fan of Belgian chocolate. I don't eat too much chocolate now.
No, it's just you have to be very regular. Now I understand a little bit more about the nutrition before the match, during the match. It's very important 'cause in the past I had many problems with that. Sometimes I was feeling tired because I didn't eat that much, maybe too close or too far from the match. Now I have a better routine, and that helps me a lot.
Q. Sugar?
JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: Always keep a good level of sugar.
Q. I can't believe you said you were massive. You've never been too big. You've always been thin, muscular.
JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: My legs a little bit. I was pretty massive. I mean, more than I am right now. Everybody's telling me that I'm very fit and that I changed in the winter season.
But I think the nutrition is probably the biggest thing that I have changed. It's good. I'm very happy the way we work physically. No regrets about the past. I mean, Pat gave me -- he's a big part of all my titles, but I was a bit tired, too. You have to go to the next step.
Now I have basis that I will probably never lose and I just have to get fit to stay a long time on the tour.
Q. What you're saying is maybe you had too much muscle in your legs?
JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: No, I was very quick, but now I think I'm moving better than I did in the past. I've always been quick, but, I mean, in Sydney I went to dropshots that I never thought I could have gone to dropshots like that. I am feeling that all the time on the ball, so that's very important. I never feel late. I'm still feeling very powerful. It's good.
I work a lot also on the recovery. That's very important if you want to play for whole season, for many years. I think it's very important.
Q. You don't miss the chocolate?
JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: I still eat a lot of chocolate, but not here in the States. It's not as good as mine. No, no, I'm big fan of chocolate. But especially when I'm tired, at the end of the season, I can eat so much chocolate because it's the end and I just want to be at home. Chocolate helps me to stay on the tour.
Q. How many kilos or pounds did you lose and in what period of time?
JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: I lost a little bit of weight, maybe -- I don't know. Now I lost much more weight since the Australian Open because with my stomach problems after The Open, I lost four kilos in a week. Probably lost two kilos generally from what I had last year. That's a big difference I think, yeah.
Q. The results seem to say you're near invincible.
JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: No, I would never say that. I hate to use these kind of terms. No, it's like I said, I'm very lucky I'm back on the courts healthy. That's it. Now I can play. It's my fourth tournament since the beginning of the season. I think it's great for me that I can travel a lot now. I'm very happy about that. That's my life right now.
Winning, losing, it's part of the game. It's life. Finally it doesn't matter if I can play for a whole season. I said last year at the end of the season, I would sign for no Grand Slam, but for whole season this year. I hope I can both.
No, I just feel very lucky. To play a lot, that's very important for me, because last year was so frustrating for me. In the last two years, I did suffer a lot. Even if I won Grand Slams, my Gold Medal and everything, the fact that I didn't play a lot, that was hurting me a lot. So it's great now.
Q. How is the shoulder?
JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: It's getting better. Actually, my shoulder is getting better, and my knees are feeling good now. I know I have to take care of myself. Now I played three matches in a row. I have a day off tomorrow. I hope it's going to help me for the rest of the tournament.
Q. Do you practice or just stay away from the courts?
JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: No, I will hit a little bit. Not for hours, but probably 45 minutes. Just stay in good shape. I have to move. Even today, if I'm playing in the night, I like to come in the morning and hit the ball, then come back again in the afternoon. I just have to move. If not, I'm boring in my hotel rooms.

End of FastScripts...

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297