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SONY ERICSSON OPEN

March 26, 2010

Justine Henin

MIAMI, FLORIDA

J. HENIN/E. Dementieva
6-3, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. The scoreline makes it look like it was an easy game. I don't think it was.
JUSTINE HENIN: Yeah, it's only the score. It was, yeah, not as hard as it was in Australia, but I'm very happy the way I've played very consistent tennis tonight.
I wanted this victory a lot, and I've been very -- I mean, 69% of first serve is quite unusual for myself, so I really take it as something positive.
I've been aggressive, I went to the net, I took the opportunity, so I am very happy the way I played. And to beat, I mean, top 10 players again, it is of course a lot of confidence.
Indian Wells it was difficult and I worked very hard, so it's a good win. I hope it's gonna help me now for the rest of the tournament.

Q. Your head-to-head record with her is good anyway.
JUSTINE HENIN: Uh-huh.

Q. But given that you've been away from the game, did you expect it to be tougher? It obviously wasn't easy.
JUSTINE HENIN: I was ready for a really tough fight, and I was a bit scared of this match, of course, because I knew it was tough draw to play Dementieva in the second round.
But I like this kind of challenge, and I really took it as something I would push myself to be better on the court than I've been the last few weeks. So I think it was a good opportunity for myself.
But, you know, you have to be at your best if you want to win. I mean, even if she didn't serve very well tonight she's still fighting a lot. Even at 5-1 in the second set, you know, she keeps fighting and, you know, you have to be aggressive on every point.
So happy tactically the way I played. It's been very intense, so it's a good thing.

Q. How is your body feeling now?
JUSTINE HENIN: Well, it's not -- at the moment it's okay. Tomorrow morning we see. It's getting better actually. I could use a little bit physically the hard work I did after the Australian Open.
I went back to Belgium and worked very hard. Took a little bit off myself and just to be a little stronger. It was hard to move well. I felt tonight I was moving pretty good on the court, so it was important for myself.
Of course, my body is a bit sore. I'll still need a few tournaments, probably a few more months, to really feel comfortable again on the court physically. And so I'm here with my physio. We're working a lot. We do the best we can.
The recovery is not yet really, you know, very good, but we work a lot on it.

Q. You meet Dominika Cibulkova in the next round. I don't think you've played her before.
JUSTINE HENIN: We have never played, no.

Q. Do you know much about her game?
JUSTINE HENIN: Not really, not. I know my coach probably went to see the match today. No, it's -- you know, these kind of players weren't really on the tour when I retired.
That's not, I mean, the situation that I really like, to play someone that I don't know. But it's gonna be also a good thing, you know, after this big match today to go and just try to win another one. It's gonna be interesting for myself.

Q. Given what you've said about your body and your potential recovery, will the day between now and the next game be different to how it would have been before you retired?
JUSTINE HENIN: Now we do pretty kind of the same -- we have the same routine as we did in the past. Just try to recover very well. And I think it's working pretty good.
But still I realize that my body has to get used to just to play matches. You know, match after match in Australia it's been very difficult. I think I improved a lot in the last few weeks.
It didn't really -- I mean, it hasn't been a success in Indian Wells, I hope it's gonna be better here, but I keep working. I know I'm not at my best yet, but when I decided to come back, and especially just before going to Australia, we talked a lot with my coach.
And we give, I mean, probably six months to really feel at my best. So I still need a little bit of time for that.

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