Juju (a.k.a. Justine Henin) is baaaaaack!!!
Fans of women's tennis REJOICE!
The rumours have been all over the place since Clijster's return to the circuit this summer, reaching a peak of intensity with her victory at the US Open (bravo!)... but still they were constantly answered by "No, no more tennis". Tonight she officially announced she'd start playing professional tennis again in January, with her old coach.
Perhaps she'll be able to complete her career Grand Slam by winning the one title that has continuously eluded her? As her coach said on the news "Je vais tout faire pour l'essayer d'y arriver" (I'll do everything to help her make it i.e. win the missing title). Look out Wimbledon, her she comes!
Click here for the NYTimes report on the big return.
Hmm... methinks having lived 8 years in Belgium has made me slightly biased in favour of their the country's two star players... But they do play some beautiful tennis! ;o)
If you understand French, here's the story in her own words:
And since I can't resist the chance to put up some of my own pics... here are some images from Justine's final Roland Garros in 2007 (which she won, again. She surprisingly retired while still number 1 in 2008 just a few weeks before RG). Unfortunately they're all of the big screens... I got tickets to the men's 1/4f matches but couldn't get seats for the women's. That day we had general admissions tickets so saw matches on the smaller courts (for example the Brian Brothers up real close!) and saw bits of big matches like this 1/4f vs Serena Williams on the big screens:
Hi Cris,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your post, as I am not a tennis fan I have never heard of her but will take a look if women's tennis is on the tv.
Have a good Wednesday.
Love,
Herrad
I'm not much of a tennis fan, and (gasp) have no idea who she is. Sorry.
ReplyDeleteOMG! Herrad, Nancy, how could you not know her?!?!?! ;o)
ReplyDeleteJust wait until next season, then you'll start hearing about her! :o)
No worries... she was a big deal 2 years ago (and for quite a while before then), but I doubt she would have made the press in the US unless she happened to beat both Williams sisters in the same tournament (which happened more than once). And in any case that would only have been heard about by tennis fans! :p
We tennis fans are used to the rest of the world not knowing wwho and what we talk about... it's not like football (both European and US versions) which are so overwhelmingly dominant in the press it's almost impossible to not know at least something about the sport! ;o)