Does anyone know where she is?Its like she has fallen off the radar. :blink: Very weird for a world number 1.

Well she pulled out of Charleston injured but she's playing Berlin this week and Rome next week.

Oooh good then at least we in for some decent womens tennis.Especially since Serena is also in the mix.I actually missed Henin. :blink:

Me too, glad she is back :ok: Great to have a multi-slam winner like her back. :ok:

These days if there isnt an Henin or a Williams girl in any draw the tourneys are just dull. ;)

Well Justine, Serena and Venus are the biggest multi slam winners in the top 10 and among the few who actually look like they could win a GS this year - add Sharapova to that who has 3 slams. Kuzzy has one and nothing for ages, - in fact make that the top 20. There's Amelie in there I think but she isn't looking a threat now and only had that one year of winning the GSs. I think th eonly other slam winner in the top 100 is Davenport.

So they really are needed I think. Wonder what chances the other top 20ers have of winning a slam? Not much with those 4 unless they all play badly.

Well its a four horse race for the slams I think,Both Williams and Henin and Masha.So we will see if anyone can sneak in.Jankovic promises so much but always falls so short then there Ivanovic also very promising but I cant really see her winning anything if Henin and Both Williams girls as well as Sharapova are firing. :ok:

Yeah, I am nto quite sure Jankovic is a slam winner. I don't think she has a big enough game but she overstrethces herself, and calming her schedule down might help. Ivanovic - don't know. I don't see he rhaving the toughness and the real fight, plus she was like a rabbit in the headlights against Sharapova. :shrug: Guess we'll have to see how things pan out for those two over the next few years, but I juts can't put them in the same league as the other 4.

We need Henin back in the game, It is strange just how low profile she is for the world no1.
It's a shame now Serena seems back on track that Henin has slumped, would be great to see the sisters and Henin all playing great-at the same time.

I mentioned something very similar the other day and can only agree.

It was frustrating last year when Serena was off the boil and Henin was on song and now its just as frustrating as the pair seem to have swapped form. Most frustrating :angry: :angry:

Where's Henin?????

Physically she's on the court - mentally, emotionally and spirit wise, she's not! :angry: :angry:

No way will she win a slam this year - she's just not into tennis at the moment. She's lost it completely - doesn't seem interested in it AT ALL

She's either mentally exhausted from last year or is so much at peace in her life that she doesn't need to show the world anymore what a winner she is - if you get my drift!

I'm absolutely gutted and :angry: at the same time.

This is what I wrote in another thread:



I still feel totally deflated - it has ruined my day.

Here's what I think - btw I need to get it out.

From the beginning of this year she's been telling herself "I'll never have another year like 2007, I'll never emulate last year, 2007 was the best year of my career etc, etc":

1. How do you know it's the "best" year of your career when your career isn't over yet and you'vew still got a good 3 years left in you to play? She's already telling herself that it's over and she can't do better.

2. She's talking of the future and about retiring and what she wants to do when she's finished with tennis. Again, in her head, she's not 100% focused on tennis.

All in all, I feel that she's mentally slowing down and it is very clear from what we see in her matches now. There is no fight, as she says, "I'm not taking chances". :rolleyes:

I've studied psychology/philosophy for years and it is a well-known fact that you are what you tell yourself and at the moment and this year she is telling herself that she is never going to have a year like last year and that she's going to retire in the next few years - hence the fight and intensity of her has gone. PLUS as she said in a Belgian interview recently, she's lost that anger that she had prior to getting back with her family, so the anger of life and proving herself has gone. I can understand that one completely. When I used to play tennis and I had an argument with a boyfriend, I used to fight like hell on the tennis courts and took my anger out on there - inevitably I'd always win. Once I settled down in my life and found happiness, the fight from me disappeared.
As the saying goes "you are what you believe"

I'm torn at the moment.

Why?

Because one part of me is very very happy that Justine has found peace within herself and has lost her inner tormenet and pain that she had due to her past family traumas. I'm elated that she has the security of her family back absolutely elated. No one wants to be without a family (I can vouch for that one), so therefore, I'm ecstatic that she's found peace.

The other part of me is sad that because she has found this peace etc, her fight and motivation to show the world "I'm the best and <img src='http://www.invision.smileyville.net/smilies/ang (1).gif' border='0' alt='user posted image'> " to the world has disappeared. <img src='http://www.invision.smileyville.net/smilies/sad (1).gif' border='0' alt='user posted image'>

Can she get it back? Will she want to get it back? Does she need to get it back?

So this is why I'm torn. I'm happy that she's found peace, but I'm sad that she's not the tennis player she's is capable of being. I know I'm being negative, but I'm looking at it from a psychological point of view.

Can anyone understand what I'm saying or am I just so emotionally disturbed at the moment that I'm ?

I dont for a second buy that she is mentally exausted from last year. :blink: For heavens sakes its May this year already. :blink: I read an article yesterday that she says she is lacking confidence at the moment and that the huge problem she is having.

Also she said that she wants to retire within the next 2 to 5 years and go and study.So clearly offcourt interests are creeping in and really,no 1 can blame her.Bar Wimbledon,she has done all she needed to do in her short career.She is a champion. :ok:

Agree with DN, she is a champion... and champions like that may well need losses like this week to give them a kick up the arse. Maybe this is just what she needs to motivate her to pick up in time for RG. :)

Nope, I get ya :ok:

I think also there is that psychological difficulty of fighting to get to the top, as she did and in some style :bow: and then staying there. The goals are less clear and the momentum can change. Some folks are better fighting with their backs at the wall than when they are winning. It cna be hard to keep that motivation to get to the top and achieve, once you are at the top and have achieved. There is of course still more slams that she can win, but maybe she is bored of that? :shrug: I guess she has been there, seen it done it etc. and if sh eis now thinking abotu the rest of her life she is distracted and not really there if you know what I mean.

She still has the Wimby goal but I can understand why she might be disheartened because it is quite a shame that she hasn't won this title, given her all court play it does shock me. But she has been unlucky at times and the Williams girls especially Venus do pull out shocks there even when it looked like they were over. Her best chance was probably against Amelie but that was clearly Amelie's year.

If its anything to go by,Safina just thumped Serena so her win wasnt a fluke :blink:

Certainyl wasn't. :ok:

Not a fluke as in Safina was playing great tennis to beat both of the multi-slammers.

Yet Henin has had heavy defeats this year from Sharapova/Serena....but then from Schiavone? Withdrawing from Rome will leave her not even top 10 in the race. And this is the clay season her strength!

Going into RG her clay record for the year is 1-1....it's not looking good.

Yes, she's sounding ever so passive and negative in her press conferences with the word retirement being whispered here and there. She's almost detaching herself from her drive and talent, which is worrying.

I thought after Miami, she would start to perform better on her fav surface, but it just hasnt happened. A 6-1 final set defeat would've seemed unimaginable last year. However things seem to be changing.

RG will be very pivotal IMO.

QJ-I understand where you're coming from. dl-I was at a bookstore the other day scanning the sports section for tennis news (here in the US, unless it's a Grand Slam event, tennis gets little to no attention :angry: ) when I came across a tennis magazine that had an interview w/Justine in it (and some great photos, QJ) she said that she was planning to play until she was 30. I, too hope that she can find some motivation-even if it's just for the love of the game

Sport is full of ups and downs - Henin will be back.

exactly! :ok:

People have written off Serena and Venus before and they have come back winning big events.

Even if Justine doesn't defend RG this year, it doesn't mean she can't and won't win it again... :)

Here's a couple of quotes from Justine recently that were in the Belgian press:

"I used to believe you have to win to take revenge on life. You have to suffer and feel inferior before you can win" "I don't want to feel this all the time anymore, i want to win for other reasons"

""I broke everything down to find a new meaning to give to my career," she said before returning to play. "Because, the bottom line is that I've won everything except Wimbledon. But until now, I thought one had to suffer to succeed. That was my belief. I don't want that anymore. I want to find serenity."
________________________________

I surprise myself sometimes. I posted my initial post in this thread with just my thoughts and even before the above quotes were posted. I feel it's basically what I thought in my post.

She doesn't need to fight anymore with the world with life, so she's lost her motivation. Thank goodness she's lost her inner anger, but as I've stated before, it means she's also lost her fight to win.

I haven't got a clue how she's going to get it back ..... that is, if she ever wants it back.

She definitely won't win RG this year - not with the mindset she has at the moment. I really and truly hope she skips RG and Wimbledon, just to see if she wants to play tennis again. She's just had enough of it at this moment in time and wants other things out of life. :(

Thank goodness I've got over 100 DVD's of her matches - at least I can get my fix from them :wub:

Personally, I think she is unwell and is not saying anything. Thew girl has no energy in her to play a match of 3 sets - how damn often prior to this year did she ever lose a set 6-0 6-1 unless she was exhausted. Not very often. I think there's something wrong again - a la 2004 virus but she doesn't want to say anything yet. I can see it in the way she's playing, the way she gets so out of breath etc. It all matches up, exhaustion, negativity, depression etc.


BTW this is what Dementieva said about Justine recently:

"Berlin - Struggling world number one Justine Henin can still win Roland Garros for the fourth consecutive time later this month, insists German Open finalist Elena Dementieva.

Over the weekend Henin, 25, withdrew from the WTA event in Rome starting on Monday citing fatigue after a poor run of form including her early exit from the German Open on Thursday at the hands of Berlin finalist Dinara Safina.

The 25-year-old admitted earlier in the week she is lacking confidence and has just two weeks to improve her form before the French Open starts on May 26 after suffering four defeats in four months this year.

"It is totally unpredictable who will win the French Open, but in my eyes Justine can still win it as she is such a good player," said Dementieva, ranked ninth in the world.

"Even if she has had only two matches to prepare herself.

"It will be tough this year as the competition is higher for her and she might not be at her best at the moment - but tennis is also unpredictable."

http://www.news24.com/News24/Sport/Tennis/...2320172,00.html

and this is what Serena also said :o

And as a former world number one herself, Williams says Henin can more than cope with the pressure of being the best player on tour.
"I was surprised she lost, but she is a good winner and people have a lot of expectations on her," said Williams.
"She will play a lot better than that, she knows she can, and with that in mind, she will take a lot of solace from that fact.
"This is just one tournament, I know a lot of players who lose a lot more than four games in four months, besides things can turn round very quickly.

Bless :hug:

http://www.24.com/sport/?p=tennis_article&i=838271

:hug:

You got it SB - you explained it exactly to the point.

:dohh:













































:P

Well she won the tournament which means she was in the form of her life.Well done Safina! :clap:

Safina said yesterday that she had a row with Marat because he said she wasn't doing anything right, so now with the victory, she said "see big brother, I'm on the right track!"

:clap:

Proof that the Safins should be each other's coaches! :yep: I am so happy that JuJu has made peace w/herself and the world. I'm sure she'll find that fire again! :D

So on track that she is now injured after a week. :rolleyes: Sometimes I feel that the WTA has a load of drama queens :rolleyes:

have to agree w/you there Dark. the men's side too.