From The Times
May 19, 2008
The beautiful legacy of Justine Henin
Simon Barnes
Allow me to present you this morning with an utterly gratuitous picture of female beauty. These few scant and sorry words are merely a transparent excuse for including it. Has there ever been anything in sport quite so lip-smackingly gorgeous as the backhand of Justine Henin?
This week she has made the decision to retire rather than win the French Open and I'm inclined to sulk and cancel my Eurostar ticket. I could never get over the wonder of Henin, and in particular the lyrical perfection of that backhand. It would have been wonderful enough in a great brute of a girl, but with Henin it defied belief and, with it, the rules of biomechanics and physics as well.
There was (and still is) nothing of her. So where did the power come from? How was it that she could not only outmanoeuvre but on occasions also out-hit Serena Williams? It could only be in the perfection of her timing, the coincidence of sweet spot, bounce, footwork and angle. She seemed to have no margin for error whatsoever; perfection simply had to be her first resort. That's how she won seven grand-slam titles.
Her retirement is a shock and yet not a shock. She carried an air of terrible sadness with her. Like Charlie Brown in Peanuts, she walked under a personal black cloud on the brightest of days. A family feud of extraordinary virulence ended just a year ago, but only because of a new sadness. A marriage broke up in bizarre circumstances. Serenity was also an inextricable part of her life; but only on court.
Her defection leaves the crasser type of marketing people hoping for a long and sustained rivalry between players more renowned for conventional comeliness: Maria Sharapova, of course, and perhaps Ana Ivanovic. Me, I think there is more beauty in Henin's backhand - cross-court or down the line, take your pick - than in a million photo-ops.
A great athlete of either sex has a genius for movement. It is in dynamism that you see them at their best and that's as true of Sharapova as it is of Henin. Sharapova's on-court movement is a glorious thing; her cat-walk pouting is commonplace, and there are plenty who do it better.
Henin, with her sparse frame and intimidating, boot-button eyes, never cared to play the diva. But in motion she was a beauty and she has given great joy to many of us.
I hope she will find the happiness that has so consistently eluded her in retirement, but if she changes her mind and comes back, I won't be trying to dissuade her. And another great article
http://www.tennis.com/features/general/features.aspx?id=129946
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