And now for something competely different...
Posted on 05/14/2008 3:04:41 PM PDT by EdnaMode
LIMELETTE, Belgium (AP) — Justine Henin retired from tennis Wednesday, an abrupt ending to a short and successful career in which she won seven Grand Slam singles titles and leaves while ranked No. 1.
The 25-year-old Belgian made the surprising announcement at a news conference, less than two weeks before the start of the French Open. She has won that clay-court major championship four times, including each of the past three years.
"This is the end of a child's dream," said Henin, the first woman to retire from tennis while atop the WTA rankings. "This is a definitive decision. Those who know me know it is serious."
Her announcement came a day after one of the greatest female golfers in history said she's walking away: Annika Sorenstam, owner of 10 major titles and one of six women to complete a career Grand Slam in her sport, is retiring at the end of the season.
(Excerpt) Read more at ap.google.com ...
Retire at 25? Not too shabby . . . .
This thread is useless without... you know.
ana...
What a backhand! Now she can teach it to her charges. I wish her well.
Quite a shock. Especially to the French Open which is coming up soon. And thus ends her ever winning Wimbledon.
WTA Tour Singles Rankings
(as of May 12, 2008)
Cur Prv Name/Country Rank Pts Tours
1 (1) HENIN, JUSTINE BEL 5695.00 14
2 (3) SHARAPOVA, MARIA RUS 3986.00 15
3 (2) IVANOVIC, ANA SRB 3922.00 17
4 (5) JANKOVIC, JELENA SRB 3755.00 25
5 (4) KUZNETSOVA, SVETLANA RUS 3605.00 17
6 (6) WILLIAMS, SERENA USA 2836.00 13
7 (9) DEMENTIEVA, ELENA RUS 2670.00 21
8 (7) CHAKVETADZE, ANNA RUS 2596.00 24
9 (8) WILLIAMS, VENUS USA 2516.00 13
10 (10) HANTUCHOVA, DANIELA SVK 2257.00 24
11 (11) BARTOLI, MARION FRA 2178.00 28
So this will short term make Maria the number one seed, although Ana is closely behind her and could be the number one seed by the French Open where she was last year’s finalist. Jelena’s always a threat, as are the oft-injured Williams sisters.
And now for something competely different...
She has got problems. We learn about them after she is done rehabbing and written a book about it 8-10 years from now.
I forgot who that girls name was, she was gorgeous blonde and Tennis Super Star, and now she is Nun or something. Oh well. Nothing wrong being a nun but you got problems. Later on she said she was tanking matches on purpose.
Justine Henin.
Never did much care for her but she sure took over tennis. One of the best ever. Certainly a lot more class then the Williams.
Andrea Jeager.
Then
Now.
A shocker! She’s in her prime at the top of her game and the tennis world. Wonder what happened? Cancer? Injury?
She's not been herself lately.
Justine has not had an easy life - or a very happy one it seems.
Good luck to her - may she find joy and fulfillment in her future.
I wonder too. It seems odd to retire so close to the French Open, and without giving Wimbledon one last chance.
Now if Roger Federer retires I’ll be really upset!
JANUARY - Won Sydney (as top seed, d. No.2 seed Kuznetsova 46 62 64 in final, having trailed 3-0 third set); reached QF at Australian Open (as top seed on 32-match win streak, l. to No.5 seed Sharapova).
FEBRUARY - Won Antwerp (as top seed, d. Knapp in final; has now won 10 straight Tour singles finals); withdrew from Doha w/scheduling conflict; reached QF at Dubai (as top seed, l. to Schiavone).
MARCH - Reached QF at Miami (as top seed, l. to No.8 seed and eventual champion S.Williams 62 60; was the most lopsided loss for a reigning No.1 since Hingis l. to Dokic by same score at 1999 Wimbledon).
APRIL - Withdrew from Charleston w/right knee injury.
MAY - Reached 3r at Berlin (as top seed, l. to No.13 seed and eventual champion Safina in 3s); withdrew from Rome w/fatigue.
Wild guess...she failed a drug test
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