Justin Henin Profile

ustine Henin currently ranked the No. 1 female tennis in the world has won 41 WTA singles titles and more than U.S.$19 million in prize money. Seven of those titles were Grand Slam singles titles, including four French Open titles (four of the last five and the last three, consecutively), one Australian Open title, and two U.S. Open titles.

The Belgian also has won the WTA Tour Championships twice and the singles gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics.

Her mental toughness, quickness and one-handed backhand are some of the strengths that made her one of the most dominant women in tennis of the last few years.

Henin established herself as a major competitor in 2001 when she reached the women's singles semifinals of the French Open and the women's singles final of Wimbledon, losing to Venus Williams. By the end of the year, Henin was ranked seventh in singles, with three titles to her name. Also that year, she helped Belgium win the 2001 Fed Cup.

In 2002, she reached four WTA finals, winning two of them, and finished the year ranked fifth. 2003 was the first year she finished No.1 of the world after winning 75 matches, eight titles and over $3,6 million. She reached the semifinals or better in 18 of 19 events played and won the first two Grand Slam titles of her career at Roland Garros and US Open.

Henin started 2004 Grand Slam play by winning the Australian Open in Melbourne against fellow Belgian Kim Clijsters. Henin's health however was adversely affected by an immune system problem later that year and as a consequence lost her second round match.

In August Henin returned to competition and won the women's singles gold medal at the Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, defeating Amélie Mauresmo of France in the final. In September 2004, she failed to defend her U.S. Open title, losing to Nadia Petrova in the fourth round, a defeat that caused her to lose the number one ranking.

She then withdrew from the 10 remaining tournaments of the year in an effort to recover her health and improve her fitness.

Her plan to rejoin the tour at the beginning of 2005 was delayed when she fractured her kneecap in a December 2004 training session.

She was fully recovered by the time the French Open was to be played. Henin was seeded tenth but she managed to reach the final and defeat French player Mary Pierce to take her second title at Roland Garros. The win marked Henin's 24th consecutive clay court win and her tenth consecutive final win.

After losing in the first round of the 2005 Wimbledon, and becoming the first French Open champion in the open era to lose in the opening round of Wimbledon, Henin playing only 11 more matches for 2005.

At the 2006 French Open, Henin defeated Kuznetsova in the final to win her third French Open singles title in four years. Henin captured the title without losing a set and became the first French Open champion to defend her title successfully since 1996. For the second time in her career se finished the year as the number 1 player on the world.

In 2007 she withdrew from the Australian Open to deal with her divorce but then came back in style to win her third consecutive French Open title, equaling Monica Seles's open era record.

At Wimbledon, Henin lost to Marion Bartoli in the semifinals but then came back strong for the U.S. Open. In the final, Henin won her second U.S. Open singles title, defeating Svetlana Kuznetsova in straight sets. Henin won the tournament without dropping a set.

After a magnificent season in which she won 10 of 14 events entered and became the first player in Tour history to win over $5 million in a single year Henin earned her second straight No.1 finish and third overall.

Birthday: June 1, 1982
Birthplace: Liege, Belgium
Residence: Monte Carlo, Monaco
Pro since: 1999