|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Q. How do you feel about this match? What sort of a match did you play? JUSTINE HENIN‑HARDENNE: Carlos had told me this would be difficult. It would be difficult to be a good match because for a match to be good, you have to have a good rhythm with both players. She was trying to stop the rhythm from coming into the match. She was trying to shorten the rallies. This is what she tried to do, in particular, at the beginning of the match. She wasn't missing anything. I was playing really short. It reminded me of matches against Davenport, who also likes to shorten the rallies. So this was not easy. After a while, I managed to find my rhythm. She was making a lot of winners, so I had to play well. I served well. That was a very positive point. In the end, I won in two sets, which is good. Q. How do you experience these days during the tournaments? JUSTINE HENIN‑HARDENNE: Well, I don't sleep all that well in the second week of a Grand Slam. That's when things start getting complicated. I was feeling a little bit tired today. But otherwise I think that everything went rather well for me. Well, now it's the semifinals. Anything can happen. It's how you manage your match that's the most important thing. I did everything I had to up till now. On some days it worked better than others. I was more fit on some days than others. Since the beginning of the tournament, I didn't always play my best tennis, but I played well on the important points. That's the thing I like to remember. Q. You said earlier in the week or before the tournament that you can't do the same physical preparation as when you were 20. You're not the only player to say this. A number of other players, still rather young, are saying this. Could you tell us more about the physical effect of playing on tour. JUSTINE HENIN‑HARDENNE: Well, it's true that when you're 24, you're rather young. If you've been playing seven years on tour, obviously you start feeling the effect. It's difficult to recover. It's more difficult than four or five years ago. That's logical. I mean, how many matches have I played? Also it's the tension. It's a very difficult life. You do a lot of sacrifices. It's quite logical. Probably some years ago players didn't feel it so much because they didn't play so fast, it wasn't so physical as it is today. Today, it's a very difficult life. I think it's rather logical. That's why at some point in your career you need to be able to adapt ‑‑ adapt your schedule, your goals, prefer quality to quantity. This is probably the philosophy that I'll develop, I hope, for the next five years. Q. Martina Hingis was talking about Vaidisova, saying she's 17, she can recover more quickly. Do you feel this when you play against a younger player who is five, six, seven years younger than you? Martina says she feels a respect coming from younger players. JUSTINE HENIN‑HARDENNE: Well, probably. I don't pay much attention. I think probably the younger players have respect for older players like ourselves. Probably they also recover more easily physically. But we have experience, and they don't have that yet. That can make the difference. It's particularly the case in terms of consistency. These girls are still quite young. We were young once and had quite a lot to learn. We still do. The new generation is coming up. This is very good for tennis. They'll have to take their time. Q. You're going to play Kim in the semifinals. Is this going to be a different match for you or is it just part of your daily professional life and it doesn't make any difference that it's Kim or anybody else? JUSTINE HENIN‑HARDENNE: Well, I think it's obviously a little bit special because everybody will pay a lot of attention to this match. You have to try to be prepared. It will be the player who is best prepared who will have a better chance on Thursday. But this is a tennis match and we'll both be out there to win. I'm certain that Kim has told you that I would be the favorite on paper, in theory. I think it will be 50/50 on Thursday. It will be wonderful because in any case we'll have a Belgian player in the final, which is a victory. We both hope to be that player, but we don't know what happens on Thursday. We will see. The best of us will win. Q. Do you think this is a way for her to reduce the pressure? JUSTINE HENIN‑HARDENNE: This is what we all do. If she says that clay isn't her favorite surface, she was here in the final twice. She's in the semifinals this year. She's won tournaments on clay. I don't really believe this. That's not a problem. We are all, of course, extremely careful. We all try to put pressure onto the other player. We'll both be under pressure. Everybody expects a lot from this match. It will be the one of us who deals better with this who will have a better chance of winning. Q. Can you confirm there were digestion problems? JUSTINE HENIN‑HARDENNE: No, I didn't sleep very well. I'm not completely at the top these days. After this match against Myskina, it was rather late. Since my problems in January, I've remained somewhat fragile. I had my dinner rather late on Monday, or Sunday rather. Since then I wasn't really tip‑top. I saw the doctor. There's nothing to worry about. But I'm taking medication to try to feel better and try to be able to rest better. Q. Your relationship with Kim improved lately. Can you tell us about the meeting? Did she say happy birthday? JUSTINE HENIN‑HARDENNE: Isn't it her birthday soon (laughter)? Q. On Thursday. JUSTINE HENIN‑HARDENNE: Well, I'll wait for after the match (smiling). No, I don't think we met on my birthday. Probably she did wish me happy birthday the following day. We discuss things normally. We'll probably go out for lunch during Roland Garros. In Liege, we put the problems of the past aside. We were both professionals. We were happy to have this experience together. We were part of a team. Today we're competitors again. We don't have any problems between us. We have a lot of respect for each other. We each know what each of us has done is quite fabulous. Of course, we need to respect each other, so we do. We have a very healthy relationship. I think that is very important. It's best that way. Q. Of all your matches against her, is there one specifically that you remember? JUSTINE HENIN‑HARDENNE: There have been so many. Last time I played her was in Toronto last year, I believe. It didn't go in my favor. I got more victories on clay. Possibly my final here in 2003, because this was something exceptional. For me, it was my first victory in a Grand Slam. Not in terms of tennis, but in terms of emotion, it could be that. Otherwise, the other only final of a Grand Slam we played together was Australia. Otherwise, we've played each other so frequently, it's very difficult to remember just one match. Q. Is there anything that's changed in Kim's game? JUSTINE HENIN‑HARDENNE: I think she has improved some shots: her forehand, her serve. I think she's someone who moves very well. She has the same qualities as in the past. She's just improved on them. Overall, we all have to improve our game, otherwise we don't stay at the top. I think motivation is very important for both of us. We will try, I hope, to give a good show and we'll see what happens. Q. Could you tell us something about the previous winners here? Is this an added factor? JUSTINE HENIN‑HARDENNE: Well, if I'm in the final, I might think about it, think that I'm defending a title I've won previously. For the moment, it's not part of my frame of mind. It's not something that's playing a role. In any case, I'm reassured because this is an even year. I came here with a bit of apprehension, but also a number of positive things over the past few weeks and months. I had a very good beginning of the season. I'll try to continue. I hope to be able to play another Grand Slam final to recover from what happened at the beginning of the year. This is what I hope. Now, it's very simple to discuss it. Once you're on court, it's another story. Visit the Justine Henin-Hardenne page here
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
