J. Henin-Hardenne Interview - Day 8
Tuesday, 4 July, 2006

 

Q. Another solid win. Are you happy?

JUSTINE HENIN HARDENNE: Yeah, it's good. You know, I knew it was going to be a dangerous match 'cause and she proved it. She played a very good match, very good level. I just tried to stay very calm. It's tough conditions. It was very heavy out there, so not easy.
But happy to win in two sets, for sure.

Q. She really tested you in the second set, didn't she? She came back really strong.

JUSTINE HENIN HARDENNE: Yeah, probably more in the first set. I wasn't in the good rhythm. She was coming a lot to the net. She wasn't scared of playing on Court No. 1 in this kind of situation. She tried to take her chances and she played a very solid game. So I had to fight a lot on every point.
I was ready for this. So it's important you ready to fight even if on the paper it looks easy. You know it could be difficult. And I knew it.

Q. How do you rate your level through this tournament?

JUSTINE HENIN HARDENNE: I'm sorry?

Q. How do you rate your level through the tournament?

JUSTINE HENIN HARDENNE: You know, the most important thing is to win and then when you can play well, that's great. That's what I did from the beginning of the tournament. But the main important thing right now, it's mentally and emotionally, it's more than the game itself. When you in the semis or even in the quarters, everyone is playing a good tennis. But you need to deal with the situation and that's what I'm trying to do right now.

Q. Do you feel you can win this now?

JUSTINE HENIN HARDENNE: I'm not gonna change my mind because I'm in the semis. Let's go step by step. I hope I have another opportunity to play another final here in Wimbledon. That's my next goal.
But it's gonna be anyway a tough mission for me on Thursday. I will try to give my best, as always.

Q. Got some momentum building up nicely to that?

JUSTINE HENIN HARDENNE: Yeah, I think that day after day I try to build something and I try to stay very focused on my job and what I have to do and not thinking about too much about what could happen and about the other players. I'm very focused on myself, so that's good.

Q. Why did you get into skydiving? What does it give you? Why did you first want to do it?

JUSTINE HENIN HARDENNE: You know, it's I've talked a lot about that.
I'm talking a lot in my life about tennis, about my coaches' kids and about skydiving. It's really a passion. It's something I love to do. When I was out of the courts because of injuries and in illnesses, I needed something to find the adrenaline, and I did. But when I'm on a tennis court like now and all these wins and everything, I don't need it anymore; I have it on the court.

Q. How would you compare the rush of flying through the air, it must be a tremendous experience on the one hand, with

JUSTINE HENIN HARDENNE: Just go do it. You will see what it feels. That's the only thing I can say.

Q. But my question is to a peak experience like being on Court Central?

JUSTINE HENIN HARDENNE: Yeah, it's hard to compare. For me as a tennis player, it's winning Grand Slam. It's the most amazing thing I did in my life. Which is amazing about skydiving, is you very, very nervous in the plane. That's maybe what I feel before walking on the court. So it's pretty similar.
I always a little bit scared about, you know, getting injured and all these kind of things so I try to do it the best I can, not too often and be careful on the landing because I need to play a few more years.

Q. Did it help you overcome nerves?

JUSTINE HENIN HARDENNE: Well, I wouldn't well, I don't know. I never thought about that. Maybe I will have to think about that later. I don't know.

Q. We don't know who you're gonna play yet, but you've played Kim in the finals of Australia, the French, U.S. you never played her here. How do you sort of see that match shaping up? Obviously, you just played recently?

JUSTINE HENIN HARDENNE: If it's Kim or the other, it will be anyway a tough match. It's a semifinal of Wimbledon. So it will be difficult in any kind of situation. If it's Kim, it will be the third time in a month, so I think that we know each other well enough. But never here in Wimbledon, so it's I don't know we need to expect about that. I'm just gonna try to keep the same preparation, nothing different from what I did in the last few weeks, and the best will win.

Q. You've had your ups and downs with Kim. How would you characterize your relationship with her now?

JUSTINE HENIN HARDENNE: I think we talked a lot about that. We, you know, came back together in Fed Cup, in Fed Cup team. We've been very professional adults about that. So, like I always say, there's a lot of respect between each other. That's it, and that's very important.

Q. There was a streaker during the Sharapova Dementieva match. A man came in and took off all his clothes and danced around.

JUSTINE HENIN HARDENNE: I wish I could see this (laughing).

Q. I'm sure you will see it at some point. Just curious, what is the strangest thing that ever happened to you on a tennis court? Anything ever close to that?

JUSTINE HENIN HARDENNE: Uhm, I don't know. No, no, nothing like that, no. I would remember this. So, no, no. I have to watch TV tonight, that's right, 'cause I don't watch TV. But, okay, thanks (smiling).

Q. How nervous were you when you did your first jump, skyjump?

JUSTINE HENIN HARDENNE: I want to talk about tennis, please. That's why I'm here for.

Q. But in correlation with tennis, it's just interesting for you to put yourself in this position.

JUSTINE HENIN HARDENNE: Yeah, you need these kind of stories, huh, I see.
No, it was when I lost first round at the French Open and I needed something else because I was thinning down in my career and I wasn't healthy anymore at that time. So my husband said, Let's go. I jumped. It was 9 in the evening, 9 p.m. It was the last plane that was going to take the skydivers up. It was amazing. I mean, like I say, everyone should do it. It's something that you don't have any regrets about. Maybe you just do it once because you've been too scared but you really proud of it. It's a bit crazy. You need to be a bit crazy to do it.

Q. Have you committed to the next Fed Cup after this?

JUSTINE HENIN HARDENNE: I just, yeah just to be clear about that, because the captain asked, the federation needed a list, I say I agree to give my name and say I'm ready if everything is fine this week for me. So as soon as my Wimbledon is gonna be over, I take a few days off for sure, and I'm gonna have to go on an island with some kids of my foundation next Monday and Tuesday. So I can only join the team on Wednesday if I'm feeling well enough. So I said I want to play it, but let's wait till what's gonna happen in the next few days.

Q. You actually played doubles with Kim at the last Fed Cup.

JUSTINE HENIN HARDENNE: Uh hmm.

Q. How long had it been prior to that that you two had actually played doubles?

JUSTINE HENIN HARDENNE: No, it was just a gift for the crowd. It was good we did it. It may be a bit dangerous for me because my shoulder was hurting a lot. You know, when you win like this and everything went very, very quickly after the match, so the captain asked us and we said, Let's go.

Q. You've spoken many times about your passion for the French Open, how you went there with your mother at an early age and so forth. I mean, Wimbledon had to have a kind of secondary position after all that.

JUSTINE HENIN HARDENNE: Yeah, it's just that as a kid, I wasn't dreaming about Wimbledon, I was dreaming of the French Open. Now things are probably more different because it's a great challenge for me, Wimbledon. So it's it starts to be something very important for myself, but not more or not less than one of the other Grand Slams, except the French Open that reminds something very special in my heart.
For sure, I would sign for one Wimbledon in my career, for sure I would do that.

Q. Is the challenge primarily the grass surface? What are the other elements?

JUSTINE HENIN HARDENNE: It's the challenge that I never won this tournament. The grass is a good surface for myself, when I find the confidence on the surface and when I had matches like I had in the last two weeks. That's fine for me. I like to play on grass. So we'll see now. We just have to I just have to try to take the opportunities. But it's gonna be one more match on Thursday, and for sure I hope I can win it.

Q. A lot of the senior players we have working for the BBC are great admirers of yours. Pat Cash described your tennis as beautiful. Does that give you confidence to hear that adulation?

JUSTINE HENIN HARDENNE: Yeah, I'm a little bit no, I'm pretty proud of that. It's nice to play different tennis. I know a lot of people like to watch me play. I show something different on the woman's tour that makes the game more exciting, more interesting. So, no, it's always nice to get this kind of compliments. But I need to forget about this and let's just stay focused on my game.

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