Country (sports) | Belgium | ||||||||||||||
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Residence | Brussels, Belgium | ||||||||||||||
Born | Liège, Belgium | 1 June 1982||||||||||||||
Height | 1.67 m (5 ft 5+1⁄2 in) | ||||||||||||||
Turned pro | 1 January 1999 | ||||||||||||||
Retired | 26 January 2011 | ||||||||||||||
Plays | Right-handed (one-handed backhand) | ||||||||||||||
Coach | Carlos Rodríguez (1995–2008; 2010–2011) | ||||||||||||||
Prize money | US$ 20,863,335[1][2] | ||||||||||||||
Int. Tennis HoF | 2016 (member page) | ||||||||||||||
Singles | |||||||||||||||
Career record | 525–115 82.03% | ||||||||||||||
Career titles | 43 | ||||||||||||||
Highest ranking | No. 1 (20 October 2003) | ||||||||||||||
Grand Slam singles results | |||||||||||||||
Australian Open | W (2004) | ||||||||||||||
French Open | W (2003, 2005, 2006, 2007) | ||||||||||||||
Wimbledon | F (2001, 2006) | ||||||||||||||
US Open | W (2003, 2007) | ||||||||||||||
Other tournaments | |||||||||||||||
Tour Finals | W (2006, 2007) | ||||||||||||||
Olympic Games | W (2004) | ||||||||||||||
Doubles | |||||||||||||||
Career record | 47–35 | ||||||||||||||
Career titles | 2 | ||||||||||||||
Highest ranking | No. 23 (14 January 2002) | ||||||||||||||
Grand Slam doubles results | |||||||||||||||
Australian Open | 3R (2003) | ||||||||||||||
French Open | SF (2001) | ||||||||||||||
Wimbledon | 3R (2001) | ||||||||||||||
US Open | 2R (2001, 2002) | ||||||||||||||
Team competitions | |||||||||||||||
Fed Cup | W (2001) | ||||||||||||||
Hopman Cup | F (2011) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Justine Henin CMW (French pronunciation: [ʒystin ɛnɛ̃];[3] born 1 June 1982) is a Belgian former world No. 1 tennis player. She spent a total of 117 weeks as the world No. 1 and was the year-end No. 1 in 2003, 2006 and 2007. Henin won 43 WTA Tour-level singles titles, including seven major titles, as well as an Olympic gold medal at the 2004 Athens Games and two Tour Finals titles. Henin, coming from a country with little success in the sport, helped establish Belgium as a leading force in women's tennis alongside Kim Clijsters, leading it to its first Fed Cup crown in 2001.
Henin was known for her all-court style of play and for being one of the few female players to use a single-handed backhand. Tennis experts cite her mental toughness, the completeness and variety of her game, her footspeed and footwork, and her one-handed backhand (which all-time great John McEnroe described as "the best single-handed backhand in both the women's or men's game")[4] as the principal reasons for her success.[5][6] She retired from professional tennis on 26 January 2011, due to a chronic elbow injury.[7]
Henin is widely considered one of the greatest tennis players of her generation and of all time.[8][9] In June 2011, she was named one of the "30 Legends of Women's Tennis: Past, Present and Future" by Time.[10] In 2016, she became the first Belgian tennis player inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame[11][12] and in 2023, the International Tennis Federation awarded Henin its highest honor, the Philippe Chatrier Award.[13]