When seven time Grand Slam champion Justine Henin made her decision to immediately retire from Tennis on 14th May 2008, the entire sporting world was shocked. Not only was she the Number 1 player in the world at the time but her decision was made only 11 days before the defence of her French Open crown which she had won on her three previous visits. Having seen Belgian compatriot Kim Clijsters win the US Open in only her third tournament since herself coming out of retirement, Henin was spurred into coming out of retirement. On the 22nd September 2009, Henin called a press conference and announced that she would be returning to play competitive tennis starting in January 2010.
Henin was given a wildcard entry into 2010 Brisbane International, where she defeated Nadia Petrova and Ana Ivanovic in straights sets en-route to the final. She eventually lost to Kim Clijsters 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 in an epic match which lasted 2 hours and 23 minutes.
Henin's second tournament was the 2010 Australian Open, which again she was given a wildcard entry in order to play. Having brushed past Kirsten Flipkens 6-4, 6-3; Henin was faced with fifth seed Elena Dementieva; in a match that lasted 2 hours and 50 minutes, Henin won 7-5, 7-6 in a match that would have be worthy of the final, and many commentators have described as one of the best ever matches in women's tennis. In round 3 Henin faced 27th seed Alisa Kleybanova winning 3-6, 6-4, 6-2. In the 4th round she faced fellow Belgian Yanina Wickmayer recovering from a poor second set to win 7-6, 1-6, 6-3.
In the quarter finals Henin found some of her best form to defeat 19th seed Nadia Petrova 7-6, 7-5. Zheng Jie was the opposition standing between Henin and her 12th career Grand Slam final. Henin had won there only previous encunter back in 2005, and this match was to be no different, with Henin winning in emphatic fashion losing just one game on the way to a 6-1, 6-0 victory.
Before the tournament started there was much anticipation about the potential of a Justine Henin against Serena Williams final. The final everyone had hoped for came true when Serena Williams defeated Li Na of China to join Henin in the final. Heading into the final Williams led the head to head 7-6, with the pair having had a number of high profile, often highly controversial matches against each other. This final was no different with both players at the top of their games, trading breaks of serve in a tense match. Henin, had gone into the final hoping for a fairytale comeback story to match Kim Clijsters, however it was not to be the case, with Williams winning 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.
Highlights from the final
Henin admitted that she was happy to be back on court: "It's been a very emotional two weeks for me. I thought they would never happen again, that I could come back on the court"
With the clay court season to start in the next few weeks, there is no doubt Henin will be back among the world's top 10 winning major trophies in no time.
Follow Justine's progress as she prepares for the French Open on her Twitter Page
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