I Remember..

I can't help penning this down. Actually throughout the French Open the past fortnight.. whenever Justine Henin-Hardenne's matches were telecast on tv, I've on-and-off been asking myself.. "What is it I don't like about this woman?".. "Why isn't she on my list of favorites?".. "Since when did I decide I didn't really like her?". I haven't been able to quite justify my dislike for Justine.. except to say that it's a feeling, you know. And honestly, I've forgotten when this feeling came about.

But okie, I guess my penchant for favoring underdogs is perhaps one of the reasons why JHH isn't on my list.. for the simple fact that she's never been considered one in any match-ups, at least not as far as I can remember. Objectively speaking, that is good for JHH, 'cos it pretty much reflects just how strong her game is.

And as usual, the same questions popped up in my head in the Roland Garros finals between Kuzzie and JHH again.. and suddenly, when Kuzzie corrected a wrong call made by the line judge (or was it the umpire?) and conceded a point.. the memories started coming back.. and I finally remembered what it was about JHH that I didn't like. It was her lack of sportsmanship.
It first started in the 2003 French Open semi-finals against Serena Williams. JHH took the first set 6-2, but Serena fought back to square off at 6-4. In the final set, with Serena serving, Justine raised her hand to indicate she wasn't ready and Serena served into the net. As Justine wasn't ready, Serena should not have been faulted for this serve, and should have re-served her first serve. However, the umpire did not see JHH's gesture and when he asked her about it, JHH actually kept quiet.. leading to the umpire faulting Serena's serve and calling for a second serve. Serena was upset and rightfully so.. and unfortunately went on to lose the set and the match. I thought JHH was a big coward and liar.. and since then, I actually stopped watching JHH whenever they featured JHH's matches during Grand Slams.. I would switch channels. This memory must have faded with time in the last one year or so considering I had to dig and think so hard to figure out my dislike for JHH.

And of course, the much talked-about finals of the Australian Open between Amelie Mauresmo and JHH, where JHH threw in the towel and quit the match during the second set citing stomach pains as a reason. That was way ultimate.. Momo was playing really beautifully during the match and had captured the first set easily at 6-1. She was clearly on top of JHH and it seems like JHH didn't have any answers to Momo's superiority in that match.. and Momo was on her way to her first Grand Slam title at JHH's expense. So, down 0-2 in the second set, JHH called it quits. Following interviews would reveal JHH gave a load of pathetic excuses for her discontinuance, none of which were really significant nor justiable enough for her act. And that is another fine showing of JHH's sportsmanship.. or rather, lack of one. Actually, I wonder if all these incidents merely reflected her lack of sportsmanship.. I kinda feel that it actually brings her character into question. Sore loser, liar? Well, I don't know.. but it would pretty much seem like it, wouldn't it?

Fine player JHH is.. with a steel will of determination, possibly the best clay-courter on the women's circuit currently, one of the best on the women's circuit, pride of Belgium along with Kim Cljisters.. but sportmanship? character?.. you tell me. A google search on this would probably shed even more light on these incidents, and possibly a couple more incidents.. I don't know.. but try it if you're interested.. and let me know.

tags : tennis | Roland Garros | French Open | Serena Williams | Amelie Mauresmo | Svetlana Kuznetsova | Justine Henin-Hardenne | semi-final | sportsmanship | Australian Open |