Yesterday, Justine Henin captured the 2008 MediBank tournament in Sydney with a come from behind win over Svetlana Kuznetsova. However, the most compelling aspect of her victory was not her tenacious fighting spirit, but rather that it happened in spite of the disturbing and increasing unreliability of her serve. Henin fell behind 0-3 in the final set and Kuznetsova threatened to make it a double-break.
Great champions find a way to win, and this match was no exception. Henin’s all-court play and Howitzer of a backhand pummeled Kuznetsova in submission as she won 6 of the last 7 games of the match. Henin was also heavily challenged in the semifinals by Serbian starlet, Ana Ivanovic, but Ivanovic’s baseline precision turned coyote ugly deep in the final set. She again failed to notch her first KO over the world number 1. If Ivanovic and Kuznetsova were paying attention, though, it was more than their solid play that let those matches come so close.
Henin’s serve is betraying her far more often than she cares to admit.
Beginning at last fall’s year end championship in Madrid, Henin’s serve first showed signs of decline. Especially at the end of the first set in the finals against the vexing Maria Sharapova, Henin rapidly depreciated the value of her own serve by missing key first balls and tossing in numerous double faults. Over the course of the match, she had 8 double faults in total and faced break point 18 times. Sharapova’s fate was sealed when she converted only on 4 of those occasions and, no stranger to service woes, dumped 9 double faults of her own. Henin also held 18 break points, but converted 6 times, and ultimately prevailed in three close sets.
If any stroke is a window into a tennis player’s inner world, it is the serve. A motion can display brute confidence as easily as it reveals fatigue or on court defeat. Henin’s spate of double faults in her recent matches – 9 against Kuznetsova, 11 against Ivanovic (almost 3 whole games!) – is shockingly high from the world number 1 and shows a frailty that had not been revealed during her two-year reign over the women’s tour.
Henin is deservedly reputed as a first-class fighter, constantly beating back the attacks of the stronger, taller, more powerful women on the tour. But central to that resistance has been her mental resilience. She has developed an edge over the rest because she never loses focus or heart. Of course, there are some very notable exceptions: 2006 Australian Open final where she surrendered to Amelia Mauresmo due to illness and the 2007 Wimbledon semifinals where she inexplicably checked out in the third set against Marion Bartoli.
One match a year can be forgiven, but three of her last four matches (dating back to the Madrid Championships) have gone to three sets due in no small part to her ailing serve and, I suspect, retreating confidence.
Henin can rely on her other weapons, particularly the speed and power, to fend off lesser challengers till the cows come home. But unless she can retool her serve – or win back the air of invincibility that makes her opponents self-destruct – expect a surprisingly early exit from Australia and more surprising losses in 2008.
