Bob Larson's Tennis News | October 31, 2009

By Charles Bricker

Maybe it wasn't the only reason Justine Henin decided to come back to women's tennis after a one and one-half year retirement, but Roger Federer's long-sought triumph at the French Open was certainly a factor for her.

"When I talked to her in July, when she started to think about coming back, she told me that when Federer won Roland Garros, she put herself in his place," Carlos Rodriguez, Justine's long-time coach, explained this afternoon.

"She is thinking this guy who had never won the French Open and who they were saying would never be No. 1 again fought back to win the French and reach No. 1 again. And I believe Justine is now thinking, 'Why can't I win Wimbledon then.' "

Indeed. Why can't Justine now win the only Grand Slam that has escaped her, just as the French had eluded Federer for years. It is that intense desire and motivation that is an important part of this Henin comeback, though not the only factor.

How good it was to see her and Carlos again after they took their leave, presumably forever, from the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour in May of 2008.

In her first public exposure in the U.S. since declaring her comeback, the little Belgian was on one of the hardcourts at her Sixth Sense Academy in remote, whistle-stop Howey-in-the-Hills, Fl., northwest of Orlando.

Same Justine. Blonde hair in a pony tail. Same racket. Same fast-twitch feet. Same textbook-perfect backhand. I sat behind the far baseline as she hit with one of the academy's most promising juniors, Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan, who turned 16 two weeks ago. You never lose your appreciation for the way Henin hits the ball with total relaxation.

OK, she's got a ways to go. She's maybe 60 to 70 percent, she said after the practice session. But does anyone doubt how hard she'll work to get back to No. 1 and perhaps win Wimbledon?

This road back to the women's tour began in July when organizers of a December exhibition in Dubai called her to invite her to play against three top retired women. "But then they changed," said Justine. "Now I was going to play active top-10 players." Like Dinara Safina, who was No. 1 at the time.

"I thought, 'I'm not going to be ready for this. But maybe I can practice and it will be a nice challenge for me.' So I called Carlos (who was in France) and asked him to start training me."

Initially, it was to be a one-off exhibition. No comeback. "After two or three practices, I began to think, 'I'm still young and while I have no regrets about stopping in May of 2008.' I learned I could live without tennis. I can do it. But I'm only 27 years old. So I want to try. I want to come back."

That and Federer's 15th Slam at Paris fueled this comeback and the scent of a Wimbledon title will continue this drive.

They say that once tennis gets into your blood at an early age, you never lose it. "I thought I could get it out," Henin said, half-joking.

"I once said to Carlos that I was afraid the only thing I can do is play tennis. But after this much time off, now I know I am a human being. I can do other things. I found I could trust myself as a person. I needed to try different things to realize how the world is."

Once out of her tennis bubble, she read voraciously. She made new friends. She had long discussions on serious issues -- something few, if any, players have time for when they are on tour and their minds on constantly on the next match or next tournament.

"I'm coming back to tennis feeling stronger as a person," Henin said.

She began with a lot of endurance work and just light hitting on court two or three times a week with Carlos, for maybe an hour, an hour and a half. It's not easy to find the right balance between pushing yourself hard to get into shape and not picking up injuries. Pro football training camps are rife with players who suffer through hamstrings and thigh pulls. But Henin has had no comeback training injuries.

The endurance work is largely over. Beginning next week at her Florida academy, she'll start working on specific strokes with a heavy emphasis on volleying. After a week, she's returning to Belgium, where she'll train until it's time to go to Dubai for that exo.

"For 20 years I lived for tennis and nothing else," she said. Now she knows there is more than tennis out there. She'll get back to this more worldly experience against some day, but for now tennis is back at the front of her mind.

Charles Bricker can be reached at bricker@tennisnews.com