Australian Open - Henin granted Australian wildcard

Eurosport - Mon, 12 Oct 07:01:00 2009

Former champion Justine Henin, who said last month she was making a return to top-level tennis, has been granted a wildcard for the 2010 Australian Open.

Justine Henin EFE - 0

"I spoke to Justine's team over the weekend and was happy to grant her request for a wildcard into the Australian Open," tournament director Craig Tiley said.

"Justine is the ultimate competitor, the winner of seven Grand Slam titles, and we are looking forward to welcoming her back to the Australian Open."

The 27-year-old former world number one announced her comeback after 18 months out of the game, saying she had been inspired by fellow Belgian Kim Clijsters's own stunning return after leaving the game to start a family.

Henin, the 2004 Australian Open champion, humbled a succession of bigger and stronger opponents in the women's game despite her waifish 1.67 metre frame, and won 41 titles before retiring in May 2008 at the peak of her success.

Reuters

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  1. justine who ? :)

    From Dido, on Mon 19 Oct 9:08AM

  2. Ilda S,history is on the side of that­ submission.Sometime back,Serena was trailing Kim 1-5­ and went on to win. I am certain that's why she­ snapped because that call interfered with her­ concentrarion.Yes Kim is officially the USO­ 'champion' but was that match actually won and­ lost. The controversy remains'

    From AbiodunS, on Tue 13 Oct 10:27AM

  3. victor is totally right...she will not win a single­ match until she quits like the losers do which she­ is...BIG FAT WHITE CHEATING B I T C H

    From ANONYMOUS, on Tue 13 Oct 8:20AM

  4. i have an award for being the best player in my soccer­ team and also for being the best player during the­ season which just ended 2 weeks ago...i play in­ Australia for an under 18 side

    From Victor, on Tue 13 Oct 8:06AM

  5. What have you won lately Victor? If Justine is a loser­ then ...

    From Frank, on Tue 13 Oct 6:43AM
  6. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    who cares..its not like she is going to win­ anyway....unless she does what she did in rollandgarros­ again...she is a BIG FAT SORE LOSER

    From Victor, on Tue 13 Oct 6:24AM

  7. Good to have Justine, the ultimate female competitor,­ back on the tour again. Well done and good luck for­ 2010 !!!

    From champagnecharlie007, on Tue 13 Oct 5:04AM

  8. i hope ana ivanovic will not lose early for the sake of­ her fans.

    From hujan.lebat, on Tue 13 Oct 4:11AM

  9. Serena is not­ wight........sure yeah ....sorry for the­ weird sentences.
    it was a " sleepy person spelling­ mistake .
    i meant "she`s not a white tennis player­ ,,,yeah .she`s black.
    but for god sake stop the racial­ talking it`s not even related to it . she`s a black­ athlete , like any other one . so why u keep insisting­ on mentioning the racial issues. whenever her name is­ mentioned . Tiger Wood was a legendary black athlete­ had a lot of contenders ,and these racial controversies­ never were mentioned around his news

    From abdurrazeg a, on Tue 13 Oct 2:14AM

  10. To All SERENA haters :
    Serena isn`t that good looking­ .........yeah
    Serena is too muscular­ .........yeah
    Serena doesn`t represent a top female­ figure.........defientlay yeah.
    Serena is not­ wight........sure yeah
    Serena acted badly with the foot­ fault incident ...............yeah
    Serena is a­ powerfull hitter ,,,,,yeah
    Serena has 11 grandslams­ yeah.
    SErena made the biggest number of this year aces­ inspite of participating in a small number of event­ ...... yeah
    serena is a good tennis player .....no .­ Safina is good player but serena is a true tennis­ legend...
    that`s it . i love her playing her passion­ and her fighting spirit when she`s down . that`s­ exciting for any tennis match she plays.
    So the bottom­ line here . Serena is a tennis powerful player needed­ that muscular aggressive figure to reach her goals.­ she doesn`t need to be sexy .she`s not participating in­ a beauty competition . like American next top model .­ she`s a damn american tennis player.

    From abdurrazeg a, on Tue 13 Oct 2:07AM

  11. yeah where`s COn . I heard that he has commited­ suicide after safina became world nO2.

    From abdurrazeg a, on Tue 13 Oct 1:58AM

  12. i am delighted that she`s back . but thanks god that­ there is a hawk system . so she won`t cheat like she­ did in rolandgarros .
    but wait a minute . she didn`t­ cheat on a ball was counted out she faked injury. I Hop­ serena wouldn`t meet her . so she`ll be againg­ penalized with while set . because Hennin will claim­ that Serena has shoved the F****** ball down into her­ throat .Sorry , looooooooooool

    From abdurrazeg a, on Tue 13 Oct 1:56AM

  13. Don't think Nabuc's Con,but rather­ RobertXxx111,there was in Con some annoying class and­ eloquence and tennis knowledge.Nabuc's got none of­ the above but he annoys me

    From coolworld, on Tue 13 Oct 12:52AM

  14. And that lineswoman was so cute, wasn't she?

    From LilBee, on Mon 12 Oct 10:51PM

  15. Abiodun, you're sooo funny. Keep finding reasons.­ And what was the reason Serena lost the first set? She­ felt sorry for Kim and she double faulted? Ridiculous!­ Kim won it fair and square. Serena didn't have any­ answers to her game. She got frustrated that she was­ losing and she unloaded all her frustration to the poor­ lineswoman.

    From Ilda S, on Mon 12 Oct 8:58PM

  16. I still insist Kim's victory is tainted by that­ foot fault saga. Lets see how she fares without the­ 'assist'. However,the Belgians' return will­ enliven the women's tour.

    From AbiodunS, on Mon 12 Oct 8:26PM

  17. If Clijsters can come back from a two year retirement­ and win the US Open there is no reason to dismiss­ Henin's chances of doing well . After all the­ women's game is quiet mediocre these days !!

    From Tim, on Mon 12 Oct 8:24PM

  18. she was actually inspired by roger federer not­ clisters.
    get your facts right eurosport.

    From Pavlos, on Mon 12 Oct 7:30PM

  19. sorry but she should NOT be 3rd/4th favourite to win­ the Australian open.. its quite an insult to the other­ players actually. She WILL NOT, do a Clijsters. sorry.

    From sean_jones1990, on Mon 12 Oct 5:47PM

  20. some has said she wont do a kim clijsters and win the­ aussie open im not being funny but she has more talent­ and ablity in her forehand than the whole of clijsters­ and her records prove it 7 slams same as venus

    From bredafarrell, on Mon 12 Oct 5:39PM
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