Serena Still Hurt From Four Years Ago, Loses to Henin

Posted Jun 05, 2007 3:22PM By D-Wil (RSS feed)

Filed Under: Tennis

Justine Henin had won 29 straight sets at the French Open before today. Serena Williams, a 6-4, 6-3 loser to Henin, allowed the Belgian woman to make it 31.

For all the hype surrounding this match, it turned out to be a very routine win for the world's #1 woman player. The prevailing thought was that Serena would make the match physical, too physical for the slight (5' 6", 125 pounds) Henin. Physical in tennis means hard-hit, heavy shots and running a player with those shots from side to side; that's what wears down an opponent over a period of time. Williams, though, never seemed to find her way in the match because Henin smacked her off the court before Williams had the chance.

There is also a history between these two players that makes them mortal enemies. Four years ago at the French before a key point in their match then, Henin held up her hand just as Serena was about to serve. Williams, seeing this, half-heartedly hit her serve into the net. Williams rightfully expected to be able to hit that first serve again. The chair umpire, though, said she never saw Henin raise her hand to stop play. Henin, in a stunningly ruthless gamesmanship maneuver, refused to acknowledge that she held up her hand, essentially costing Williams her first serve. The French fans showed their bias and booed Williams (Henin is from the French portion of Belgium). Serena was shaken and never recovered from that point. She lost her serve that game and eventually the match.

So, here were these women four years later meeting at the French for the first time since that incident. When they entered the court, Henin was cheered wildly. Serena's entrance was met with lukewarm polite cheering. Any other, non-French player who outright cheated to win a point during a match would have been booed every time they walked on any court at the French Open (ask Maria Sharapova).Serena did lose meekly, but in all honesty it appeared that she was severely shaken by the lack of crowd response to her from the time she walked on the court. She has tried hard to put the match behind her and was hurt
by the crowd that was definitely for her in every other match in which she played at the French up to this point.

What is most interesting is that the American tennis media has had, for the most part, no problem saying Williams was ripped off by Henin four years ago. They showed that incident at least three times before the two played today. But even ex-players like Martina Navratilova continue to make excuses for both Henin and the French crowd.

Navratilova should be ashamed of herself, as should the French tennis patrons, and Justine Henin. Hopefully the crowds at the U.S, Open remember this moment and give Henin the Bronx cheer she deserves every time she enters the U.S. Open grounds in Flushing Meadows, New York later this summer. Maybe then she get the message that the cheating tactics she and players like Sharapova use aren't welcome to at least some of the worldwide tennis audience.

Henin and Sharapova need the luster of their images tarnished by the reality of what they are: cheats who will do anything to win a tennis match.

C'est le vie to Americans this year at the French Open.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

6-05-2007 @ 5:30PM

Bob said...

it was williams own fault for "half-heartedly"serving when she saw the hand go up.and her injuries?if shed lose about 75 lbs and tone up the blubber hanging from her arms,she may be able to compete.she looked like a hungry hippo today in purple.

adam said...

funny you criticize the French 'booing' Serena, etc. Have you ever been at US Open? Have you ever heard the Americans cheering every mistake made by a foreign players? I guess, all means seem to be justified as long as they give a victory to the US players.

I wish Serene finally learn how to handle defeat, she was beat by a better player, and a champion like she is shoud be able to give credit when it's due.

6-05-2007 @ 11:58PM

rhonda said...

How mature is that calling people out of their name (hippo). We need to realize that these girls (tennis players) are young people.They do have feeling! If that was your child would you or could you appreciate the name calling. If you can't be an adult and enjoy the game then don't watch. Maybe you would be better off watching the sopa. Hats off to all the tennis players.

6-06-2007 @ 12:00AM

"How mature is that calling people out of their name (hippo)." by rhonda typifies failing education.serena was never called a "hippo,"i said she looked like one.if you were my child,i would be complaining to the school board about your lack of reading comprehension..

6-06-2007 @ 12:17AM

D-Wil said...

Hippo? Wonderful shock-jock talk. Fans have devolved into priding themselves on how rude a comment they can make instead of priding themselves on having informed opinions of athletes.

The booing at the U.S. Open? They categorically do not boo every foreign player. In fact, Sharapova and Nadal are easily treated as well as Americans who play at the Open.

Sharapova cheating is okay? Since when do we condone cheating? Sharapova gets away with it more than other players because she's the one of the three "faces of tennis" today, two of whom, Sharapova and Nadal, take advantage of their status. It is equally despicable for chair umpires and tournament directors to allow it. As far as Sharapova is concerned, there are no more than three women on the tour who have anything other than a complete distaste for her and her crass, boorish father.

Henin? She's a great clay court player - no doubt. Winning 31 sets in a row is a phenomenal accomplishment. However, for her, when asked by the umpire to lie and tell the umpire she did not affect Serena's serve during their French Open match four years ago leaves me with a sick feeling in my stomach.

This type of act was rarely if ever tolerated as recently as seven years ago. This new crop of players, particularly the women, practice this kind of cut-throat behavior much more than their predecessors. And it is sad that the public finds no problem with this these types of acts.

6-06-2007 @ 12:33AM

Liberal said...

Serena got smoked. Attempting to make excuses for her is pathetic and embarrassing. You don't lose in straight sets because you were affected by the crowd. You get rolled in straight-sets because you are inferiorly conditioned and outplayed. As the kids say, Serena got 'owned.' End of story.

6-06-2007 @ 12:37AM

Liberal -
This is why you people are so funny. Critique Serena to a degree and there are cries of racism. Defend her to some degree and she just got smoked.

Another sign of shock-jock mentality in fans are fans' knee-jerk and reductionist reactions to athletes and events.

6-06-2007 @ 6:05AM

Demenn said...

It is truely amazing how this biased view of poor, scutinized Serena was unfairly judged by the French Crowd. Typical American Sportsman Memory Gap. After throwing matches because she didn't want to play her sister before a Final in tournaments(Indian Wells eg.), and countless 'soft tissue injuries' after a loss, how can this be applauded on any stage? Starting with John McEnbrat and Jimmy Conners then graduating to the likes of both the William Sisters, Jennifer Capriati, and A. Ro-Dick(pun intended), the American Tennis Professionals have acquired much deserved 'booing'. If it wasn't for the true CLASS ACTS of players such as James Blake, Michael Chang, Jim Currier, Chris Everett, and Lindsey Davenport, I would swear it is in the water or Gatorade that is given to the players. Accountablity is lost here and credit should be given to the better player of that moment. Everyone in sports experiences a loss...Deal with it and move on! Become better and not bitter. It took Natalie Zveronareva(sp?) 19 tries to beat Steffi Graf, and you never heard the fouls, cries, tantrums, and blame during that domination. Sad, really sad!

6-06-2007 @ 3:08PM

It was a nice attempt to cover up for Serena's sorry performance, D-Wil, props on the attempt.

Unfortunately, Serena's not looking for the easy exit you want to give her:

On the fans seemingly rooting for Henin:

"I think they were definitely for Justine, but that doesn't matter," Williams said.

So you're making excuses for someone who doesn't want any, who accepts she got rolled in straight sets.

'Oh, but if only the crowd would have cheered Serena more, ...'

Unreal. She lost, that's it. It's not some incredible conspiracy. French fans rooted for a French woman. I mean, American fans never root for Americans, right? I know it didn't fit the nice 'retribution for Henin's nefarious hand wave' or whenever, but sometimes the results get in the way of the fairy tale.

And some writers can't let their 'poetic justice' angle go.

Hey, it's your blog. If you're comfortable with this type of article, that's between you and AOL.

Just don't expect intelligent readers to buy it.