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THE
SCOOP: THURSDAY, MARCH 16
JH-H v. Dementieva in Indian Wells semis
Justine on Serena’s disappearance: ‘Physically,
maybe it's harder for her to work
as hard as she did before.’
By Matthew Cronin, TennisReporters.net
Mal Taam/MALTphoto |
| Justine Henin-Hardenne is the mentally toughest woman on tour. |
FROM THE PACIFIC LIFE OPEN IN INDIAN WELLS –
Justine Henin-Hardenne isn’t sleeping well in the desert, but she’s
turning the mattress over on her foes.
Henin-Hardenne blitzed the creative Gisela Dulko 6-3, 6-2, making the Argentine
look like someone who was attempting to sculpt a masterpiece with play-doe,
while she was performing her standard Michelangelo routine with her eyes
nearly shut.
Henin-Hardenne will face Elena Dementieva in the semis, in which
could be a tantalizing match if Dementieva maintains her composure and
takes more risks than she usually does against tennis cagiest player.
Dementieva pushed past Ana Ivanovic 2-6, 6-4 6-2 and was quite frustrated
with herself in the second set, but she knows that the 18-year-odl Ivanovic
can’t run with her and, once the Serb stopped dictating earl,y the
mach was over. With her natural size, straight and solid strokes, Ivanovic
still has a huge upside, but, like Sharapova, conditioning and footwork
are a big factor.
Dementieva was quite angry with herself in the second set, so mad that
on some key points, she decided to hit two first serves instead of a second
serve.
“I don’t like it when people are trying to attack my second
serve, so I just try to hit the ball," she said, "People can
go for a winner off my second serve and I didn't want this.”
Dementieva does that plenty off her foes’ second serves, which is
why she’s been such a solid Top-10 player for the last six years.
But Henin-Hardenne brings a lot more to the table than Ivanovic does, especially
mentally. She’s the paragon of mental toughness.
“She’s the toughest one on the tour,” Dementieva said.
“I was very surprised she was unable to finish her Australian Open
semifinal, because I know how tough she can be. She’s always played
no matter what, she’s such a great fighter. To play her is always
difficult not only because of her power and speed, but because of her
mental part.”
Dementieva still wants to reach the top and says that it will take improvement
in every department. One little stepping stone would be Henin-Hardenne, who is
without her husband Pierre-Yves at this tournament and says she’s
a little out of sorts – late at night and in the early morning.
“When I'm traveling alone, I'm not sleeping that well 'cause I'm
thinking a lot,” she said. “It's in my personality.”
Cynthia Lum/WireImage.com |
| Serena Williams piles up pullouts like she's piling up the pounds as her respite continues. |
Serena’s Pull out
It’s gotten to the point where it’s become incredibly boring
announcing Serena Williams’ withdrawals. This time, it’s Miami,
but it’s the same reason: She’s out of shape because
she’s not committed enough to rehab her chronically sore knee.
If she was committed, like she was at the turn of last year when she won
the Aussie Open, she could rehab, but she’s not. It’s the
least well kept secret in the sport that she's found plenty of time to
hit the New York and LA party circuit, but has devoted little time to
get in shape and practice her sport.
Who knows when she’ll come back, but it’s hard to see her rushing
back for clay court tournaments. If I had to venture a guess, I’d
say Wimbledon, which she almost never misses. Bu,t even then, I wouldn’t
be surprised if she skipped the whole year entirely.
The thing is, the tour is not accepting these withdrawals as legitimate
injury pull outs, which is why Serena is drowning in bonus pool fines,
somewhere in the neighborhood of $400,000.
Since she underwent knee surgery in August of 2003, she’s mostly
been in a slump, winning just one Slam (the ’05 AO) and just two
other tournaments, '04 Miami and Beijing. That’s just three of
her 26 overall titles.
She’s currently ranked No. 58, her lowest mark in seven years
and could fall out of the Top 70 after Miami, where she reached the quarters
last year and lost to Venus.
It’s a very sad state of affairs for Serena, who, with the exception
of her mom, surrounds herself with a clucking group of enablers. Like
Tom Cruise, she disdains so-called “negative” people. She
wants people around who keep telling her how very cool she is, and how
very sexy she looks.
Why return to a sport where she’d have to walk on court and prove
her celebrity status once again? Why hit the practice courts 25 pounds
overweight like she did in Australia only to have photographers snap shots
on her bottom and send them around the world and risk having her friends
see them? It’s easier to hide behind an injury excuse and put off
thinking about when she should return or if she wants to put herself through
the grinder again.
Given what an incredible performer she was from 1998-2003, her decision
not to play is bad for the sport and for her own personal development.
Just tell the truth, please.
“It's pretty strange the way Serena is not at her best level right
now,” Henin-Hardenne said. “It's probably very hard physically. She
was tough for a long period of time. She's a great champion. She has been
mentally one of the toughest players that I've seen on the tour. Probably
now she's a bit tired about that. Physically, maybe it's harder for her
to work as hard as she did before. But I think that we have other personalities
on the tour that can promote the game. But, for sure, Serena, she has a
name, The tour needs her, that's for sure. It's pretty sad that she's
not playing a lot now.“
© TennisReporters.net 2006
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