Even by today’s “hello, I must be going” atmosphere on the pro tour where tennis is too often viewed as transportation toward some other career track, Justine Henin’s retirement from the circuit a little more than two weeks shy of her 26th birthday was surprisingly swift.

Last week in Berlin, Henin spoke like a woman already contemplating her post-tennis plans when she said: “I’m young in life, but starting to get old on the tour. I’m growing up and I need different things. Even physically I don’t recover as well as I did when I was 20. That’s normal. Now I’ve been playing tennis for 20 years and it’s been my whole life but as a woman, as you get older, you need to think about the future. I’d love to go back to study. It would be a good challenge and I’ve been thinking about it a lot recently.”

The introspective Belgian put her plans into action today in becoming the first World No. 1 to officially retire at the top of the game.

Rather than play for a place in history as the first woman to win four straight French Open titles or continue her quest for the elusive Wimbledon title — the only major championship missing from her trophy case — or simply stick around and continue a lucrative career as a top 10 player picking and choosing her spots to play, Henin chose to call it quits at an age when some players are entering their prime.

When you stop and think about it, Henin’s exit — 11 days before the start of the French Open, her favorite tournament and the birth place of her dream to play professionally — isn’t all that shocking given the fact she was never one to run with the pack. Her game was predicated on her quickness, anticipation, superb racquet skills and all-court acumen as well as an intensity that burned deeply within. Speaking like a woman who is emotionally exhausted and found her desire depleted after 10 years on tour, Henin said her decision to call it quits wasn’t that difficult.

“I have been driving my career based on an emotion but I didn’t feel that emotion anymore since (the Sony Ericsson Championships in) Madrid,” Henin said. “At Madrid I felt I had reached the climax of my career. I had thought about taking a break, but in the end I didn’t think this was the right decision. I decided on returning from Berlin to stop now. I leave without any regrets and I know it is the right decision.”

Henin was operating on an accelerated path since she was 12 when her mother, Francoise,  passed away in 1995 after contracting cancer. Mother and daughter had sat side-by-side in the stands at Roland Garros, an anonymous pair of faces in a sea of spectators, watching the classic 1992 women’s final between Monica Seles and Henin’s idol, Steffi Graf, unfold on the court below. Already an accomplished junior player herself, the young girl was so enthralled with excitement, she made a verbal vow to her mother on the spot.

Someday, Henin promised her mother Francoise, she would return Roland Garros as a professional player and take home the title to her family. Given the fact that no Belgian had ever won a Grand Slam title and that she was so skinny she didn’t look heavy enough to leave deep footprints on the clay, much less march to such a momentous championship, the young girl’s declaration was beyond bold. But the mother, who passed her perpetually positive demeanor onto her third of four children, smiled supportive sensing a special strength in the slender child.

Much has happened in the girl’s life since she attended her first Roland Garros final. Two years after her mother’s passing,  Henin won the Roland Garros junior title as a wild card to become the first Belgian since 1947 to take the title. She would go on to reach the semifinal in 2001, but buckle beneath the burden of pressure and blow a one-set, 4-2 lead to Kim Clijsters. She would have a falling out with her father,  find a mentor and surrogate father in coach Carlos Rodriguez, and marry her boyfriend. Ultimately, Henin split with her husband, Pierre-Yves Hardenne, built herself into the world’s best player and reconciled with her father and family last year. 

The seven-time Grand Slam champion always operated on her own terms.

Competing in an era of baseline blasters who sometimes play with all the subtlety of blunt-force trauma, watching the 5-foot-5 3/4 Belgian dissect bigger, stronger, louder opponents with her assortment of slices, spins and sly angles was like watching a surgeon win a knife-fight wielding a scalpel against a street fighter swinging a sledgehammer.

The troubling trend with tennis today is that too often even the best players show up at events armed with the atttitude they’d rather be somewhere else. There are times when they treat tennis like a necessary nuisance, a means to an end to take them someplace else.

In contrast, Henin wasn’t using tennis to launch a career as a entrepreneur or entertainer. She may have been a master of misdirection on the court, compelling opponents to chase an array of angled shots, but her ultimate aim was true: she wanted to be the best and for 117 weeks she did just that.

Sure, there were mis-steps along the way: holding her hand up for time as Serena Williams was serving during the infamous 2003 Roland Garros semifinal then refusing to admit it when asked by the chair umpire.

When Henin bailed out of the 2006 Australian Open final trailing Amelie Mauresmo, 1-6, 0-2, citing an an upset stomach she traced to anti-inflammatory medication she has been taking for a sore shoulder, she denied the French woman the opportunity to complete her first Grand Slam title. That Henin, who exhibited both tenacity and toughness in rallying from one-set deficits to defeat current No. 1 Lindsay Davenport in the quarterfinals and former No. 1 Maria Sharapova in the semifinals, wasn’t willing to pay the physical price to finish a Grand Slam final created a deeply disappointing anti-climax to a memorable Melbourne women’s tournament. It was the tennis equivalent of Robert Duran’s “no mas” moment vs. Sugar Ray Leonard, but Henin would bounce back to become the first woman since Martina Hingis in 1997 to reach all four major finals in the same season.

Last year, Henin produced arguably the best tennis of her career, posting a 63-4 record and winning 10 of the 14 events she entered, including Roland Garros, the U.S. Open and the season-ending Sony Ericsson Championships in Madrid where she played a brand of attacking tennis not seen since the days of Martina Navratilova.

Though she called it quits today it is not inconceivable Henin could come back even a year or two down the line. Lindsay Davenport and Hingis both crafted successful comebacks and players ranging from Jennifer Capriati to Mary Pierce made winning returns after self-imposed sabbaticals.

Until the circuit actually creates a long-awaited legitimate offseason (and WTA Tour CEO Larry Scott has vowed to do that with his Roadmap play) we may see more top players take extended mid or late-career breaks and return. Interestingly, the Williams Sisters, who have been criticized in the past for skipping segments of past seasons, may actually be lengthening their careers by shortening their seasons as Andre Agassi did.  

It’s tempting to try to define Henin’s place in tennis history now, but the reality is it’s hard to imagine we’ve really seen the last of her on court.

“Clearly the fans will miss her grace, unbelievable backhand and fighting spirit,” Ken Meyerson, Henin’s agent told Tennis Week today. ”There are two highlights from her career that stand out in my opinion: winning the French Open last year in front of her family and coming back after an illness to win the Olympics.”

The 2007 U.S. Open semifinal, Henin defeated Venus Williams, 7-6(2), 6-4: In a battle of  reigning Grand Slam champions that had all the intensity of a major final, Williams hung so closely to Henin, the World No. 1 could feel her fast footsteps gaining ground.  When Williams stormed the net in the second set and blocked a leaping overhead into the open court she appeared poised to close the gap, but Henin scrambled forward and somehow scraped a volley off the court, lifting an improvised lob that eluded the expansive reach of the 6-foot-1 Williams. That shot symbolized the semifinal: Wimbledon winner Williams pressed the issue, but the reigning Roland Garros champion,  transitioning from defense to offense with all the ease of a woman flicking a switch, always seemed to stay one shot and a half-step ahead of her long-legged opponent and ultimately played over Williams’ head when it mattered most.  In the end, Henin reclaimed her personal space with a stirring sequence of shot making and a steely stubborn will to snap a seven-match losing streak to Williams (Venus won seven of nine career meetings with Henin) and reach her sixth Grand Slam final in her last seven major appearances. Henin became the only player to sweep both Williams sisters in the same Grand Slam event win the title — her seventh and perhaps final Grand Slam championship.

The 2007 French Open final, Henin defeated Ana Ivanovic, 6-1, 6-2:The match itself was not nearly as moving as the aftermath as Henin celebrated her first major title after reuniting with her family in becoming the first woman since Seles in 1992 to sweep three straight Roland Garros titles. She ended a seven-year estrangement from her family with an emotional reunion in April of 2007 after her brother David lapsed into a coma suffering serious injuries in a car accident. When David came out of the coma, he looked into Justine’s eyes marking the first time in seven years brother and sister had seen each other. Justine’s brothers, David and Thomas and sister Sarah were all on hand when she won the title without surrendering a set.  “It’s been a huge step in my life,” Henin said. “You cannot imagine how strongly I felt.”

The 2004 Athens Olympic semifinal, Henin defeated Anastasia Myskina, 7-5, 5-7, 8-6:Henin had mastered the art of the comeback by the time she stepped on the blue court in Athens, but the World No. 1 produced  a rally of masterpiece proportions against Myskina. Digging down so deep within her 5-foot-5 3/4 frame, you almost wondered if she pulled out a shovel from her racquet bag, the Belgian battled back furiously from a 1-5 deficit in the decisive set to earn a 7-5, 5-7, 8-6 victory over a frazzled Myskina, Henin’s will to win carried her into the gold medal match in what was her first tournament of that summer after a virus sidelined her following her shocking second-round French Open loss to Tathiana Garbin in May of ‘04. She would go on to beat Amelie Mauresmo, 6-3, 6-3, to claim the gold medal four years after Dominique Van Roost and Els Callens captured the bronze for Belgium in doubles at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. “It’s a special atmosphere,” Henin said after winning the gold.  “I cannot compare this feeling (to winning a Grand Slam title). It is an amazing feeling. I’m very proud. Three weeks ago, I didn’t know if I would be able to come here and now I’m the Olympic champion. It’s amazing.”

The 2003 U.S. Open semifinal, Henin defeated Jennifer Capriati, 4-6, 7-5, 7-6(4): The swift swipe of Henin’s hand struck its intended target repeatedly. Pounding her left thigh with the palm of her hand, shed tried to shake some life into her left leg that was constricted by cramps. For three sets of a pressure-packed semifinal that percolated with electric energy from both competitors and an enthusiastic Flushing Meadows night crowd, the second-seeded Belgian and  Capriati had waged a war of wills that covered nearly ever inch of the court in Arthur Ashe Stadium. Serving at 5-6 to send the match into a tiebreak, Henin didn’t need to consult the ever-present watch on her wrist to know the time was now. Summoning the strength of spirit that saw her twice stave off elimination when Capriati served for the match in both the second and third sets, the depth of desire was clear as Henin crack an ace off of her one solid leg to hold serve and force the decisive-set tiebreak. Racing out to a 5-1 lead in the tiebreaker Henin earned match point at 6-2. Three points later, the reigning Roland Garros winner secured a spot in her first career U.S. Open final when a Capriati lunging backhand volley plunged into the top of the net. Dropping to her knees and burying her head in her hands in equal parts exhaustion and exhilaration, Henin slowly arose embraced by a standing ovation from an appreciative and pro-Capriati crowd completing what was one of the highest-quality U.S. Open matches in years.  “I’m so tired; I just gave everything I had,” said Henin. “I was cramping, especially on my serve. During the point it was OK, but serving was very hard. I just did my best and it worked. I could have lost this match. It was very, very close and I’m very, very happy.” The match spanned three hours and three minutes and an even greater expanse of emotions. It was a classic clash that had it all — spectacular shotmaking, remarkable retrievals and compelling comebacks. In the final, Henin conquered compatriot Kim Clijsters, 7-5, 6-1, to claim her first U.S. Open title.

Andrea Jaeger spent her childhood chasing the bouncing ball on courts around the world and her gift for the game carried her to 10 career titles, the 1982 Roland Garros final and the 1983 Wimbledon final as she was hailed as one of tennis’ brightest teenage stars.

Tennis was her career, but wasn’t her calling. (more…)

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Soon, you’ll be able to step into the shorts of the six-time French Open champion too without sneaking into the senior tour’s  locker room. (more…)

The USTA is in the mood to party this month and you’re invited to the baseline bash.

May is national tennis month and the USTA is planning to host more than 200 tennis block parties to celebrate (if you think the words “USTA” and “party” coexist about as comfortably as a seance during Cinco de Mayo then you probably didn’t witness the celebration in Portland last December after the U.S. Davis Cup team captured its first Davis Cup championship in 12 years then you know their world-class celebratory skills can be as big as a Blake forehand). (more…)

If every picture tells a story then imagine the stories a man shooting decades of distinctive pictures has to tell.

If you’ve spent any length of time at the U.S. Open during the past two decades, you’ve probably come across one of tennis’ most unique story tellers.

He’s the man who wore the Nikon for a neck-tie (trading it more recently for a Canon to shoot digital), is clad in lived-in clothes that look so completely creased you might think Detective Columbo moonlights as his dry cleaner during breaks in cases. He’s the guy with the slightly stooped shoulders, the glint in his eye as if he’s got a secret he’s dying to share with you while trotting toward the tennis court with a sort of sideways walk that looks like his legs are operating in two different directions: the left intent on legging it out to the Grandstand court with the right rapidly running toward Arthur Ashe Stadium. (more…)

Sustaining a consistent daily tennis schedule in New York City can be like wandering in through the out door of a subway station during rush hour: you’re sometimes scrambling to find elbow room amid the mobile mass of humanity before you can even begin to embark on the necessary steps to get to where you need to be.

If you accept the premise that environment can shape personality and performance — Chris Evert once said she felt one of the most underrated influences on her career was the fact she grew up playing in the heat of Fort Lauderdale on clay and consquently built exceptional endurance playing in extreme heat and slow conditions — then consider the intensity New York City can infuse in its players.

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Sisk signed on as the new coach of the Tulane women’s tennis team — a program that was suspended after Hurricane Katrina hit southeast Louisiana on August 29, 2005 ravaging the north Gulf Coast area in its wake.

It’s been quite a ride.

Returning home to Alabama from her annual trip to the U.S. Open, Sisk and fellow passengers aboard Delta airlines found themselves tossed around in terrifying turbulence as their flight, caught in the cross winds caused by the category 3 storm, degenerated into a hellacious horror ride. (more…)

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Complete concentration on the approaching ball,  timing your swing and finishing your follow over and over and over can clean the cobwebs from your consciousness and fine-tune your focus to the point where the distractions of the world around you dissolve distilling the moment to one primary relationship: you and the ball.

In tennis terms, an extended rally seldom lasts longer than the length of a commercial.

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There were dragons at the door, golden Buddhas smiling knowing greetings, red lanterns shining from the ceiling and  opium in the air — and that was just a prelude to the player part as tennis stars shined on South Beach last week for the Sony Ericsson Open kick off party. (more…)