Justine Henin’s relatively low seeding for her stature has led to a must-see matchup in the fourth round. Nick Bollettieri looks at what each Belgian must do to get past the other.
I should have known the women’s draw at The Championships this year would produce some explosive matchups. With Grand Slam champions Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin seeded No. 8 and No. 17, respectively, their fourth-round matchup scheduled for Monday—not to mention Serena Williams vs. Maria Sharapova—has the entire tennis community talking. We’re not used to bringing up the Belgians’ rivalry until late in the second week of majors. But this battle is special, and it might finally draw some distinctions between the two in 2010.
When you mention Henin and Clijsters, people automatically start to see similarities: Both represent the Belgian flag proudly, they’re separated by just a year in age, both hold Grand Slam titles, and they retired around the same time. What’s more, each returned with force to contend at majors. Now, heading into the fourth round at Wimbledon, each has captured two titles on the season and each is looking to tip their 12-12 head-to-head record in her favor.
Somehow, I have a feeling this match might go the distance. Neither player has dropped a set en route to the Round of 16. Justine and Kim are both hungry for their first Wimbledon crowns and are going to leave everything on the court to reach the quarterfinals. Whoever survives the battle of the Belgians is going to have a great shot at winning the title. But to get past the fourth round, Justine and Kim must take note of a few things:
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Justine Henin
I always have compared Justine Henin to a male Roger Federer. She has every shot in the book, plus she moves like a cat. The only thing she needs to worry about in this next match is her serve. Just like Andy Murray, Henin gets caught trying to hit her first serve too hard. Since she moves so much better than many others on the WTA tour, she must focus on percentage and not give up too much ground on the next shot. She will also need to take opportunities on short balls and get to the net. Justine volleys extremely well and needs to close the net to counter Kim’s defense.
Kim Clijsters*
I jump every time Kim does the splits. Her movement is explosive and her shots are penetrating, but she can become trigger happy at times.Against Justine, she’ll need to control her aggressiveness to keep her unforced errors at a minimum. She is the more powerful of the two and doesn’t need to go for broke to win this match. Clijsters should also look to hit her backhand up the line to open the court, as Justine doesn’t hit her forehand as well on the run.
Nick Bollettieri of the IMG/Bollettieri Tennis Academy has trained many collegiate and professional players, including 10 who reached the world No. 1 ranking.