The question on everyone’s mind after Justine Henin-Hardenne crushed Mary Pierce in the women’s final of the French Open was whether or not the Little Backhand That Could ever would—ever would win Wimbledon.
I understand the reasoning behind this, as it’s the only Grand Slam she hasn’t won. But that’s a complete fluke. Henin-Hardenne’s game—more importantly, her body and nervous system—are tailor-made for winning on grass. She’s a lithe, acrobatic, superb athlete (that, more than any other quality, is the key to contending at the world’s preeminent tournament) with a low center of gravity. She has a full repertoire of spins. She can volley. She can hit winners from the backcourt or play finesse shots from anywhere. And remember, although she missed the tournament last year, in three previous finishes she made two semifinals and a final.
Can this girl play on grass?
Does a bear . . . er, is the Pope . . . er . . . . You know what I mean.
A group of us were talking with Carlos Rodriguez, Justine’s coach, after the French Open final and he had some revealing thoughts:
A few hours later, in a small-group session with the newly crowned champ, Justine said:
I’m of two minds here. I’d love to see Justine get with the flow of the game a little more naturally, which would mean coming in more. The model for that should be a player of comparable gifts, Evonne Goolagong Cawley. She won two titles at Wimbledon with a feathery, delicate game. She used to just throw in a sneaky little slice backhand or even her flat, low-bouncing forehand and glide on in, where her reflexes and solid volley would take care of the rest. Although Justine takes much bigger cuts at the ball and has longer back swings, she has the legs and hands to pursue a similar strategy.
By the same token, I think Justine can win by adding just a few dashes of the all-court game to her baseline hugging inclinations. She’ll be fine, as long as she isn’t downright phobic about attacking the net. In the past, Henin-Hardenne’s game was a little “light” for the likes of Venus and Serena Williams (who split the four titles on offer from 2000–2003, with Maria Sharapova sneaking in to grab last year’s title).
But unless the Williams sisters are in the throes of a painful “Where did we go wrong?” bout of self-examination and committed to a course correction, they simply won’t be anything like the threat they were a few years ago. Who’s got the game to beat Justine on grass? The answer to that is most vividly framed in another question: “Who’s a superior athlete to Justine?”
The biggest stumbling block for Henin-Hardenne may be lack of match play on grass, as her doctors have suggested that she not play any tournaments until Wimbledon. Remember, this is a player who often struggles in early rounds, then seems to gain confidence as she gets deeper and deeper into the draw. If she survives into the second week, she’ll be hard to beat.