• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Henin-Hardenne says women's game getting harder

Posted on: Wednesday, 18 January 2006, 02:10 CST

By Julian Linden

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - The days when the top women could expect to turn up at grand slams and simply stroll through the early rounds are gone forever, according to Justine Henin-Hardenne.

The former world number one says there is so much in depth in women's tennis these days that even the best players have to be on their guard at all times.

"Women's tennis is changing a little bit. We cannot say that the first week is easy for the top seeds," Henin-Hardenne told a news conference at the Australian Open on Wednesday.

"We have to be focused in every match because all these players, they want to beat us and they want to be at our place.

"We need to be one hundred percent all the time. I think that's changed from a couple years ago."

As if to prove her point, Henin-Hardenne was given a tough workout by little-known Czech Hana Sromova at the Australian Open on Wednesday.

Henin-Hardenne, seeded eighth for the championship, won the match 7-6 6-1 but it was anything but easy.

The Belgian had never seen the Czech play before and struggled to adapt to her game in the opening set.

Sromova provided her with plenty of stubborn resistance to force the opening set into a tiebreak but her challenge faded quickly in the second set when she rolled her left ankle and crashed on to the court.

"I hate to play someone that I've never seen play or heard anything about," Henin-Hardenne said.

"It's not easy because you don't know what really to expect. I don't like this kind of situation."

NEW Favorite

The victory enforced the bookmakers' decision to install Henin-Hardenne ahead of compatriot Kim Clijsters as favorite to win the title following a brilliant start to the season.

She has yet to drop a set in her two matches in Melbourne so far but remains unhappy about her form.

"I wasn't feeling that great on the court. I was doing the mistakes and the winners. That's not the kind of game I like," she said.

"I never really found the right balance between aggression and patience but that's the kind of match you have to win even if you're not playing good."

Henin-Hardenne took last week's Sydney International and has not lost a match in Australia since 2003. She won the Australian Open in 2004 but injury prevented her from defending her title last season.

Source: REUTERS

More News in this Category