London: Never one to give much away, Justine Henin-Hardenne could not help but flash a little smile when her thoughts turned to next week’s French Open.

She never expected to be in such good shape ahead of the claycourt Grand Slam.

“I should be ready but I don’t want to call myself favourite for Roland Garros,” the Belgian said, her customary caution kicking in. “There are 128 girls in the draw and they have all got the same goal: winning the tournament.”

If the cagey Henin-Hardenne refuses to consider herself the favourite for the May 23-June 5 event there are no shortage of competitors ready to label her as such.

Three straight claycourt titles leading up to Roland Garros underline that status.

“If she plays on like this, she will win everything against everybody everywhere,” a shell-shocked Patty Schnyder said after being on the receiving end of a thrashing in Berlin earlier this month. “She is favourite for Roland Garros.”

Henin-Hardenne went on to win in Berlin against Nadia Petrova ? a third straight tournament final victory against a Russian.

The dark days of mystery viruses and niggling injuries would appear to be finally behind her.

Now ranked 11th in the world after a miserable spell on the sidelines toppled her from No. 1, she is a match for anybody on her day.

Winner of three Grand Slam titles, she has the perfect big-match temperament to complement a game of sublime touch and astute angles. The last of those Grand Slam wins came in Melbourne in January last year after a superb 2003 in which she bagged the French and US Open crowns.

Then illness struck. The 22-year-old struggled with respiratory illness and was struck down later in the year by viruses, which left her listless and unable to compete.

A mammoth effort in Athens carried her to Olympic gold but the strain told and she slumped out of the US Open in the fourth round.

Viral illness kept her from playing in the prestigious season-ending WTA Tour Championships and a cloud hung over her future. Any lingering doubts have been dispelled by her form since returning to the tour in April.

Her first outing, in Miami, ended in a creditable quarter-final finish but it is since then that she has shone as of old.