Henin-Hardenne

London: Justine Henin-Hardenne hopes to complete a career Grand Slam by taking lessons from Roger Federer.

The Belgian third seed, who takes on world No. 1 Amelie Mauresmo in the Wimbledon final on Saturday, believes men’s tennis has taught her so much that she hardly pays attention to the women’s competition.

“I don’t watch a lot of women’s tennis,” said the triple French Open champion.

“I watch a lot of men’s tennis. It’s a very different kind of game. In the last couple of months I have played much more with my forehand. The men are doing that a lot. They move forward. They’re very relaxed.

“They have a different kind of attitude. So it’s pretty interesting. When I watch Federer playing tennis, it’s really fantastic.”

Mauresmo

Henin-Hardenne goes into the final against the Frenchwoman as the slight favourite after steamrolling her way through the tournament in which she is yet to drop a set.

She believes that the first of her six Grand Slam wins, which came at Roland Garros in 2003, altered her mindset about the game.

“I’ve always been very emotional,” she said. “But I control that much better now than I did in the past. I would say that early in 2003 I felt something was different. I was seeing the game differently.

“I was No. 4 or 5 at the time. I said to myself: ‘Do you want to stay at this ranking? It’s great, but is it why you are playing tennis or do you want to become a champion and win Grand Slams?’

“Then I knew I had to do more than what I was doing. Also when I went to work in Florida with Pat Etcheberry, mentally I changed a lot of things, I understood the effort I had to make if I wanted to become a champion,” Henin-Hardenne said.

Mauresmo, who clinched her first Grand Slam title in Australia when Henin-Hardenne pulled out in the final with stomach pains, is bidding to become the first Frenchwoman since Suzanne Lenglen in 1925 to win Wimbledon.

HEAD-TO-HEAD

Justine Henin-Hardenne holds a 5-4 edge over Amelie Mauresmo in their career meetings so far. Following is the list of their nine clashes:

US Open, Sept. 1999: Mauresmo bt Henin-Hardenne 6-1, 6-4
Berlin meet, May 2003: Henin-Hardenne bt Mauresmo 7-6, 6-4
WTA Tour Championships, Nov. 2003: Mauresmo bt Henin-Hardenne 6-7, 6-3, 6-3
Sydney meet final, Jan. 2004: Henin-Hardenne bt Mauresmo 6-4, 6-4
Amelia Island, April 2004: Mauresmo bt Henin-Hardenne 6-7, 7-5, 6-3
Athens Olympics final, Aug. 2004: Henin-Hardenne bt Mauresmo 6-3, 6-3
Toronto meet, Aug. 2005: Henin-Hardenne bt Mauresmo 7-5, 3-6, 6-1
Australian Open final, Jan. 2006: Mauresmo bt Henin-Hardenne 6-1, 2-0 retired
Berlin meet, May 2006: Henin-Hardenne bt Mauresmo 6-1, 6-2

Compiled by Mohandas Menon