‘She pushed me so much’ – Justine Henin ‘grateful’ for Serena Williams rivalry after American announces retirement

Justine Henin says facing Serena Williams was the “biggest challenge” of her career and that their matches pushed her to be a “better player”.

Henin and Williams were involved in a number of high-profile clashes over the years, including the French Open and Wimbledon semi-finals in 2003 and the Australian Open final in 2010. They also met in three of four Grand Slam quarter-finals in 2007, all of which Henin won.

The rivalry between Henin and Williams was one of the most captivating in women’s tennis this century.

“Of course she has been a big part of my career, because she pushed me so much to become a better player,” said former world No. 1 Henin on Eurosport.

“She was my biggest challenge, like many other players, and I feel really grateful and happy that I could be a part of it with Serena, with Venus [Williams], with all these champions. But Serena of course, mentally challenged me a lot during my career, and she made me win big matches a couple of times.

“Mentally it was hard for me to find the conviction that I could play against her, that I could compete against her. She was impressive all the time and I had to work so hard to be part of it so I’m grateful. I can say thank you, and yes, [Serena announcing her retirement] was also a special moment for me.”

Williams bowed out of tennis with a battling three-set defeat to Ajla Tomljanovic.

Henin says the 23-time Grand Slam champion showed that “everything is possible” during her career and was not surprised that she looked strong in New York despite only playing a few matches this summer.

“She never completely surprises us because, as she says, ‘I’m Serena’. We all say, ‘She’s Serena’. It’s always been like this.

“I have one memory against Serena – I have many memories – but, I was coming back on the tour in 2010, playing the final of the Australian Open and I was winning 1-0, 15-40 in the third set. And then she served four aces in a row, four serves that were almost 200km an hour. We all know that when she’s under pressure her character, the champion she is, can come back from anything. So yes that’s how she built her career.

“She proved that everything is possible, and in this tournament she was so close to going further.

“It was a big celebration for her and I’m happy for her that it happened this way. It would have been tough to see her not being able to compete in the first round. This was really special and in the end she lost in the third round. She could have won one or two more matches and then who knows what would have happened.

“But in the end the celebration was huge and it’s been a fantastic story for the tournament and a nice way for her to walk away.”

Tomljanovic is set to face fifth seed Ons Jabeur in the quarter-finals on Tuesday.

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