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 So we’re down to the closing stages of the tournament and everything is starting to slot into place. There were some twists and turns on the women’s side, but the final is pretty much what you would have expected when the draw came out – Justine Henin vs. the winner of the fourth-round match between Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova... in this case, Serena Williams
Believe it or not, Williams and Henin haven’t played since 2003. They met three times that year - Henin won their two meetings on clay, one at Charleston and the other a controversial encounter at Roland Garros. Williams then got her revenge at Wimbledon a month later, winning in straight sets.
They’ve been through a lot physically and personally since then – Henin with a long-running virus that struck in 2004 and made her decide to limit her schedule ever since, and the breakup of her marriage late last year. Serena has had left knee troubles that have required two surgeries, and in September 2003, her half-sister Yetunde was shot and killed when visiting Compton.
When they have played for uninterrupted stretches, the two have been the most dominant players of the decade so far. For the most part, their periods at the top haven’t coincided – the exception being that brief period in the summer of 2003. This year could change that: rivals like Maria Sharapova, Amelie Mauresmo and Kim Clijsters are struggling mentally or physically – or nuptially – and the crop of –ovas and –vics behind them have continually missed chances to break through on big occasions.
But for that to happen, they too will have to stay healthy, which is a tenuous proposition even for Saturday. Serena, who has played four days in a row, said her knee was inflamed during and giving her “a lot of pain throughout” her semifinal match against Shahar Peer. Henin has been having some breathing problems for which she’s taking medication.
Henin had an easier time in her semifinal than Williams, winning 6-2, 6-3 over Anna Chakvetadze, who kicked herself for her odd strategy: “She likes when someone hit flat against her. Well, all girls mostly playing like that – that's how I played today as well, I don't know why. It's not my style of the game.”
Williams had fierce resistance in the first set from Shahar Peer but not much thereafter in her 7-6(4) 6-1 win. She demolished Sharapova for the second time in a row two rounds earlier, and got Nicole Vaidisova after that. It must have all looked oddly familiar to Williams, who played the same opponents in reverse order in the last three rounds of her Australian Open win.
But now she faces a player who wasn’t at the Australian Open, Henin. The match-up is always a absorbing one. Between the lines, there’s an interesting premise: Williams’ big hitting against Henin’s versatile and deceptively powerful game.
If Williams is on and making her shots, she can hit through Henin like she can anyone else. But if Henin can get some rallies going and disrupt Williams’ rhythm, she could frustrate her and draw a large number of errors.
Their past matches have tended to break down by surface – Henin generally winning on clay and Williams on faster surfaces.
There’s also a bit of an edge to their meetings because of that Roland Garros incident. Down 4-2 in the third set, Henin motioned for Williams to wait as Williams served at 30-0. After serving a fault, Williams rhetorically asked the umpire if she would receive a first serve again. She did not because the umpire had not seen Henin raise her hand.
Henin made no move to tell the umpire that she had motioned Williams to stop, with her coach Carlos Rodriguez later saying something to the effect of, ‘If Serena saw the raised hand, why did she serve?’ After the match, Williams accused Henin of “lying and fabricating.”
The incident was heightened by the crowd, which booed and whistled Williams repeatedly. The round before, Williams had beaten the French fans’ beloved Mauresmo in no uncertain fashion. Henin came from a break down to win that match and eventually her first Grand Slam title.
Is it all water under the bridge? Maybe, maybe not. Said Williams on Thursday night, “Hopefully we'll have a good, honest match.”
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