JH Day '16: Queen Justine for Another Day
Time to recall that the Belgian soon-to-be Hall of Fame inductee lifted the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen in Paris four times -- in 2003, '05, '06 and '07 -- over a five year stretch during the prime of her career.
She's still the only woman to defend the Roland Garros title since Steffi Graf in 1996, and the only to three-peat since Monica Seles' three-year run from 1990-92.
And, of course, now it's time for another round of what is now a time-honored tradition in these parts. Come on, you know the words...
=Linus Speech on The True Meaning of Justine Henin Day=
Charlie Brown: Isn’t there anyone, who knows what Justine Henin Day is all about?!
Linus Van Pelt: Sure Charlie Brown, I can tell you what Justine Henin Day is all about. Lights please?
abiding in the corners of the court,
keeping watch over their stock by night.
And, lo, the Tennis Gods came upon them,
and Their glory shone round about them!
And they were sore afraid.
And the Tennis Gods said unto them,
“Fear not! For, behold, We bring you tidings o great joy,
which shall be to all the people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of Liege a Savior,
which is Justine,
La Petit Taureau.
And this shall be a sign unto you:
Ye shall find the Belgian babe wrapped in swaddling clothes,
lying in an empty racket bag.”
And suddenly, there was with the Tennis Gods
a multitude of the Heavenly Host praising Justine, and saying,
“Glory to LPT in the Highest,
and on Earth peace,
and good will toward Kim.
That’s what Justine Henin Day is all about, Charlie Brown.
Happy 34th birthday, Justine. From Backspin and beyond.
All for now.
More on La Petit Taureau (and everything else) later.
posted by Todd.Spiker @ 1:17 AM
3 Comments:
Liking the Henin and Lenglen info this week.
Rogers lost that match when the ball toss starting looking Ivanovic-like.
But on to more positive stuff. But I will start with doubles, because even though there is only a 25 pct chance of it happening, it should be mentioned. For instance Cara Black won the girls doubles, but never the Women's. Vinci won both, but with Pennetta for girls and Errani for women's. Others have won both at the French-K.Clijsters, Hingis, Zvereva, and Garrigues. But Krejcikova/Siniakova(2013) are trying to become the first to win both as a team.
The other part is about Kiki Bertens. Her live ranking is up to 33, so it is possible she may be the first Dutch woman seeded at a slam since Krajicek(32) at USO in 2007. First to reach a QF since Krajicek- W 07 & Schultz-McCarthy USO 95. If she makes it that far, Betty Stove's Wimbledon final in 1977 is a benchmark. Although the Netherlands did have one other spotlight turn. The 2000 Olympics. Boogert/Oremans picked up a silver medal, being defeated by the Williams sisters.
That is great information. Hadn't realized that Krej/Sin would be the first as a team.
Colt-
That is great stuff. I guess that also says a great deal about junior doubles, with teams really often just being about convenience as much as anything else.
Crazy how they almost didn't even sign up to play RG together, too. Hopefully, this experience has changed their mind on that. Big time. Obviously, this is a team capable of very big things.
Thanks on the Lenglen. I think I'm going to have to put it all together on one HUGE post after I wrap it up, so that I can refer back to it again later without a whole lot of headaches.
I think Lenglen is going to have to be on the Backspin MVP list for 2016... quite a feat when you've been dead for 78 years.
(I could make a joke here about a few specific LIVING people in the tennis world doing a good impersonation of such, of course... but I won't.) :D
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