JH Day '17: Queen Justine for Another Day
It's once again time to recall that the Belgian Hall of Famer 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 might 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.
Since we last celebrated La Petit Taureau in the springtime, quite a bit has happened in the life of one Justine Henin.
She was inducted into the Hall of Fame in Newport...
@ International Tennis Hall of Fame ;-)
— Justine Henin (@Justine_Henin) July 16, 2016
Henin: "I wasn't the biggest or the strongest. But like Amelie said, impossible is nothing. You have to believe."?????? pic.twitter.com/hTfStddetQ
— Tennis Hall of Fame (@TennisHalloFame) July 16, 2016
She joined the coaching team of Elina Svitolina for the 2016 season, and her pupil immediately thrived and soaked up all the knowledge that Justine was able to impart. You think the Ukrainian's surge to the top of so many WTA lists in '17 is a mere coincidence? Not likely.
HENIN & SVITOLINA (2016)
Henin wasn't able to continue with Svitolina in 2017 because, well, she was busy becoming a mother for the second time.
Congrats ????@Justine_Henin gives birth to second child--> https://t.co/0MgybZVP72 pic.twitter.com/EOwMEItE76
— WTA (@WTA) May 4, 2017
On May 3, 2017, little Lalie, who is already 4, got a baby brother. His name is Victor.
Of course, Backspin also saw fit to give Justine a full week of honors last summer when the most favored Belgian Waffle of them all was officially enshined into the hallowed halls of tennis immortality, with a week of re-posts, photos, videos and remembrances of all the great days of yore...
Who knows what the next year will bring. But we're talking about LPT, so it'll surely be worthwhile.
All for now.
posted by Todd.Spiker @ 1:37 AM
2 Comments:
atawo isn't playing with her usual partner either...
She and Spears broke up their partnership before the season. It might have been a good move, as Spears has done well with Srebotnik, while Atawo won Stuttgart with Ostapenko (and reached the Charleston SF, too).
Doubles has been a real musical chairs affair this year. Even more so than usual. And I suspect they'll be some more duo changes heading into summer, too.
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