Sports Then and Now

Not one, but two Masters tournaments, the firsts of the year.

The only ATP events of the month, both centered in the sunshine of the United States.

These are the last hard courts before spring ushers in the clay. No more of the artificial, punishing surfaces until the tour heads back to North America in late July. Many, indeed, will postpone their transfer from the all-too-brief grass season until August.

So it is little wonder that Indian Wells and its Miami sister two weeks later draw the big names, the big crowds, the big coverage.

Indian Wells, in particular, is set like a sapphire in the Californian desert, a jewel in the tennis crown. More people soak up the tennis at this tournament than anywhere outside the Grand Slams.

It’s a place drenched in blue, wholly in tune with its watery origins. This most favored stop on the tennis tour, attracting the very best from both the ATP and WTA tours, offers a serene mountainous backdrop, cloudless skies, dry heat, clear air. It’s as close to paradise as wealth can bring to the desert.

More than 300,000 flock to the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. It overflows with tropical flowers, trees, and fountains, and the courts themselves sit like miniature Aegean Seas within their grass-green surroundings.

The pale violet and blue peaks of the distant Santa Rosa range provide a glorious setting as this oasis bursts into flower with a bouquet of wonderful prospects. Read the rest of this entry →

Serena Williams topped Justine Henin in a great three set match.

Those of us who deliberately sabotaged our sleep patterns to watch the Australian Open these past two weeks found we arrived almost exactly where we expected since the draws were announced.  That is not to say that we did not experience some thrilling matches as counterpunchers reigned early and aggressors stayed late.

We rather expected one of the “unretired” Belgians to survive that tough third quarter of the women’s draw to face Serena Williams in the final.  That it was Justine Henin who charged to the finish line made the women’s championship match that much more intriguing because the rivalry between the sturdy American and the miniature French woman is steeped in silent, stoney resentment.

Serena won the championship in three tough sets 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.  But we expect the rivalry to blossom once again, especially as the tour heads into the clay season and spills onto the storied grounds of Stade Roland Garros where the Belgian will surely shine once again.

But more so –– we expected Roger Federer to be standing on one side of the net during the men’s final.  Oh, yes, there was talk about the recent dominance of Nikolay Davydenko and the quiet resurgence  of Novak Djokovic.  That is not to discount the sultry passion of the other Spaniard, Fernando, the body, Verdasco or the raw athleticism of Jo Wilfried Tsonga whose smile lights up the world.

Ultimately, however, Federer in a five set major is going to make it to the final –– consult the oddsmakers. Read the rest of this entry →

Justine Henin reached the finals of her first Grand Slam tournament in two years.

This post was provided by tennis fan Jo Shum. Sports Then and Now is happy to post submission by sports fans, so please feel free to contact us if you have a story or sports memory you want to share.

I don’t understand why, but I feel miserably sad watching Justine Henin lose the Australian open.  By any measure, this is a far-fetched coming back only in one month and an unbelievable fight into the final.  But as she said, the dream goes on… and somehow I would really want to believe in it that it may come true.

I think she is an amazing player with such gifted techniques and steely mentality, and just for once it would be great to show that you could possibly move the mountain by determination.  Almost, almost did.

I have not seen Justine so nervous in the entire tournament, and there the same goes for Serena.  They must be battling so much in their minds.  Justine was probably trying too hard, too much, out of reach of her own ability at this stage of comeback.

She would have played excellently just by doing exactly the same as the previous matches.  But I guess this is a lesson to learn.  God’s plan, when it is meant to be.  You can do only so far so much, the rest is to god.  I do hope that she would eventually find god and trust in him.  Peace.

I feel unbelievably sad, been catching up on the news of her and finding myself so involved in her experience, her life, her passion, her breakdown, her nerves, her competitiveness, her happiness and her disappointment. Read the rest of this entry →

Serena Williams claimed her 12th Grand Slam title with a victory over Justine Henin.

The amazing comeback of Justine Henin didn’t quite have the final culmination she had hoped as Serena Williams, herself looking for personal redemption following her meltdown at the 2009 U.S. Open, defeated Henin in three sets to win the first major of 2010.

Playing in her first major since the 2008 Australian Open, Henin rolled through the field to reach the finals of the Australian Open for the first time since retiring due to illness in the middle of the 2006 final against Amelie Mauresmo.

This time around, Henin made it through the entire match, but it was a tough three set affair against the player that has replaced Henin as the top player in the world.

While Henin was looking to make the Australian Open her statement tournament following her 18 month retirement, Serena Williams was looking to regain some professional dignity following her disqualification at the 2009 U.S. Open.

The defending Australian Open Champion, Williams was looking for her fifth Australian Open title and 12th overall Grand Slam title.

Williams had tough quarterfinal and semifinal matches against Victoria Azarenka (4-6, 7-6, 6-2) and Li Na (7-6, 7-6), but managed to reach the Australian Open finals for the fifth time in eight years.

Squaring off in a Grand Slam final for the first time, Williams and Henin battled through the first two sets.  Williams claimed the initial set 6-4, but Henin battled back to win the second set 6-3. Read the rest of this entry →

Roger Federer and Justine Henin have been sporting similar colors and similar emotions during the Australian Open.

It was the first weekend of June 2009, and little more than a year after her dramatic retirement from tennis.

Justine Henin did not watch the women’s event at Roland Garros, for she had little interest in who would win the title she had refused to defend in 2008.

She did, though, watch the men’s tournament: “I feel closer to players like Roger Federer. And, of course, Roger was trying to win the only Grand Slam he had never won. Part of me wanted him to win but, in another way, I knew it would give me trouble mentally if he did.”

For like her male doppelganger, Henin had several times come within a whisker of winning the one Slam she was missing.

Her “trouble” was Wimbledon. If Federer—like her in so many ways—could scale his final mountain at the French Open, maybe she too could scale hers at Wimbledon. After all, Federer was in his 28th year and, in 2010, she would be too.

“You know that little voice we all have in our heads…it was telling me Roger winning the French was very special…it made me think how much I’d missed by not winning Wimbledon.”

That little voice bothered her so much that it made her pick up her racket. It then made her, three months later, announce her comeback to the Tour. Read the rest of this entry →

Justine Henin got her comeback off to a roaring start with a victory over number two seed Nadia Petrova.

As Justine Henin hesitantly watched Roger Federer win his first French Open Crown in 2009 after suffering so many devastating losses on the red clay of Roland Garros, she knew the tiny voice that called to her would never be stilled again.

As Federer collapsed to his knees in an emotional moment at the conclusion of his win over Swede Robin Soderling, Henin took to heart her own series of losses at the only slam that eluded her for so many years, Wimbledon—where Henin had played in her first major final on illustrious Centre Court.

The Belgian had something left to accomplish and it would wait no longer—the void missing needed to be filled.  So Henin picked up her racket for the first time since she had walked away from tennis 20 months ago and began constructing her comeback in the sport that had sustained her when nothing else could fill the loss of her mother and her family.

At age 27, with seven grand slam titles and 41 singles trophies, Henin will make her first appearance at Brisbane where she will face stiff competition against Russian Nadia Petrova seeded No. 2 in this Australian Open Series Tournament.

The No. 1 seed at Brisbane is fellow countrywoman Kim Clijsters who made her way out of retirement last year and astonished the world by winning the 2009 U.S. Open.  Seeing Clijsters make good had to give Henin confidence that it was possible to come back strong—maybe even stronger than when she left. Read the rest of this entry →