Justine Henin announces her return to tennis

The hot news for Tennis world is that Former world No. 1 Justine Henin has announced her return to competitive tennis for next year.

Justine Henin had been retired for just over a year, but at 27 Justine Henin again has the fire and physical strength to compete for an eighth Grand Slam title. Her announcement comes barely a week after Kim Clijsters capped her comeback from retirement with a second US Open title.

Her announcement on VTM television capped an about-face that went from her “definitive decision” to retire last year, to weeks of no comment to a smiling admission Tuesday that she truly missed the game too much.

She wants to play two exhibition tournaments, in Charleroi, Belgium, and Dubai, to hone her skills ahead of a competitive return next year with plans to compete in the next Grand Slam tournament, the Australian Open.

“The fire within burns again,” Justine Henin said. “I want to come back in January.”

Justine Henin officially retired on May 14, 2008, initially rejecting any thought of a comeback with a dogged determination that had come to mark her play throughout a decade-long career.

BIOGRAPHY

EARLY LIFE:

* Born on June 1, 1982 in Liege, Belgium. She turned professional in 1999 and won her first WTA title in Antwerp.

* The 1.67 metre tall Henin, gifted with a breath-taking single-handed backhand which John McEnroe rated as the best in tennis, captured 41 singles titles, including seven grand slams during her career.

SOME FIRSTS:

* Henin became first Belgian to reach a singles final at Wimbledon in 2001, where she was beaten by Venus Williams. She also went on to become the first Belgian to win a grand slam title when she overwhelmed compatriot Kim Clijsters to win the 2003 French Open.

GRAND SLAM WINS:

* Overcame Clijsters to win her second grand slam title at the U.S. Open in 2003 and then again in the 2004 Australian Open final.

* Won a gold medal in the 2004 Athens Olympics despite being plagued by an energy-sapping viral illness.

* Won the French Open in 2005 and 2006, only the fifth woman to win back-to-back Roland Garros titles in the professional era.

* Reached the final of all four grand slam tournaments in 2006, becoming the first player to achieve such a feat and reach the final of the end-of-season Championships since Steffi Graf in 1993.

* Secured the year-end number one spot on her way to winning her first WTA Championships in Madrid.

MARRIAGE BREAK-UP AND RETIREMENT:

* Began 2007 by missing the Australian Open to deal with the breakdown of her four-year marriage to Pierre-Yves Hardenne, but went on to win her third consecutive French Open in May with victory over Ana Ivanovic of Serbia.

* Won grand slam title number seven with victory over Svetlana Kuznetsova for her second U.S. Open trophy.

* Ended season by beating Maria Sharapova 5-7 7-5 6-3 in an epic final lasting three hours and 24 minutes to win her second consecutive WTA Championships.

* Started off the 2008 season with victory in Sydney but she was soundly beaten by Sharapova in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open. After picking up her final title in Antwerp, she failed to advance past the quarter-finals of her last three tournaments.

* On May 14, 2008, still ranked number one in the world, Henin announced her retirement with immediate effect at a press conference. The timing of her retirement was totally unexpected since her favourite tournament, the French Open, was less than two weeks away and as the 2007 champion she would have been expected to defend her title.

* On Sept 22, 2009, she announced her return to competitive tennis after spending 16 months out of the sport.