Henin-Hardenne Back From Injury With Win at Athens Olympics

Posted on August 16, 2004

Top-seeded Justine Henin-Hardenne returned from a four-month absence Sunday at the Athens Olympics, defeating Barbora Strycova 6-3, 6-4 in a match filled with nervous strokes and swirling winds.

"Even if I was nervous, I had good feelings on the court," Henin-Hardenne said. "I feel finally healthy."

There were no seeded upsets among the eight seeds in play, with winners (6)Venus (d. (WC)Melinda "The Fifth Element" Czink), (7)Paola Suarez (d. Dechy 9-7 in the third), (8)Ai Sugiyama (d. Zheng 8-6 in the third), (10)Patty "Handshake" Schnyder (d. Mandula), (11)Francesca Schiavone (d. Asagoe), (12)Karolina "The Spreminator" Sprem (d. Gisela "Sgt." Dulko), and (16)Chanda Rubin (d. (Alt)Stosur 6-0 in the third).

"I'm playing well and I'm playing smart," said Venus after pasting The Fifth Element, dropping three games. "You know, it's just awesome to be here...it's like 'Wow, we're in Greece at the Olympic Games.' The only sad part is Serena not being here. That's tough for both of us, super-strange."

Question: Why didn't Serena show to support the U.S. team and sister Venus? Discuss.

Un-seeds into the second round were wildcards Tetyana Perebiynis of the Ukraine (d. Randriantefy) and Zimbabwe's Cara Black (d. Pisnik in three), Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova (d. Schaul), Venezuela's Maria Vento-Kabchi (d. Anne "Kosmo" Kremer), Slovak Maja Matevzic (d. Obata), Korea's Yoon Jeong Cho (d. (WC)Kanepi), Indonesia's Angelique Widjaja (d. Tanasugarn 6-1 in the third), and Fabiola "The Fabulous One" Zuluaga (d. Jankovic).

After her win, The Fabulous One complained about the court, joining the chorus of players who have described it as too fast/sticky/soft/nasty after organizers boasted it would perfectly match the US Open surface.

"They told us it was the same court used in the US Open but it was nothing like that," The Fabulous One said. "With the heat it is a little bit more soft, more sticky."

The ITF said the surface, Decoturf II, was exactly the same as the US Open surface, and was laid by Decoturf techs.

Spain's Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, who came out of retirement in search of a fifth Olympic medal, lost in the first round of the doubles with partner Anabel "Funky Cold" Medina Garrigues to Argentines Paola Suarez/Patricia Tarabini. Other winners were American hopefuls 47-year-old Martina Navratilova and comparative youngster Lisa Raymond, who beat the Ukraine's Yuliya Beygelzimer and Tetyana Perebiynis 6-0, 6-2.

"On my first serve of the match, I thought, 'OK, this is your first Olympic toss,'" Navratilova said. "And it was a good one, and a good serve, and that was all the jitters I had."

On court today for the women are Kapros vs. Daniilidou, C.Martinez vs. (2)Mauresmo, Molik vs. (4)Elena "The Diagnosis is" Dementieva, the amazingly uninjured (3)Anastasia "Sopot Drop-Out" Myskina vs. Magui "Don't Call Me Maggie" Serna, (5)Kuznetsova vs. (WC)Diaz-Oliva, (9)Petrova vs. Martina "Nurse, Hand Me the" Sucha, (14)Farina Elia vs. Testud, Garbin vs. (13)Smashnova-Pistolesi, Morigami vs. Benesova, Anabel "Funky Cold" Medina Garrigues vs. Pierce, Klara "Kouky" Koukalova vs. (15)Maleeva, Kristina "You're a Fine Girl" Brandi vs. Kostanic, Sanchez Lorenzo vs. Srebotnik, Kurhajcova vs. (Alt)Raymond, (WC)Jugic-Salkic vs. Camerin, and Pratt vs. Casanova.