Henin Quits Aussie Open Final to Hand Mauresmo Win
Posted on January 28, 2006
Mauresmo Breaks Slam Duck With Aussie Open TitleAmelie Mauresmo employed a brilliant strategy and an ultra-consistent baseline game in dismantling Justine Henin-Hardenne 6-1, 2-0, ret., in Saturday's Australian Open final, with the Belgian retiring mid-match after suffering a stomach ailment.
Mauresmo ended a long wait with her first Grand Slam title, executing a game plan of bouncing heavy topspin groundstrokes up around the diminutive Belgian's shoulders, with Henin-Hardenne pressing too much to dictate play.
"It's too bad, I'm sorry I can't go on," Henin-Hardenne said, looking at her coach in the crowd and walking toward the chair umpire after wincing while driving her last backhand into the net at 0-2 down.
Henin-Hardenne was left on the sidelines crying into a towel after the retirement, with Mauresmo weeping tears of joy.
The title was in the end bittersweet in terms of the record books, with Mauresmo also receiving an injury default in the semifinals against an opponent who has held a career edge over her in Kim Clijsters, who tore tendons in her ankle.
The Frenchwoman was again expected to star as Willy Wonka in her long-running Slam production of Charlie and the Choke-a-Lot Factory, but instead displayed a calm demeanor and steely determination in failing to produce unforced errors against the Belgian.
For Mauresmo it was seven years between slam finals, making her last appearance in a slam championship match at the Australian Open in 1999.
"I've been waiting so long for this and really worked hard for this," Mauresmo said. "It's a really great achievement, so I think I deserve this."
Henin-Hardenne will likely now be dogged in 2006 for her decision to hang it up in a Slam final without suffering a major injury.
"It's been a few days I wasn't feeling well," Henin-Hardenne said. "My stomach was very upset. And then last night, I didn't sleep a lot because it got worst and worst. Two weeks now I had to take anti-inflammatories for my shoulder, and that killed me a little bit. Pretty sensitive. But I had to for my shoulder. Now I got on my stomach, and then I had no legs today. I couldn't move. When the stomach is so upset and so inflamed, you know, you just don't have any energy. And I felt it when I woke up, but I tried. I knew at the beginning of the match I couldn't win it. I just really tried to stay in the match, but there was no chance for me. If I would have keep playing and continue, maybe I would injure something else, so that was the best decision, even if it was very, very hard for me."
The Frenchwoman refused to comment on Henin-Hardenne failing to fight through to the end of the match.
"I don't know what happened exactly, but I was ready to die on the court today," Mauresmo said. "I probably would have reacted differently if the match went to the end but the joy is still there. No-one can take that away from me. I've also had some bad moments myself. It hasn't been easy."
Bryans Win Aussie Open in 3rd Straight Final
The third time was the charm Saturday at the Australian Open where the Bryan brothers won their first Aussie Open title in their third straight Melbourne final, defeating the Czech/Indian pair of Martin Damm and Leander Paes 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 for their third career Slam win.
They become the first Americans to win the Melbourne title since Jared Palmer and Richey Reneberg in 1995, and the first team to win the US Open and Aussie Open back-to-back since Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde in 1996-97.
"We were down break points pretty much every game in the third," said Bob Bryan. "It was just pure relief and happiness and excitement at the end."
Paes and Damm squandered two break point chances in the fourth game of the third set, allowing the American twins to turn around and break in the next game.
"I had every type of emotion, pissed off, jacked up, you know, just let it all hang out," said Mike Bryan. "By the end there, we could see the light at the end of the tunnel and it feels good to get this notch because over the last two years we have came up a little short. There's nothing more special than winning a slam with your brother. So this is going to feel good for a long time."
The Bryan brothers are now 3-5 in career Slam final appearances.
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TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
While it was reported Friday that Andy Roddick would enter the weekend qualifying at the ATP stop in Delray Beach, the American changed his mind Friday night: "Andy had informed us that he was considering playing in our qualifying tournament, as direct entries were closed and our wildcards had been distributed weeks in advance," said Tournament Director Mark Baron. "However, he did not commit and after careful consideration following training today, Andy told us that he would not participate in the qualifying tournament. He instead will remain in South Florida and resume training for the upcoming Davis Cup tie. We were obviously looking forward to Andy's participation, we wish him good luck next week and we hope he will play next year."...WTA Tour sponsor Sony has announced it will lay off 10,000 workers...James Blake has pulled from Delray Beach...Why did Brad Gilbert do the check-mark-strengths in ESPN U.S.'s opener before the Aussie Open women's final? Mauresmo a better volleyer than Henin-Hardenne? Leave the women's analysis to Mary Carillo...Great that ESPN showed the doubles final, not great that Dick Enberg and Luke Jensen talked non-stop throughout it...Pete Bodo writing for Tennisworld: "Justine Henin-Hardenne committed the most significant and flagrant act of poor sportsmanship I've witnessed in nearly 30 years of covering pro tennis today. I urge you to read the interview transcripts when they're posted on the Australian Open website...All I can make of any of it, here in Melbourne, is that Justine had a bellyache, and she was being badly outplayed by an Amelie Mauresmo who was in full control of her game and emotions. So Justine decided to quit, because...well, because it's all about Justine, all the time. It was a disgrace. Justine's interview transcript is very telling, because there's not even a smidgen of volunteered sympathy for Mauresmo, not an ounce of compassion for the way she was robbed of the finest moment of her career -- watching her match point called as she earned the first Grand Slam title. In a post a long time ago, I called H-H a "demented dwarf;" in fact, this week, a comment poster somewhere along the way chided me for having done that. I had second thoughts for a moment. Adios, second thoughts."...ESPN USA's early-morning Australian Open coverage (after midnight) is up 50 percent over last year...Justin Gimelstob blogging for SI.com: "Mauresmo's opponent in the women's final, Justine Henin-Hardenne, is far stronger. With four Grand Slams and an Olympic gold medal under her belt, she's not the type of player to flinch when victory is in her grasp."...Greg and Lucy Rusedski have had a daughter...Marcos Baghdatis' parents have refused to fly to Melbourne for the Australian Open final, not wanting to jinx their son.