Tennis: Henin reveals lack of confidence as she went into final

A broad smile spread across Justine Henin's face when she walked on to centre court on Saturday and the thunderous applause of 15,000 people swept over her.

Henin had forgotten what it felt like to be in a grand slam final, and she allowed herself to take it all in. Perhaps, that was a mistake.

"It was emotional, of course. I was feeling nervous, of course. But it was great," Henin said. "It was a bit harder after that. But at that moment, it was a very nice moment."

The storybook comeback of Henin's return to tennis after a 20-month retirement did not end with her winning the Australian Open. Not this year at least. Nor could she match the feat of fellow Belgian and longtime rival Kim Clijsters, who won the US Open after her return from a two-year leave to get married and have a baby.

Defending champion Serena Williams ended Henin's journey with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 win in the final that both players had rightly predicted would be as much a mental battle as a physical one. Before leaving Melbourne yesterday, she said: "I was curious about what my level would be ... I felt I took the right decision [to come back], so it's good enough for me already.

"I got the results in the past four weeks - two finals. So I can be really happy about that."

Despite winning seven grand slam titles, Henin has always struggled with self-confidence. Her swift return over the past two weeks to the upper echelon of women's tennis surprised her but she was strict with herself about keeping her emotions in check.

"Overall, I think I managed my emotions more or less well [during the tournament]," said 27-year-old Henin. "Except for [the final] when it was more difficult.

"I wanted to win so much. The desire was there, and the motivation too. But maybe there was a small lack of confidence and that was what put the brakes on me," said Henin, who has won 41 career titles, including the Australian Open in 2003, the French Open four times and the US Open twice.

Henin, who held the No 1 ranking on-and-off for 117 weeks, was not at the top of her game, but she fought hard.

Her amazing speed and gorgeous groundstrokes had the packed Rod Laver Arena heaving collective gasps at times.

It was the first time in the long and intense rivalry between Williams and Henin that the two played a grand slam final.

Henin took her break from tennis to experience life. When she retired in May 2008, while ranked No 1, she said she had lost her passion for the sport she started as a child prodigy. She returned with a new perspective, mental freshness and a few new additions to her game - a stronger serve and a new willingness to rush to net.

Thunderous applause returned as Henin took the podium for the award ceremony.

"It's been a very emotional two weeks for me," Henin said with a hand on her heart.

"I thought it would never happen again and finally I could come back and enjoy the game."

- AP