Serena Still Hurt From Four Years Ago, Loses to Henin

Justine Henin had won 29 straight sets at the French Open before today. Serena Williams, a 6-4, 6-3 loser to Henin, allowed the Belgian woman to make it 31.

For all the hype surrounding this match, it turned out to be a very routine win for the world's #1 woman player. The prevailing thought was that Serena would make the match physical, too physical for the slight (5' 6", 125 pounds) Henin. Physical in tennis means hard-hit, heavy shots and running a player with those shots from side to side; that's what wears down an opponent over a period of time. Williams, though, never seemed to find her way in the match because Henin smacked her off the court before Williams had the chance.

There is also a history between these two players that makes them mortal enemies. Four years ago at the French before a key point in their match then, Henin held up her hand just as Serena was about to serve. Williams, seeing this, half-heartedly hit her serve into the net. Williams rightfully expected to be able to hit that first serve again. The chair umpire, though, said she never saw Henin raise her hand to stop play. Henin, in a stunningly ruthless gamesmanship maneuver, refused to acknowledge that she held up her hand, essentially costing Williams her first serve. The French fans showed their bias and booed Williams (Henin is from the French portion of Belgium). Serena was shaken and never recovered from that point. She lost her serve that game and eventually the match.

So, here were these women four years later meeting at the French for the first time since that incident. When they entered the court, Henin was cheered wildly. Serena's entrance was met with lukewarm polite cheering. Any other, non-French player who outright cheated to win a point during a match would have been booed every time they walked on any court at the French Open (ask Maria Sharapova).Serena did lose meekly, but in all honesty it appeared that she was severely shaken by the lack of crowd response to her from the time she walked on the court. She has tried hard to put the match behind her and was hurt
by the crowd that was definitely for her in every other match in which she played at the French up to this point.

What is most interesting is that the American tennis media has had, for the most part, no problem saying Williams was ripped off by Henin four years ago. They showed that incident at least three times before the two played today. But even ex-players like Martina Navratilova continue to make excuses for both Henin and the French crowd.

Navratilova should be ashamed of herself, as should the French tennis patrons, and Justine Henin. Hopefully the crowds at the U.S, Open remember this moment and give Henin the Bronx cheer she deserves every time she enters the U.S. Open grounds in Flushing Meadows, New York later this summer. Maybe then she get the message that the cheating tactics she and players like Sharapova use aren't welcome to at least some of the worldwide tennis audience.

Henin and Sharapova need the luster of their images tarnished by the reality of what they are: cheats who will do anything to win a tennis match.

C'est le vie to Americans this year at the French Open.