SPORTS June 30, 2008 Issue

A RETURN TO THE ESSENTIALS

KIM SHIPPEY, SENIOR WRITER

"I DON'T FEEL SADNESS, but rather a delivery, a relief, a glance towards the future," said the world's No. 1 player and winner of seven Grand Slam titles, Justine Henin, when she stunned the tennis circuit May 14 by announcing her retirement from the game after just nine years as a professional.

So many of us had lived with her through hours and hours of nail-biting finishes and self-effacing victories. Suddenly she was gone—before anyone could save enough pounds sterling to pay for their strawberries and cream (in the rain) at the All-England Club just outside London. Gone was the quiet-spoken 25-year-old who made up for her lack of height with persistence and timing, and whose power was always balanced by grace.

"I always seek to build and change," explained the Belgian, "and not only by tennis. I believe that tennis gave me many beautiful things, but I want to do it by returning to the essentials."