UNBEATEN STREAK HITS THE DUST

Henin-Hardenne beats Serena for year's biggest Tier I upset

By Ron Cioffi
tennisreporters.net

Ron Cioffi/tennisreporters.net

FROM THE FAMILY CIRCLE CUP IN CHARLESTON, S.C. – Justine Henin-Hardenne stayed the course with a convincing, as well as somewhat unexpected, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Serena Williams as the world No. 1 played her worst tennis since last year's Family Circle Cup. At last year's Family Circle Cup, Williams lost to eventual finalist Patty Schnyder in the quarterfinals, but then went on to win Rome and Roland Garros on clay.

What the No. 4 ranked Henin-Hardenne's win proved for the Belgian is that when she's in the mood, she possesses enough "attitude" to bring down someone of Williams stature. There is no doubt that Henin-Hardenne is more sure-footed playing on clay, even though her one Grand Slam final appearance came at Wimbledon in 2001. The Belgian was the last player to challenge Williams on clay, upending the American in the final of Berlin last year.
   
While the focus should be on the great performance of Henin-Hardenne, the attention will momentarily center on the end of Williams 21-match winning
streak and the demise of her goal for an undefeated season. Prior to her loss today, Williams had won all three events she played this year – the Australian Open, Open Gaz de France and the NASDAQ-100 Open.

After winning the first three games, Williams lost 22 of 25 points including 12 straight points. Williams seemed to by playing wall ball with the net as she continually hit her shots too low. When she did clear the tape, the ball would sail out.

Proof that Williams was in trouble was that her characteristic grunting with each ball hit was undetectable during most of the match, a sure sign that she wasn't hitting with the aggressive, go-for-broke style that normally makes her so dominant.

Williams failed to serve an ace all match long and posted 30 unforced errors compared to only 15 winners. It was only her second straight-set lost since the '01 US Open.

HENIN-HARDENNE HOLDS COURT
It was a picture-perfect afternoon, with a crowd of 8,925 pulling for Williams to continue her unchallenged reign. But, once it was clear that the queen was vulnerable, fans started cheering for the Belgian to pull an upset. One fan complained about the sudden shift in support to Henin-Hardenne, shouting, "Cheer for the American!"

But, Henin-Hardenne was just as perfect as the weather.

The No. 4 ranked Henin-Hardenne mixed up her famed topspin backhand with numerous slices and kept Williams off-balance throughout much of the match. She ran down most of Williams shots, just enough to let the world No. 1 repeatedly load up, fire and miss.

She won six straight games to capture the first set. Henin-Hardenne seemed to be in trouble at the outset of the second set -- she was broken in the first game of the second set and faced three break points that would have send her to 0-3 in the set, but picked up the pace to save the game.

"It was the key to the match," she said. "If I lose this game -- two breaks -- it's going to be hard against Serena Williams. … I just believed in my chances."

Justine went to school on yesterday's semifinal loss by Lindsay Davenport to Williams.

"I watched a little bit of the match against Davenport yesterday and, yes, she was playing good, very fast, but always the same speed," Henin-Hardenne said. "I did high ball, slice, fast ball. And, I think that today, I had to do this to win the match."

She decided before playing today to chop away at her backhand and said the short slices helped break Serena's rhythm. But what was even more notable on the day was that Henin-Hardenne's forehand became a lethal weapon -- a shot that in recent times has truly let her down.

Surprisingly, match statistics don't show a masterful performance. Henin-Hardenne had seven winners to her 15 unforced errors, double faulted four times
and got in only 47 percent of her first serves. What she did bring to the court today was a steadiness and composure that was more potent than a
125-mph serve.

Serena was complimentary, saying, "She played really excellent today. She had a good plan going out there and, you know, she was prepared and she was
ready and it all worked. … She was really fighting."

Winning Roland Garros remains one of Henin-Herdenne's goals and a win at the Family Circle Cup started that campaign off on the right foot.

"I don't want to be too focused on the French Open," Henin-Hardenne said. "Every match is a goal. If I win a lot of matches, my ranking will improve and that's what's the most important."

NOT MUCH OF A STREAK

Ron Cioffi/tr.net

While Williams 21-straight matches to start the year generated a good bit of publicity, it is far from historic. Four players (Steffi Graf, Martina Hingis, Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert) have had longer start-of-the-year streaks in eight different years in the Open era. Steffi has the record with 45 in 1987 and both Martinas had 37 in a row. Serena also won 21 straight last year, but not at the beginning of the season.

Asked about losing the streak, Williams said, "I wasn't as involved as you guys (the media) were. So, you guys will have to answer to that."

The possibility exists that occasional losses will motivate Williams.

"Sometimes you need to lose," she said. "Like I'm motivated now. I can feel it coming on again. So, you gotta watch out. My whole game was like 9,000 notches down. … I can't be on my top level every day and today's just one of days I just didn't play well. I didn't serve well. I didn't return well. I didn't hit well."

Asked twice if she ever had such a bad patch of losing 22 of 25 points, she responded, "I didn't take notice of that at all" and then finished the post-match press conference with more of a mumble than a sentence.