1. Personal growth.
2. Heightened health consciousness due to losing her mother at a young age.
3. Heightened urgency to enjoy the life while you can (again due to the reason given above).
4. No more necessity to prove herself in front of the once estranged family members or ex-husband after reconciling with her family and achieving a record success last season.
5. She wants to be free!

She is a brave woman.

Also check out my piece She is Already at the Top, So What’s Next? written as part of On the Baseline Tennis News’ 2008 Players to Watch Series.

What is your guess? Why Justine quit?

Needless to say that I am still stunned. I will miss Justine.

Good luck and happiness to you! Au revoir!

(in her own words)

“It’s a big day in my life.”

“This is the end of a child’s dream.” “It is a new beginning for me. I feel like I already lived three lives. I gave the sport all I could and took everything it could give me. I take this decision without the least bit of regrets. It is my life as a woman that starts now.”

“I know that it’s a shock and a surprise for a lot of people but it’s a decision I have been thinking about for some time.

“It’s the end of a great adventure, the end of something I had dreamed of since I was five.

“I have experienced everything I could have. I have lived completely for tennis. A new future is ahead and I won’t go back on this decision.”

“I also want to travel, to get away from the pressure, and to do many things I can never do.”

“The decision is final, I stop immediately with tennis.” “I stop without regret. I’ve given everything.”

Belgian media report that the world’s top ranked woman, 25-year-old Justine Henin  plans to make her retirement on Wednesday. It could mean she is retiring immediately, at the end of the season. or limiting her schedule.I hope she doesn’t have health related issues.

For a fourth time in a row, Swiss Roger Federer won the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year award, and Justine Henin won the women’s award for the first time. Federer was thankful that the selection committee didn’t think three was enough.

Henin, meanwhile, became the first tennis player to win 10 titles in a season since Martina Hingis 10 years ago despite skipping the 2007 Australian Open after splitting with her husband.

The Awards Ceremony was held in the Mariinsky Concert Hall, St. Petersburg Russia. Even Mr. Putin was there to congratulate the superstars of the sport world.

[TIB Note: Contrary to earlier reports by Russian media, I can’t find any confirmation that Maria Sharapova hosted the ceremony. I guess it was only a rumor, since Maria is in Doha, getting ready to compete in Qatar Open.] (Source: AP, Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)

Justine, you can do more than play tennis. I am somewhat disappointed of Justin Henin’s comments about “not mixing politics and sports.” She is just lucky to be from Belgium, a prosperous democratic country, with a great human rights record, which shares borders with other developed countries. Why should she even “be bothered” about the other inhabitants of the planet Earth. Too self-centered. Here is a good bed-time reading material for you Justine. Oh, and here is another one. You don’t have to boycott the Olympic Games, but you can at least voice your concern about China’s human rights record.

… Henin yesterday warned Olympic athletes not to buy into debate on China’s human rights record while at the Beijing Games. Read more »

It is that time of the year again. I am talking about the Sports Oscar. St. Petersburg, Russia, will be the focus of the sporting world when it stages the 2008 Laureus World Sports Awards in the Marinsky Concert Hall on February 18. The glittering award ceremony will be hosted by famous Russian tennis player Maria Sharapova along with another equally famous Russian export supermodel (with Cinderella story) Natalia Vodianova.

Laureus is a universal movement that celebrates the power of sport to bring people together as a force for good. Laureus World Sports Awards are awarded annually to sportspeople who have been outstanding during the previous year. World No. 1 tennis player Roger Federer has won Laureus World Sportsman of the Year for the last three years consecutively. Unlike Sports Illustrated, they know what they are doing. He is among nominees again.

World No. 1 Justine Henin has been nominated for the 2008 Laureus World Sportswoman Award. The full list of nominees are available here.

As there are only hours remaining before the start of the Australian Open, ESPN finally has rediscovered tennis. They have started the promotion of the first grand slam of the year on TV. What made me angry is the message in their promo clip: “Will Serena be able to defend her title against Maria and Venus?” I guess nobody has ever heard of Justine Henin at ESPN.

1992 - “One day I’ll be on this court and I will win,” said a 10-year-old Justine Henin to her mother, Françoise, after seeing the final between Steffi Graf and Monica Seles at Roland Garros.

2003 - Justine dedicates her first Grand Slam (French Open) title to her late mother, who died of cancer when Henin was 12.

2007 - The 25-year-old Henin posts her best tennis season to date - 63-4 record, 10 titles, two Grand Slams (including her fourth French Open), 25-match winning streak, 14 wins out of 16 tournaments.

Despite the off-court emotional roller coaster in her personal life, including a divorce from her husband of four years and a reunion with her estranged father and siblings, the Belgian tennis star Justine Henin has found enough strength and stamina to establish her dominance on the women’s tour in 2007.

Read more »

Check out Tennis Info Blog‘s (my:-) article about Justine Henin featured as part of the 2008 Players to Watch series launched by On the Baseline.

Over the next two weeks On the Baseline, a leading tennis internet site devoted exclusively to the women’s game, will feature guest articles and exclusive interviews with several Tour players, journalists, and tennis bloggers. The 2008 Players to Watch series will spotlight many familiar stars, as well as the brightest newcomers in women’s tennis. Here is the list of “spotlightees” and their “spotlighters”:-)

Justine Henin by Tennis Info Blog (She is already at the Top, What’s Next for Her)

Agnes Szavay by WTA Backspin’s Todd Spiker

Dinara Safina (yes, Marat’s little sister) by Journalist Paula Vergara

Marion Bartoli by On the Baseline

Katarina Srebotnik by Tennis Thoughts

Tamira Paszek by Women’s Tennis Blog, interview with Paszek by On the Baseline

Monica Seles, Jennifer Capriati, Lindsay Davenport, and Mary Pierce by On the Baseline

I will update the links to the individual posts as they become available.

Many thanks to Aaress Lawless, editor of On the Baseline, for inviting me to be part of this great virtual tennis community project.