Open the world ranking of the WTA official website, Belgium's "first sister" Mertens ranked 23rd, followed by Uyvank in 57th place and Philipkens in 77th place. They are the only female players in the top 100 of the "European Red Devils", and such a scene can't help but remind people of the era of the "Belgian twins" Henin and Christels.
Born in 1982, Henin and Christers in 1983 moved into professional tennis in 1999 and 1998 respectively, and after entering the 21st century, they became the only pair of players who could compete with the Williams sisters — they were both multiple Grand Slam champions, both of whom had topped the world number one.
Today, Henin has retired twice and has multiple identities as a commentator, coach, and principal of a tennis school, while Christers announced his third return at the beginning of this year.
On June 1, Haining, who had just celebrated her 38th birthday, was interviewed by the media, saying that she missed tennis very much, was very surprised and respected Christers' comeback, and that although she could not go around the world to comment on matches because of the epidemic, she still enjoyed spending time with her family and could focus more on her tennis school.
"When I was a kid, I dreamed I could win the French Open. Although almost no one thought I would be successful, I am (now) happy and proud to be a part of this event. ”
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Like Nadal, the Belgians, who have successfully won the cup and celebrated their birthdays in Roland Garros four times, have described their relationship with the stadium and the tournament as "a beautiful love story".
At 1.67 meters tall and weighing 57 kilograms, Henin has not been dominant in stature since she was a child, but she has studied under Carlos Rodriguez since the age of 14, and her playing style is changeable and determined. In 2003, the little Belgian girl came to Paris.
She made it all the way through the semi-finals against Serena Williams, then world number one. The Americans are recognized as the favourites to win the championship, having just completed their first lap of the New Year's Eve Grand Slam, also known as the "Serena Grand Slam".
That match left a public record in the history of tennis that "Henin did not raise his hand", but in the end she eliminated the Americans in three sets in the cheers of the audience, and defeated her compatriot Christers in the following final to win her first Grand Slam title.
It was also in that year that the 21-year-old Haining reached the top of the world for the first time. Throughout her career, she won seven Grand Slam titles, including the French Open Triplet from 2005 to 2007 and two year-end Finals titles.
In a later interview, she repeatedly mentioned her days in Roland Garros, not denying her "competition" with the Williams sisters and Christels, but also said that it was their existence that made her later self.
She also mentioned her performance at the French Open in 2007, when she was almost blooming to the world – winning 10 WTA Tour titles and winning the Laureus Award for Best Female Athlete that year.
"It was the best I could have performed at the French Open," Henin said.
She eliminated a Russian and a Danish player in the first two rounds before defeating 28th seed SantGlo in the third round. In the eight-in-four match, she defeated Serena Williams 6-4, 6-3, and swept Jankovic 6-2 in the semi-finals. In the final, she easily defeated another Serbian player, Ivanovic, 6-2, 6-2, to achieve a three-game French Open title without losing a set, and also won her fourth trophy in Roland Garros.
However, due to injuries, especially physical and mental reasons, Henin chose to retire the following year after achieving impressive results in 2007. This made her the first player in the history of women's tennis to retire as the world's number one at the time, surpassing the third in the world when Grave retired that year.
"It's the end of a wonderful journey, the end of childhood dreams. Still, this is something I've been thinking about for a long time. In May of that year, two weeks before the start of the French Open, the 25-year-old Belgian girl held a press conference on her retirement at her personal training centre in her hometown of Limlette.
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Her sudden retirement shocked many people, but people were still moved by her brave turnaround and opened a new chapter. Then Belgian Prime Minister Latum said, "She has brought infinite glory to Belgium and hopes that she can be as motivated as she is on the field in her future life." ”
However, the tennis gene has always seeped into Haining's body, and it has always summoned her on the days of leaving.
Sixteen months later, Henin announced she would make a comeback in 2010, with her first stop at Brisbane in January. In that event, she progressed all the way to the final, regrettably missing two match points to defeat Christers as runners-up. In the subsequent Australian Open, she successfully reached the final after a year of re-playing. In the end, she lost to Serena Williams 4-6, 6-3, 2-6 and missed the championship.
That was her closest moment to a Grand Slam title after her comeback, after which she won the Porsche Open, the Dutch Scheertohenbos Open, the French Open and Wimbledon all reached the round of 16, and then never played that year.
In the WTA player introduction, her record stayed at the 2011 Australian Open. She defeated Mirza in the first round and Baltacha in the second round. Facing Russian Kuznetsova in the third round, Henin still failed to keep himself at Melbourne Park after saving three match points.
It was a showdown between Grand Slam champions, with Henin winning 7 Grand Slam trophies and Kuznetsova winning the French Open and the US Open. However, the two have played each other 18 times before, and the Belgian has an absolute advantage with 16 wins and 2 losses.
The two sides were locked in a tug-of-war from the beginning, and the Russian girl won the first set 6-4. In the second set, the two continued to glue, and after a 6-6 draw, they entered the seventh. With a brilliant bottom-line attack, Kuznetsova won 10-8 with a small score.
"I know I'm not 100 percent healed, but I'm not going to make excuses for myself." With the worst record at the Australian Open in 10 years, Haining's mood is not very good. "I've had problems with my elbows for 3 days and I've tried my best to get it back, but I still haven't done enough. Today was not easy for me and hopefully the situation will be better next time. ”
However, after thinking about it for a few days, she published a retirement letter on her official website, announcing that she had to leave the stadium again because of a recurrence of an elbow injury.
"It's a shame to write here to tell you the news, but it's the best way I can think of. Since my injury at Wimbledon last June, I've known I'm probably back in my toughest moments. I've been enduring the pain for the past few months, and lately this pain has gotten worse. Now, I think I have to accept the fact that my career ended here. It's hard, especially considering that I've been struggling here for so long. Thank you all for your support and hope I can have a fresh start. ”
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A new beginning soon arrived, first professionally.
In 2012, when Azarenka was almost upset by Italian veteran Brianti in the first round, the TV camera kept filming MauriceMo. The latter looked calm, believing that the apprentice would be able to fight back. Indeed, the Frenchman eventually left the stands with a smile.
At the time, she probably didn't know that Justin Henin, who had played against her 14 times in her career, was sitting in the TV booth commenting on the game.
10 days before the french open, the Belgian girl, who had won four titles at Roland Garros, accepted the invitation of French television to be a commentator at the French Open. According to the schedule, Haining began to appear in front of the TV cameras from the quarter-finals, but to adapt to the atmosphere, she appeared on the pitch on the first day of the game.
In addition to giving commentary to French television, Henin has not forgotten to let the people in his hometown also listen to his own comments. She was the commentator for Belgian television station RTBF in the men's singles final, which resulted in two days of rain, with No. 2 seed Nadal beating top seed Djokovic Djokovic 6–4, 6–3, 2–6, 7–5 to win her seventh title trophy in Roland Garros.
Henin is also a former French Open champion, and on her days when she is still playing, she spends her birthdays in Roland Garros as often as Nadal. Moreover, from the French-speaking part of Belgium, she is also more loved by Parisian fans because of her language.
Then, there's the emotional "fresh beginning."
Henin has been married twice, and many people may still have an impression of her first marriage. On 16 November 2002, she married tennis coach Pierre Hadern in Belgium, after which she crowned her husband's surname on the matchmaker and on television screens during matches.
However, the marriage lasted only more than 4 years, and it ended in divorce. Hardern received a "break-up fee" of up to €6.5 million, as well as a luxury villa in Monaco and a private jet.
Unlike the later Vajdisova and Azarenka, this emotional upset did not stop Henin's path, and she continued to win on the field. However, for a long time afterwards, including her first retirement, return and re-retirement, she did not have a single man in her life other than coach Rodriguez.
It wasn't until after her second retirement in 2011 that she met Ben Neuter, and the two made several public appearances. In September 2012, the seven-time Grand Slam winner announced to the world through social networking sites that her and her boyfriend's love crystal would be born in March of the following year. "We have a piece of good news to announce, and soon we will be a family of three and we are very happy!"
In 2017, the couple added another son, and they named him "Victor," which means "victory."