Justine Henin

[erpowers]

Should Justine Henin now be included in talk of being the greatest female tennis player of all time. Today one of the people doing the NBC broadcast of the French Open said that he thought that if Henin did win today it would be time to start looking at her place on the all time great list. Mary Carillo, who may not have many fans on DU, said she thought Henin should not be consider as one of the all time best because she has not yet won Wimbeldon. I tend to disagree with Carillo. I think anyone who wins on one surface as many times as Henin and wins in such a commanding manner each time and who holds at least one of every other grand slam except Wimbeldon should at least be in talk of the all time great. I think she would probably be low, not because she has not won Wimbeldon, but because some other females have won so many grand slams. Henin has won about 7 grand slams while Chris Evert has won about 10+, Martina Navatolova has won about 18, and Steffi Graf has won about 22. However, I still think Henin should at least be looked at and discussed as one of the best of all-time. So what do others think?

[xchrom]

1. mary carillo is wrong.

henin-arden is one of the all time greats.

she may not have won wimbledon -- but she has had an extraordinary career.

few women in the whole history of tennis have managed to have the wins she has -- and she has done so with probably the toughest competion ever.

while i LOVE wimbledon -- it's just one tournament.

[erpowers]

2. In Addtion, 25

In addition to all that you said she is only 25. That means she could do much more before she retires if she chooses to stay on the tour for a few more years. Few females have done what Justine Henin has done by that age. So far I am thinking of only Venus and Serena Williams. I would think Chris Evert, Martina Navatolova, and Steffi Graf have done the same thing also. However, that is still only five women.

[xchrom]

3. justine beats the williams sisters.

a profound feat when you compare the size and power of those two compared to the other women on the tour.

IF justine had not been injured and out of play for as long as she was - we'd all be singing a very different story about who the top players are period.

[rockymountaindem]

4. While I think that she has a long way to go

to top Navratalova and Graf, she is definitely one of the best players of this era. As was said up thread, if not for injuries, she would probably be *the* best player of the era. While you could make the same argument about the Williams sisters having spent too much time away from the game, in large part that was their choice. Henin has been injured, Venus and Serena chose to focus on other things besides tennis. If you think that one of the criteria to be "great" or "a champion" is commitment, I think Henin has more of that than the Williams sisters.