Henin-Hardenne rewarded for consistent year

Justine Henin-Hardenne has joined a select band of women who have played in all four grand slam finals in the same season.

The Belgian won the Australian and French Open titles and lost to Amelie Mauresmo in the Wimbledon women’s final and reached the US Open final against Maria Sharapova with a 4-6 6-4 6-0 victory over Serbia’s Jelena Jankovic.

The other six women to achieve the feat are some of the game’s legends - Steffi Graf, Monica Seles, Martina Hingis, Martina Navratilova, Margaret Court and Chris Evert.

Asked how it felt to join such illustrious company, Henin-Hardenne said: “It’s a great feeling. It’s an amazing season for me – it’s almost a dream this year.

“In 2006 it has been unbelievable. I’ve been very consistent. I played well during the whole season. I’ve been healthy, and being with all these names, it’s just unbelievable.

“I always remember, as a little girl, dreams of becoming a professional tennis player, and now here I am. I enjoy to be on the tour and to do what I love so much.”

Henin-Hardenne paid tribute to one of the stellar names on the list, Navratilova, who has announced her retirement from doubles play.

“I was very young when she was at her best level, but what she did for the game is unbelievable. She has a lot of records.

“She is still a great professional. So it’s pretty amazing how many titles she got. No one will do it again any more in the future.

“She did a lot for women’s tennis. She keeps fighting. It’s sad for everyone to see her going away now, but it’s probably time for her to do something else.”

Henin-Hardenne believes semi-final opponent Jankovic represents “the future” of the women’s tour, after the Serbian put up a spirited fight against the world number two.

“She had an unbelievable tournament,” Henin-Hardenne said.

“She beat (Nicole) Vaidisova, (Svetlana) Kuznetsova, (Elena) Dementieva. You have to play well to beat these kind of players. She did improve a lot and she was in confidence this week.

“So we’ve seen the future. She is very talented, we can see it. So she doesn’t give a lot of points. In the first set, she didn’t give a lot of points.”