Justine henin over rated number one?

Justine Henin was not an overratd number one, she was the standout player of 2000's, she also had the most versatile and well rounded game. Not winning Wimbledon doesnot make her overrated, its not as if she was ranked number 1 without winning a major like a Jankovic or Marcelo Rios.

As this question is about WTA I will give you most examples from WTA, like, Monica Seles is ranked very highly on any list of all time WTA greats, but even she never won Wimbledon, reaching the final once in 1992, and as you say Henin should have won more US opens, well just like Henin, Monica Seles also won only 2 us open titles.

Another example Here can be Venus, the last time Venus Williams won a non grass court major was way back in 2001, plus she has won neither the French nor teh Australian open.

Or what about a somewhat lesser great in Davenport, who only won 3 majors in her long career but still held the # 1 ranking for 98 weeks, where as a player like Serena who has won 9 majors has only been ranked # 1 for 61 weeks, and Venus winner of 7 majors, surprisingly has held the top spot for only 11 weeks.

As the Williams Sisters enter fewer events even when they are playing well they dont help their chances of reaching the #1 spot

Does this make all the players i have mentioned overrated?

Definitely no, its just that players like Steffi Graf who won each major multiple times come once a century, even all time greats like Martina Navratilova and Chris evert had some limitations, Martina on clay and Evert on faster courts, as Christ evert once said

" i dominated slower surfaces but had some problems on faster courts Martina Navratilova dominated the faster courts but had problems on slower courts, Steffi graff was the only player who dominated both the slow and the fast courts.

Similar examples from ATP can be given, Ivan Lendl won 8 majors and was ranked # 1 for 270 weeks but never managed to win Wimbledon but if we start to assume Lendl was overrated it will definitely be harsh and unfair.

I must add another thing I have noticed is that the experts & critics are lenient towards players who never managed to win the French or were not much of a force on clay, but players who never managed to win Wimbledon seldom escape their wrath, a player like Sampras, never even came close to winning French open and was never a forceon clay.

On WTA Venus has never been much of a force on clay but hardly any body mentions this as her Achilles’ heel, without confusing any 1 with Steffi Graf i will add, why is that we bash a player like Justine who couldnt win Wimbledon but had lots of success elsewhere? I think that it will be unfair and harsh and would count as double standards on our part.

Another thing we must take in to consideration here is that the rankings are purely mathmatical, so whoever is ranked # 1 deserves after all they put themselves in this position by earning more ranking points.

Despite the fact that Henin was always at a disadvantage in a power packed game, because of her short built , and she she could be ocassionally out-hit, by players like Sharapova and Williams sisters but still she was the only female player of her generation who brought relentless consistency to WTA.

All other players e.g. Serena, Venus, Muaresmo etc had patches of brilliance but always lacked the consistency Henin had, Henin won at least 1 major from 5 yrs running, 2003-07, and was always a threat to win any event she entered, just compare these stats to any player of her generation and its not hard to prove that she wasnt overrated.

Given a choice i would always pick relentless consistency over patchy brilliance. Just compare Jelena Jankovic's record against William sisters and then Henin, Henin took every match seriously and gave 100% where as all the other players on WTA can blow hot and cold.

In 2007 Henin had 1 of the best years in WTA in recent memory she was almost unbeatable posting a 63-4 record including 10 titles, something that had not been achieved on WTA for almost 20 years, plus she beat Serena in 3 majors French open Clay, Wimbledon grass and US open hardcourts.

See the state of WTA after Henin's retirement and her contribution to WTA becomes even more impressive, the # 1 ranking became nothing more than a game of musical chairs after Henin's retirement, what do we say about the subsequent lack of leadership on WTA after her retirement, even players like Kuznetsova were in with a chance to take over as world # 1 and even Jankovic.

This is where i believe if anything Justine is underrated.

In the words of Billie Jean King

"pound for pound, [Henin] is the best tennis player of her generation."

This coming from a legend like Billie Jean King I think i will have to agree with this, and though Henin didnt win Wimbledon, it was not that she couldnt, she definitely had the game to win it, its just a shame she couldnt, in 2006 she was just a set away.

Despite the fact that she couldnt win Wimbledon, even then year in year out, she had the best most well rounded results on all surfaces, if she had not retired at age 25, dont know how much she could have achieved.

By the same logic, Federer's was overrated during his long run as #1, cause he never won the French Open. Never mind the fact that he won Wimbledon 5 times in a row, and that in '04, '06, and '07 he won all the slams BUT the French. (Oh, if it's not clear by now, Federer was not overrated)

So, Henin never won Wimbledon. But you can't argue that she didn't deserve her #1 spot, when she was undefeated at the French Open. Toss in a couple US Open wins and an Australian Open win, and there's no way she doesn't deserve that #1 spot.

There is a reason that they play all those different surfaces. Ever wonder why Federer can't topple Nadal on clay? Or why Henin never lost on clay? It's because of their play styles. Henin and Nadal had great games for clay surfaces. But they struggle on grass, because it requires a very different play style. Federer has been dominant on grass, and he performs very well on hardcourts, because they suit his play style. But he struggles a bit on clay.

Of course not. She was the best among her peers. She was far ahead in ranking points when she decided to retire so abruptly. She could have easily won another French Open. Two years ago, she reached the finals of all 4 Grand Slam events, winning two. She could have easily won at least 2 more this year. She could have easily won a gold medal in the Beijing Olympics. Lest you forget, she was one of the shortest, and most fragile-looking female tennis players, and yet she was the most feared competitor among the women players. She may not have the power of the Williams sisters or even of Sharapova, but she has the finesse and precision comparable to Federer's. Her backhand has even been rated as one of the best, if not the best, not only among the women, but even including the men. I am very sure, had she not unexpectedly retired, Justine would still be the reigning no. 1 female tennis player in the world up to now, while the others - jankovic, serena, dementieva, ivanovic, safina, sharapova, venus, etc. would have to settle for being the 2nd or 3rd or 4th best only.

kinda of. Most of the slams when she won it there isnt that much competition. A lot of her slams come from when the williams sisters were in their breakdown stage ( loosing their sister and injury/ fitness problem). Justine does have incredible power for a person her size though she can over power many bigger players like sharapova etc. Her game is base on technique/strategy and precision. I think she was a great champion but not the greatest 10 of all time list. But her backhand would make the list at like top 3.

U know I do find her overrated,I know not many ppl will like it....

She is a good player no doubt abt that,bt when she was No.1 she didn't hv much competition....

As Williams Sisters were going through the most problematic stage of their career(becoz of their sister's loss,fitness problem & all that) & Sharapova was not consistent enough...

So she had the edge over them & gathered lots of points...

I think if WILLIAMS SISTERS played as many match as others play,then they will be undisputed Queens & will stand far from other players...

Among BELGIAN players I find Kim Clizters more talented than Hennin though She didn't continue...

I wouldn’t say that Justine was over-rated; I would say she was an over-achiever.

Considering her over-all size, and in an era of big hitters and power players, it’s a wonder she won as many titles as she did before her retirement.

She found out her boyfriend develop into in simple terms into her because of fact she is mythical tennis participant. She dumped him, for sure, and now could be finding for the affection of her existence, because of fact she would not desire to spend the full existence practise tennis and so! She desires to have childrens and kinfolk. i in my opinion think of this is nice determination for her, yet who knows, consistent with threat she returns at some point, like Higins.

Yes. In any case she did not rule that long compared to Steffi or Navaratholvia or even Seles...any one of the William Sisters would also have been more consistent!!

yea but the womens tour is pretty weak now

and the williams sisters dont play in many tournaments so they dont have many points

I still think she's extremely talented and a class act. Her backhand is something else...