Justine Henin Settles into Dubai
- World Number One looking for her fifth Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships Title -
Dubai, UAE, February 25th, 2008: Justine Henin is back to a place she says feels like home. The Belgian world number one, who has never lost a match in her previous four visits, is top seed this week at the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships. The field is the strongest she is likely to face outside of the Grand Slams this year, but the better the opposition the better she likes it.
“I love this tournament,” said Henin on Monday. “The numbers prove it. It’s a place I like a lot. I have Belgian friends here also so we enjoy a good time together.
I met them here. He’s a pilot for Emirates and every time I come we have dinner every night together. They’re very nice people and it makes the atmosphere a bit different. We go to their house and it feels a little bit like home.
"I think it’s perfect conditions to play tennis here. It’s great organisation and a nice atmosphere. I love the night session, so it’s a good feeling to be back again. I feel great here and we’ll see if it’s going to keep going.
“It’s always a bit special to defend a title, but with the experience now I’m used to it and I don’t think about that anymore. I’m focused on every match I have to play and every match I want to win to defend the title, but I’m quite often in this situation now so there is no problem with that.
“It’s very positive for sure (to be undefeated) but who knows what’s going to happen. You have to work hard every day and I’ve won matches that I could lose here. I’ve saved match points (in 2003, against Monica Seles the first time she won the title) and had tough matches last year too, so we never know what will happen. But there are a lot of good memories here for me in Dubai. My season really started here last year, the beginning of an amazing adventure, and that gave me a lot of confidence for the rest of the season.”
Henin does not grab the headlines in the same way as more glamorous opponents such as Maria Sharapova or Ana Ivanovic, but that is of little concern to her.
“I’m here because I love to play tennis,” she said. “That’s the main reason. People will always remember me for my results and I think that’s great because it’s what I want. I’m here because I love competition, I love to push my limits, I love to share these things with the fans and the people I love, and that’s the most important thing.
“All the things around, I have the feeling I wasn’t born for this. I get used to it because we are all getting popular. Tennis is a very popular sport and that’s great for the game and for us, but I’m really here because I want to win matches.”
In opening day matches, eighth seed Elena Dementieva saved two set points before beating Patty Schnyder 7-5 6-0, Dinara Safina overwhelmed Tunisia’s Selima Sfar 6-1 6-3, and Alona Bondarenko defeated Maria Kirilenko 3-6 6-3 6-2.
Her next opponent will be Alona Bondarenko, a recent Australian Open doubles champion with her sister Kateryna, who defeated Maria Kirilenko 3-6 6-3 6-2. In the only other main draw match, Dinara Safina took just over an hour to beat Tunisia’s Selima Sfar 6-1 6-3.
The 2008 Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships, which is held under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, continues until March 1st with the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour tournament, and is followed by the ATP event from March 3rd to 8th.
