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Henin-Hardenne looking to join the greats


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Justine Henin-Hardenne will be looking to put the misery of last year's first round exit from Wimbledon behind her when she opens her bid for the only Grand Slam missing from her collection on Monday.

Fresh from winning her third French Open title the Belgain faces China's Yuan Meng in the first round of the women's singles at the All-England Championships.

Seeded third this year Henin-Hardenne will be bidding to bury the bitter memories of a year ago when she was knocked out by Greek outsider Eleni Daniilidou.

"I was injured then with hamstring and tendinitis problems and could not make it. I still went to win Wimbledon because it was a Grand Slam and I felt I had to try, but in the end I wished maybe I had not," explained the 24-year-old.

"I wasn't healthy enough to compete and paid the price, but this time I've come back fit and strong and feeling good. My serve has improved. It is a weapon now, not a weakness and I have had four matches at Eastbourne to get used to the grass surface.

"It is not easy to adapt from clay to grass but I've worked hard at it and I'm feeling confident. I don't know my opponent in the first round but my coach is gathering information from videos for me and we will see what happens.

"There are seven matches to win at Wimbledon and 128 players who all want the same thing. So I'm not saying I'm a favourite but I know I am as well prepared as I can be and it is a special challenge for me."

And she will also be hoping to emulate Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert by following a French Open and Eastbourne double with the Wimbledon title.

Navratilova pulled off the French-Eastbourne-Wimbledon treble twice in 1982 and 1984. American star Evert did it in 1976.

Henin-Hardenne reached the women's final at Wimbledon five years ago but was beaten by Venus Williams.

Since then she has won five Grand Slam titles, nearly 15 million dollars and, at the weekend, became the first player on the women's tour to earn two million dollars prize-money in one season.

She is one of the few on that tour not to worry about Wimbledon's unequal cash-rewards policy, which give 30,000 pounds more to the men's winner, saying "There are much more important issues."

Unlike compatriot Clijsters - who plans to retire next year at 24, she lives for the game, although other interest include, remarkably, sky-diving which she does to celebrate great victories.

ea/bc06

Tennis-Wimbledon-HeninHardenne

AFP 251407 GMT 06 06

COPYRIGHT 2004 Agence France-Presse. All rights reserved.

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