FanNation - The Republic of Sport

Bigalke said 05/17, 03:01 AM
Four-time French Open champion Justine Henin, only 25, announced on Wednesday that she is retiring from professional tennis effective immediately. Henin, who has won in Paris three straight years, leaves the sport only weeks before the start @ Roland Garros...

... and she SHOULD have done so. If Henin felt that her time was up in the sport, she has earned the right to leave on her terms. A seven-time Grand Slam champ (with one Australian Open and two U.S. Opens), nearly $20 million in winnings in the bank, and a long life ahead of her, Henin has given what she can to tennis and owes the sport nothing further.

Tennis players are put on a rigorous course early in life. Henin started at 14, won the junior French Open @ 15, and turned pro by 16... she has had a brilliant nine-year career, with 41 WTA victories and an Olympic gold medal, a long run in the number-one ranking, and a dominance in Paris matched perhaps only by her male counterpart on the clay, Rafael Nadal...

Henin was never allowed to have a normal childhood. Now she has the money in the bank to have a relaxed and fruitful adulthood... she has been good to tennis, and now it is time for Justine to be good to Justine...

Bigalke said 05/17, 10:30 AM
Let's go down your list:

Money isn't everything... & Henin already has over $19 million from playing tennis...

No less an all-time great than Billie Jean King has already called Henin "pound for pound... the best tennis player of her generation." She is already considered one of the greatest ever...

Why couldn't she play until 30? Because, after playing at a highly-stressful level since adolescence, Henin simply decided she wanted MORE from life than groundstrokes and volleys...

Her time may not physically up, but once an athlete decides mentally that he or she has had enough, then time has passed & they should not continue simply to pile more statistics...

This essentially comes down to a debate of free will to get out when an athlete deems it right versus playing until an athlete drops into mediocrity. What's better for Henin's legacy? To keep playing with less passion for the sport in a blind quest for more wins than she already has, or to leave while people still recall her greatest feats? She already has 117 weeks @ number-one, the 6th-longest run in women's history. Her $19+ million in earnings is 5th all time. She is 11th in all-time wins.


Henin retiring is justified.

Bigalke said 05/18, 10:17 AM
"Does she really need to leave... in [her] prime...?"

You keep arguing about money... but $20 million, invested wisely, is more than enough to live on... and honestly? If I could retire @ 25 with $20 mil, I wouldn't look back...

And I never said it WOULD tarnish her legacy. This comes back to your previous paragraph. Does she NEED to leave? Yes, for her peace of mind... tennis is a grueling sport, and momentum can easily swing away. Her name, now, can be used to continue making more sustainable money from her tennis academy. She also wants to start doing more charity work...

Life is more than money, and it is more than constantly competing. Henin has said she feels no sadness about this decision, saying it is "a release from the game" she has focused on for nearly two decades. Fatigue and knee pain have taken their toll, as has ten years of professional tennis...

Why can't she wait until 30? Because, by 30, she could be disenfranchised, injured, stabbed a la Seles... and who are YOU to say just WHAT she needs her time for? As I noted earlier, she wants to do more charity work... a WAY MORE WORTHWHILE use of time than tennis. Henin got out while the getting was best FOR HER...