It must be truly tough to go through a divorce and lose your world number one ranking at the same time. This is what Justine Henin is facing, yet she refuses to surrender her career. Justine recently separated from husband Pierre-Yves Hardenne and revealed publicly that she is in great pain and shock. She is not aiming to regain her number one ranking just yet, instead she is thinking less about competing and more about regaining emotional control, motivation, and rhythm.
Justine missed this year’s Australian Open due to the separation, the details of which she wants kept private. Though the former triple Grand Slam winner spoke candidly about the pain in her life, she stressed that her recovery from this trauma depends partially on how she is treated during the next few weeks.
“I want to keep my private life with the name I give it — it’s private,” emphasized Henin.
“I am sure a lot of people understand that. You always have a lot of people who are very curious and they want to know why and who — and who cares? That’s my life. Everyone has to respect it because we all have the same rights.
We can talk about tennis and I know I am a public person. I understand that perfectly. But as soon as I am not on a tennis court, and as soon as something touches my private life, I think I can keep it for myself, and it is a little bit like my secret garden and I am sure people can accept that.
Why would I be different, because I am a famous tennis player? I am human. And I am a person before I am a tennis player.”
