TORONTO – In what was undoubtedly the best game of the 2007 Rogers Cup women’s tennis tournament in Toronto, the top seed proved why she is the best in the world.
Facing a tough test from Rogers Cup second seed, Jelena Jankovic, Justine Henin still managed to defeat her Serbian opponent in straight sets 7-6 (7-3), 7-5 to win the $1.34 Rogers Cup for the second time. The score does not tell the full story of the match, however, which took an incredible two hours and 17 minutes to play. While Henin came back to win the first set after being down 1-4, the match was highlighted by a particularly thrilling 11th game in the second set, where Jankovic had six break chances to take a 6-5 lead.
Henin managed to thwart every attempt.
At a post-game press conference, Henin could not understate the importance of the game that was obviously very satisfying for her to win.
“Yeah, one of the toughest games I’ve ever had,” she said. “It was an important game, because I had the match point at 5-4 in the second and didn’t lose that game. And then we were both playing very well at that time of the match. But finally it paid off, and I won that game. And it was really important mentally and physically to conclude the match at that time.”
Jankovic had nothing but praise for the victor.
“So I mean, she’s a great champion, and she pushes the standards of the game. And for me, it’s great always to pair up against her and see what I can do and what I can improve,” Jankovic said. “It always can make me better.”
The runner-up joked that Henin always seems to have an answer for everything she attempts, having never beat the Belgian superstar.
“And with her, you have to be right up there, because you cannot give her anything. You give her one point, she’ll take — it’s like, I give her one finger, she takes my whole hand, you know,” Jankovic said with a laugh.
What the people in the stands didn’t know is that Henin was close to not even competing in the match at all, due to a right shoulder injury that she suffered yesterday after her semifinal match with Zi Yan.
“Almost didn’t play today, yeah, that was true,” she said. “Because last night I was really concerned about my problem with my shoulder. It was really inflamed. And really last night I wasn’t really positive about the fact that I could play today.”
Henin thanked the trainers who managed to get her back to “100 percent” before the match.
“We did a lot of treatments and some medications. But, you know, a lot of treatments to release a little bit all the tensions and everything,” she said. “Because last night I wasn’t really, really positive about the fact that I could play. So a lot of treatment on it last night, this morning before practice, before the match.”
Tennis Canada officials had a back-up plan in place if Henin wasn’t able to participate in the final. While Jankovic would have won the tournament by default, Nadia Petrova was asked to play in an exhibition game as the semifinalist was still in town.
What’s next?
Rogers Cup tournament director Karl Hale said that plans would start next week to determine what improvements need to be made next year
“Things that the fans want to see, as far as entertainment value outside of the tournament outside of the matches that are being played,” he said. “So we’ll have a meeting on what can we do to give added value to the fans.”
While the tournament was plagued with many big-name players pulling out, it still managed to draw more than 137,000 in attendance. Hale said that this can still be improved upon for next year.
“Obviously, we would like to see more attendance, and that’s what we’re working towards,” he said.
While both Henin and Jankovic have their eyes set on the U.S. Open where play begins on Aug. 27, their preparations are definitely not similar.
“And I will go right tomorrow to New York, and I will have a whole week to get ready and prepare and be ready for the US Open which is very important to me,” Jankovic said.
In contrast (and probably to give her shoulder some time to heal), Henin plans on taking a few days off.
“I’m going to stay in Toronto until Thursday, I think, and then go to New York. So I’m going to take some time off. Maybe just change my mind tomorrow, maybe Niagara Falls or something,” she said. “Just take some time off. And not thinking too much about tennis for one or two days. Then start to practice probably on Tuesday, and get ready for the Open.”
Good night Rogers Cup.
See you next year.
