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SPORTSWednesday 9 March 2016
Henin, Safin elected to International Tennis Hall of Fame
NEW YORK (AP) — Justine In this June 7, 2007, file photo, Belgium’s Justine Henin cel- used that backhand John of the 2000 U.S. Open and
Henin and Marat Safin ebrates after beating Serbia’s Jelena Jankovic, in a semifinal McEnroe once called the predictions of many more
have been elected to the match of the French Open tennis tournament, at the Roland prettiest shot in the game, major titles soon followed.
International Tennis Hall of Garros stadium, in Paris. and mixed in rushes to the But while he did add a sec-
Fame. Associated Press net — punctuating win- ond Grand Slam trophy,
With a classic one-handed ners with “Allez!” and a fist his career became as well
backhand, Henin won sev- mously elected in the mas- smaller than her oppo- pump. Henin once used known for Safin’s smashed
en Grand Slam singles ti- ter player category. nents, but that never mat- the phrase, “Impossible is rackets and other antics —
tles, an Olympic gold med- At about 5-foot-6 and 125 tered. She covered the nothing,” and one of her whether it was celebrating
al and helped Belgium win pounds, Henin was often court as well as anyone, sponsors turned that into a a terrific shot at the French
its first Fed Cup champion- marketing slogan. It reflect- Open by grabbing his
ship. She spent 117 weeks ed her on-court philosophy, white shorts and tugging
ranked No. 1 and finished including when she beat them down to his thighs
the 2003, 2006 and 2007 Jennifer Capriati in the or complaining about the
seasons in the top spot. 2003 U.S. Open semifinals high price and low quality
Henin won four French despite being two points of the food in the players’
Opens, two U.S. Opens from defeat 10 times. Henin restaurant at Wimbledon.
and one Australian Open needed IV fluids after that France’s Petra won Wim-
despite a small frame in a match, which ended after bledon in 1946, following
game increasingly domi- midnight, but won the final five years as a prisoner of
nated by power. the next day. war in Germany, accord-
The enigmatic Safin earned Henin also was the first ing to the Hall. Petra died
two major titles — at the woman to beat both Ve- in 1984.
2000 U.S. Open and 2005 nus and Serena Williams en Britain’s Scriven won the
Australian Open — and route to a major title. French Championships —
briefly reached No. 1. Safin was one of the most the precursor of the French
Also in the Hall’s Class of unpredictable and outspo- Open — in 1933 and 1934.
2016: Yvon Petra and Mar- ken stars of tennis. He burst She was the first left-hander
garet Scriven were posthu- onto the scene by beating to win a Grand Slam title.
Pete Sampras in the final She died in 2001.
Continued from Page 17 She could face a long ban Serena lauds Sharapova for owning up to failed drug test Williams said. “She showed
from the International Ten- a lot of courage and a lot
Sharapova announced nis Federation, possibly supportive. While Sharapo- of heart.
she tested positive for ending her season and va is one of her biggest ri- I think she’s always shown
meldonium, a blood flow- preventing her from com- vals based on the Russian’s courage and heart in ev-
promoting drug she said peting at the Olympics. results and five major titles, erything she’s done, and
she had been taking for “It’s just taking responsibil- Williams has dominated this is no different.”
10 years for various health ity, which she admitted the head-to-head series, Two-time Grand Slam final-
issues. Meldonium was that she was willing to do winning the last 18 meet- ist Caroline Wozniacki, who
banned because it aids and ready to do,” Williams ings over more than a de- faces Williams in the exhibi-
oxygen uptake and endur- said. “Just hope for the cade. tion Tuesday night, agreed
ance, and players were best for everybody in that “As Maria said, she’s ready with her good friend’s as-
notified of the changes in situation.” to take full responsibility,” sessment of Sharapova’s
the WADA banned sub- Sharapova and Williams announcement. Wozniacki
stances list in December. have had some barbed acknowledged, though,
Sharapova claimed she words for each other in the the lengths that elite ath-
simply neglected to click past off the court, but on letes typically go through
on the link. Tuesday, Williams was fully to ensure they don’t ac-
cidentally ingest banned
substances.
“Any time we take any
medication, we double, tri-
ple and quadruple check,
because sometimes even
things like cough drops or
nasal sprays can be on
the list,” Wozniacki said. “I
think as athletes we always
make sure to really make
sure there’s nothing in it.”
