Justine Henin is one win away from a historic third successive triumph at Roland Garros. If she prevails on Saturday, she will equal Monica Seles’ record of three consecutive French Open crowns, achieved in 1990, ‘91 and ‘92. Justine has be a strong favourite to win the title for the fourth time. She has been in splendid form again this year, and has not dropped a set since her last sixteen match against Svetlana Kuznetsova…. back in 2005! The world number one has won her last 33 sets and 20 matches here at Roland Garros. Ana Ivanovic better not read that last stat!
Ana Ivanovic is appearing in the first Grand Slam final of her young career. The 19 year-old first came to our attention two years ago here at The French when she beat Amelie Mauresmo on the way to the quarter-finals. She has fulfilled her enormous potential since then, but must be careful not to mentally switch off now she’s made the final. Reaching the final is an admirable achievement, sure, but should she win, her natural charm would ensure she becomes a star.
CURRENT FORM
Absent in Melbourne due to personal reasons, Henin took no time re-establishing herself on her return. She won in Dubai, Doha and Warsaw, and is back playing better than ever here in Paris. Against Serena Williams and Jelena Jankovic, both formidable opponents in their own way, she took control and never let go. Her aggressive gameplan is clearly paying off, as she readily admits: “I do think I have improved my tactics during this tournament and I hope to keep it up.”
Ivanovic thoroughly deserves her place in the 2007 French Open final. She has won her last 12 matches on clay, including the final in Berlin. Although Ana has dropped two sets since the beginning of the tournament, she has actually spent less time on court than Justine (7 hours 38 minutes compared to 8 hours 9 minutes). She has beaten third seed Svetlana Kuznetsova and second seed Maria Sharapova already, and only needs to beat Justine to complete the clean sweep of the top seeds.
STRENGTH
Henin possesses perhaps the best backhand ever in the history of the women’s game. A delight to behold, it is her main weapon and she quite rightly uses it at every opportunity. There was a time when opponents used to attack her second serve, but not any more. On other surfaces, her physique can work against her, but not on clay, where she moves nimbly and slides beautifully to the ball.
Ivanovic is so talented it’s almost frightening. A true athlete, she uses her height (at 6’1” she is one of the taller girls on the circuit) to full advantage, especially on the serve. Her first delivery can be seriously fast (one was clocked at 201kms/hr in her last match!) and her groundstrokes fly off the racket too. She possesses one of the best down the line shots on tour, from both sides, and can mix things up where necessary. Her backhand slice is a useful stalling shot.
TACTICS
To win a final you have to go out and win it. Forcing the hand of fate is what’s needed, and Justine knows all about taking charge of French Open finals. She has won all three she has played so far, and few would bet against her on Saturday. “We’ll see. A lot of people see me as the favourite and it is true I love winning here. The French Open is a love story for me.” A love story indeed, but Justine still needs to play well for it not to have a sad ending…
It is tempting to predict Ivanovic will wilt under the storm of Justine’s power play in the pressure-cooker atmosphere of a first Grand Slam final. That may be a serious error of misjudgement. Ivanovic only needs to get her first serve going and find her range with her own crunching groundstrokes and she will immediately become a very tricky opponent, even for Justine in a French Open final. For the sake of everyone, let’s hope her ankle injury picked up in Rome does not bother her.
HEAD-TO-HEAD
The only time the pair have every played each other was in 2005 in a semi-final in Warsaw. That was on clay, and Henin won 6-4, 7-5.
Two years is a long time for Ivanovic, though, and she has come on immensely since that defeat.
