Serena vs Henin Rome 2002 Final | Highlights

[stephenstephen88]

And this is the one and only-time Serena Williams had ever beaten Justine Henin on CLAY. Bravo! :)))

[zebulonnike]

@stephenstephen88 there should have been at least two times (french open 2003) ah well...

[stephenstephen88]

@zebulonnike  Nope. Not on statistics and/or head-to-head. ^^

[wesmartin91]

@stephenstephen88 Justine has only ever beaten Serena ONCE on hardcourt (2007 US Open).

Also, Serena should have won the 2003 French Open but for the cheating of Henin.

[stephenstephen88]

@wesmartin91 that's also true.. but i'm talking about this video here ^^

[beavertown2006]

What a bitch pretending to be hurt.

[mssheltn1]

I WISH PEOPLE WOULD STOP SAYING THAT SERENA IS NOT FIT ANYMORE!!!! She is still fit and one could argue that she is now in the best shape of her career. Look at Serena's calf muscles in this video and then compare them to her calf muscles now. Then u will understand what I'm saying. Serena has a lot more muscle composition now than then.

[cristalfur]

Ah yes, the good old days of high quality tennis. I wish I were actually old enough/into tennis at this time, from what I've seen it was all so much better back then. Serena Slam must have made all the Ree fans proud :'(

[roottruthseeker]

wow thighs taped then too

[marcianito88]

peak Serena > peak Hennin

[awesomekidddo]

she ran so fast at 5:32

[FrenchSerena08]

@awesomekidddo yeah .. she was so crazy back then.. I think people always take for granted.. how much better she was than everybody.. I think the biggest difference is that she was thinner then.. even though now she is very fit she's not as thin.. and that makes a bit of difference in terms of how agile you can be..

[KFactor93]

@FrenchSerena08 I don't think the main reason she was faster in 2002 was because she was thinner (don't get me wrong, it would have played a part) but I think the biggest difference was her knee operation. If you look at Serena's footspeed and court coverage from 02-03 compared to 04-Current, you'll see it it's dramatically decreased. I also believe this is why she's never had comparable results on clay in comparison to 02-03.

[hawaii2991]

what serena did at 5:32, she could never do now

[TheFever77]

For everyone speaking of Serena's age, may I remind you that she is the world number 1 and and has been winning Grand Slams over the course of 3 decades starting from 1999 to 2010 and still going strong. Justine and Serena are the same age with Serena being older by some months, not sure how many. If Serena is fit, she's unbeatable, even on clay. Venus is not done winning Grand Slams yet either. I believe Venus is t her peak right now and has a long way to go.

[2038165479]

I would love Serena to win Rome in 2010

[olaraay]

if she turns up lol

[er9804]

I remember this year they played back to back finals. Justine won Berlin and Serena Rome!

[holocaustik]

if she won another french title. she will have won every slam at least twice.....i thin she is poised to do that this year hopefvlly . i support her everytime she goes out on the court

[tennislover12]

she would have at least two French Opens if Justine wouldn't have cheated during the 2003 semifinal with that gosh damn hand incident.

[djollyboy]

THANKKKKK YOUUUUUUUU! AND SHE WOULD HAVE ATLEAST 3 IF SHE MAINTAINED HER FITNESS, clay requires alot of running...

[olaraay]

@djollyboy she should be more serious during the clay court season and actually play some events to get her rythm going. if she was serious she would have had 3 by now

now justine is back , no chance

[tennislover12]

@olaraay i dont think so Serena can win the french Justine is not any different for her than kuznestsova serena can still win

[mssheltn1]

@olaraay All Serena/Venus have to do to win a French title is to do more serve & volley. If Serena would implement serve & volley in her strategy and use more dropshots then she would have won French Open 2010. For the life of me I don't understand why Venus/Serena won't do that on clay courts. Serena has the most perfect serve for serve & volley plays, so why won't she use it to her advantage??

[IRunLA69]

@mssheltn1 I was just thinking that actually. Serena is a better server than Venus, Venus is a bit better at the net, but they could both pull off a great S&V game, as they're both great at both. I TRULY hope Serena is working on her game during her off time, because(although I don't really like RG that much as a tournament) I REALLY want one or two more from her to shut the haters up.

[mssheltn1]

@IRunLA69 I completely agree!! It's no excuse for Venus to not have won at least 3 French Opens! Venus is impeccable on the net. I don't know how Serena could change her game more as to win the French Open.

[susceotible]

yeah. and I hope she'll be a little more powerful like her olf fays because I think powerful players have an advantage on clay. right.

[olaraay]

powerful and consistent

[djollyboy]

if she wins this year, her reaction will probly be like when she won her first gs

[olaraay]

here here

do u think she will be scared to play justine on the clay?

[holocaustik]

no, i think last years performance is weighing on her mind. she had a grand opportunity to win another french title and didnt take advantage of it. i dont think she is scared of justine but i think she knows that she will have to work for that title bc there are a few players that can take her out on clay esp at 28 yrs of age.

[roottruthseeker]

@holocaustik great thing about clay, anyone can win

[djollyboy]

she shud play on clay like this more often, then she will truly be the queen off all courts

[hottgame17]

wow serena is sooo hottttt wow

[charcharbiotch]

my gawd! serena was so fucking fit back then.

[JayMareo]

@charcharbiotch.... well shes fit right now but its how all humans are... u dont have the same body at 28 as you did at 20... so it bothers me when people say shes not fit now

[DIANAROSS4EVER]

Oh please, Venus is superfit right now and she is almost 30.

[olaraay]

but not compared to when she was 20 !

[DIANAROSS4EVER]

Yeah...

[dorker1992]

4:08 wow what a crazy low skidding slice no one can return that :D thats one great shot

[djollyboy]

my gosh, i didnt know serena could play her best on her least favourite surface against one of the best clay surface players in wta, nice...

[djollyboy]

serena?:o wheres ur signature grunt in this match? i miss it:(

[sheena3000]

henin was so powerless at that time! what a change one year later!!

[Paco801]

OMG Serena was fast back in the day

[arthurspooner60]

she´s still fast

[pearpeas]

Shyttttttttt. Serena is like lethal here

[laloca30]

I love how Serena was and still is the best player ever!!!! This is exactly how she played in the Australian open final 2009 against Safina...If anyone thinks that she has lost her prowess, they need to look for it here and view it...u will be amazed, cuz she played that final even better than this one. Henin was never ever as good as Serena nor Venus for that matter....Serena and Venus as of monday 5/11/09 will be #2 and 3 in the world, soon to be #1 & 2 again...just you wait!!!

[djollyboy]

upi can say that again, every word you said is 100 percent true , i dnt get why ppl even question their greatness

[trenoking]

Boy has she lost steam from then. Serena had it all, speed, strength, defense, attack, power... she is still great today but far from what she once was.

[juju1305]

how do you explain that she holds 3 of the last 4 slams then ?

[djollyboy]

she still has it, she has her current grand slam titles to proove so

[iamanabba]

henin was brilliant much better than williams whos a sore loser and never praises her opponents when she looses like her sister sore losers.

[Ineddiblehulk]

Women's tennis has gone down BADLY since this period, back then we had Serena, Venus, Henin, Hingis, Clijsters, Davenport and Capriati and Maresmo was also at the peak of her powers. There were always exciting matchups at the Slams. Now there is No one. Serena and Venus past their prime are the only good exciting players left. I look forward to them giving the world a tennis lesson.

[jproxursoxoff]

HAHA...you think the Williams' sisters are past their prime?? Where have you been the last few years??

[Villie1]

omg...no wonder she was so dominant back then. Best offensive game, best defensive game...hell, serena's not as good now as she was back then, not even close, at least in the movement department, but she's still won the last two majors!

[cammyveeree]

serena seemed to find it much harder to play henin than venus serenas head to head was 7 6 in end venuses was 7 2

[mekkapoo]

Her and Venus are going to amaze a lot of doubters out there. I am predicting that they are to do quite well for themselves in 2009. I will never doubt these two.

[Ineddiblehulk]

Who is there to get in there way? God help women's tennis without the Williams. THere is simply NO ONE. It is like '94-'96 all over again when Steffi was the only woman in the world who could play tennis.

[juju1305]

absolutely. The difference being that steffi's only worthy opponent Monica Seles had been taken out of the game against her will. :(

[Ineddiblehulk]

I know what a waste. There should have been some amazing matches between the two ('92 French and '93 Aus were previews of what was to come, as a Steffi fan hopefully a reversal of the results however!), but instead it was Steffi vs no one.

[juju1305]

Absolutely. She was defeated by injuries only. Arantxa was great, but could only defeat Steffi when she wasn't 100% (compare AO94 and USO94)...

It would have been great to see Seles try and challenge Graf on grass, and on the other hand, Steffi fighting hard on clay or rebound ace where monica was so dominant. Furthermore, all the other forces (Navratilova, Sabatini, Capriati) wilted leaving Sanchez-Vicario alone in a role that was too big for her.

[brunofroes21]

If she had kept this footspeed she would have dominated the tour untill nowadays.... Today it is lacking in her game, but the power and precision are just the same. great player after all.

[russianskatingfan]

I agree but alot of that is bad luck with injuries which isnt her fault really.

[ractorspring]

I agree to a degree. I think she's always able to get back her overall speed. What i believe she loses is her footwork when she gets to the ball. When she has that, she plays smarter because she goes for better shots and stays with offensive shots even when she's running on defense. Best example is watching her loss to justine in US Open 07 and her win against Jankovic in 08. Jankovic made her run, but she made much better decisions when getting to harder shots.

[pearpeas]

fuk Serena is like a gladiator! so precise!!!.

[itabayuga]

serena is the best.......

[dorker1992]

OMG THIS SERENA WAS SOOO FIERCE AND HARD HITTING AND FASSST!! SHE WAS UN STOPPABLE IN the 2002-2003

[russianskatingfan]

Except on clay. While she did beat Henin here she was 1-3 vs Henin on clay even at her peak from 2002-2003. Career lifetime vs Henin on clay is 1-4. This is her only ever win.

[dorker1992]

i didnt say she was better tahn henin on clay. I just love the way she plays in her peak.

[elcheria]

serena was in her BEST form here. she's still good, but not quite like this IMO.

[tennislover12]

its correct but, I think Serena at points in 2008 was mighty close.

[arthurspooner60]

awesome highlights. thanks so much XD

[Kungfusmkim]

wow serena had tremendous foot speed back then

[TheFever77]

@Kungfusmkim Back then? So what she has arthritis now or something? She has won like 12 slams since then so her footwork must be still pretty good in my opinion.

[czarnicolas12]

I highly recommend to watch this video in high quality. ;)