@@HCaulfield115 Well, for a reason Justine Henin was called "the female Roger Federer"! I was fan of both Justine Henin and Roger Federer! Yes, you're absolutely right Justine's forehand is also that strong. By the way Justine was a Graf fan herself! 😇
@@MusikPiratCH Henin peaked and became no. 1 way before Roger Federer But yet, we call her the woman version of Roger, and not the other way around I always find this very weird
You can easily be a fan of both players! Incredible tennis here - even if you compare it to today's women's tennis (e.g. at Wimbledon)! I wonder whether Iga Swiatek would had any chances vs Henin, Clijsters or Capriati? I really doubt it. Even when Patty Schnyder said Swiatek is the best athlete in women's tennis (today) I doubt she could match those athletes of the past. I always wonder how effective that wonderful backhand by Henin would be today? 🤔
I saw Henin play for my first time in 2001, while watching (initially with a certain distraction) at a VHS recording of her Paris semifinal against Clijsters. By the end of that VHS (she lose that match, after dominating Clijsters for 1 and half sets), I was an Henin fan forever :)
I was so lucky to watch very closely her closed practise on hard court in tournament in Toronto.. She had 2 man sparing partners changing every 10 min.. She was beating them up with her shots especially with her backhand.. I have been watching tennis for 30 years and I have not seen better player than Henin untill this moment...
I’ve always been amazed how much power Justine got from her ground strokes specially her one handed back hand. She has such a slight frame but generated so much pace.
There're two/three motivations for that: 1) great timing: that's pure talent, difficult to train 2) great muscle decontraction, and (somewhat linked to decontraction) great arm independence: this allows her to avoid losing energy in jerky jumping/turning of the trunk or of the whole body (like Capriati is often doing on her forehand) 3) the one-handed backhand, which is definitely more powerful and heavier than the two-handed, if hit with good timing and without holding back... Justine was exceptional in both these departments.
@@pierdomenicosommati443 Good points, and we all know it's the Indian more so than the arrow, but her racquet setup also helped a ton: a Wilson Hyper Hammer 5.3 Stretch MidPlus with Power Holes (European-only version) -- 95" head for balance of control and power, 27.5" extended length for reach and power, medium-thick 23mm beam with thick cross-dimension for torsional rigidity, very stiff 75RA (!!!) flex for maximum power transfer (Pure Drive -esque) and to top it all off, natural gut strung at 60 pounds for even more power. TL;DR on paint jobs - You can see in this video the racquet is painted to look like a Hammer H Tour, and in subsequent years the nCode N Tour, nCode N Tour 2, BLX Tour and finally K Tour, but make no mistake, it was the HH 5.3 Stretch MP PH underneath all those paint jobs all along; easiest way to tell is if you look at high-res photos of her with the racquet, showing the interior grommet holes at 9 or 3, you can see elongated openings instead of conventional plastic circular grommets -- those are "Power Holes", as Wilson called them, and for a Tour racquet at Justine's spec, the HH was the only release that had them (none of the subsequent models did).
To this very day there is no player in the WTA that has played anything like Justine, she was such a crafty talented player I miss watching her play. its such a a joy to watch these replays
I remember this match. It was one of two huge matches I recall where Capriati had the lead late but lost. I felt for her, but this was probably the tournament when I first really noticed Henin (Henin-Hardenne). I would never forget her after it. An instant classic.
@@Mop222 no she wasnt, not when henin was always stopping the matches and stopping capriatis momentum on purpose with her medical time outs. in both grandslams they played henin was pretending to be injured in both. once maybe but twice? she wasnt cramping with the way she was running down capriatis balls that put henin in the stands and the in between points acting like she was cramping. jennifer knew it was bullshit. everytime justine pretended to be injured she would come back and play out of her mind and that was purposely done to throw off the momentum. even kim made the comment in the press against henin accusing her of the same thing. capriati blamed herself and was at angry at herself for not putting away the match after being 2 points away from the match 10 times thats on jennifer and she knew it and right when you lose the match she is going to be heartbroken and upset so what do you expect? countless players that always had to do some crap to break her rythme against her. mauresmo constantly holding up her serve when the returner is supposed to play to the pace of the server. it happened countless times players after players because it was the only way they could beat her and jennifer knew it and usually jennifer was pissed off at herself for letting it get in her head when so many matches she had on her racket to win. she was never disrespectful nor was she extra lovey dovey because they were all bitches. you could always tell who jennifer respected and admired against monica, against steffi, against gabby, against kim, the legit legends that she used to play that didnt used to do that shit compared to the new girls. jennifer grew up and played in a generation where integrity and class were standard not like the shit the new generation tried to pull. why fake it if you dont feel it. no need for a show that was bs.
Evening match.....and it was truly epic. I was there, I bought a last minute ticket and boy oh boy, it was the best live match I had ever seen! TY for posting this.
Jennifer was very talented player, in the first set, she’s reversed the situation in minutes with ease. In my opinion, when Jennifer was inspired, she was one of the strongest players of all time! I Miss so much her game! ♥️
Luckily Jennifer Capriati (after her Olympic victory versus Steffi Graf back in Barcelona 1992) she came back on the court to show some fantastic tennis (with 3 grand slam victories)! I really loved her game. On the other hand this backhand by Justine Henin is that strong (but don't forget her forehand that is also very strong - Henin was a Graf fan)! Back then in 2003 I saw 3 of my favorite female tennis players battle it out (Justine Henin, Kim Clijsters and Jennifer Capriati)!
She was a very inconsistent and streaky player she would go on points where the ground strokes were on fire and then she would almost act like she was completely lost on court.
I really liked Capirati, she had fallen off for a couple years due to personal issues, but was making a comeback. She was always a great talent in tennis. I miss this kind of talent in women's tennis. Hein has one of the most beautiful one handed backhands in tennis and both these women were beautiful strikers of the ball. When you have great volliers like these two, you have memorable matches like this one. As an American I was rooting for Capirati, but Henin played some beautiful tennis against a great player, and you couldn't help but become a fan of her playing.
Capriati is a cheat and poor sport. Look at that handshake, then go watch the US Open match between Capriati and Serena Williams (I forgot what year) in which umpire and line persons conspired against SW and called nearly all of her close shots out. Some of the shots were even clearly INSIDE the lines, and they still called them out. And Capriati shamelessly went along with all of that. That was the match that accelerated the introduction of Hawkeye system because humans had shown to be completely corrupt.
I knew Jennifer and Steven at Harry Hopman/Saddlebrook in Florida and they were great kids. Twelve-year old Jennifer was always bubbly and friendly and Steven was a great little 9-10 year old competitor in the court. The got along great too, as did Mary and David Pierce who were also great kids around camp.
JUSTINE H is former world no.1 WS in tenis ..she is one of the best tenis ever..her backhands is one of the great in the world..she absoulty Amazing.Legendary player in the Universe...Although she is no tall.167cm..but she has all tobe great player..she had great serves..strong powerfull hit the balls..fenomenal footwork..great returne serves..she is clever players...even she often beating so many great ..power full ..and tall player like Williams Sisters .Davenport.Seles..Mauresmo.Capriati..Clijsters..Ivanovic..Sharapova..D.Safina and Jankovic..they are all former world.no.1....She also beat M.Hingis in so many match...
Well technically the only player during her time that she wasn't able to overcome was Venus Williams. Venus has a 6-2 record against Justine (with that last win in 2007 coming when Venus was dealing with her illness). During her prime Venus use to slay Justine. I mostly attribute this to Venus's height, but her speed on the court back in those days and her ability to make Justine move with her ground strokes and keep the ball out of Justine's strike zone. Serena wasn't able to do this as well against Justine and relied heavily on her serve to get her out of trouble.
Peak henin's game will destroy 2010s decade of pushers and dominate the tour. Only players who could give serena a match unlike 2010s decade players who needed serena to hit 35.
@@Mysicalgreenunicorn03 Yes she had a great backhand too, but I think Henin's was even better - it was like a tracer bullet. I really liked Mauresmo's attacking all-court game. She played serve-and-volley in a way that hadn't been seen in women's tennis since the days of Martina.She reminded me of Hana Mandlikova in that she had every shot in the book, but her flaky temperament stopped her winning more.
This really felt like Capriati's slam, coming off her first title in ages the week before and playing off the crowd the whole tournament through. Henin just would not quit though, can't really fault Capriati for breaking. But the 2004 semi must give her nightmares.
@@swalterstennis Lenglen, Wills-Moody, Bjurstedt-Mallory, Brough, Connolly, Bueno, Court, King, Goolagong, Evert, Navratilova, Mandlikova, Graf, Seles, Sanchez, Hingis, Davenport, V. Williams, S. Williams, Henin, Clijsters are definitely greater. I would add Jacobs, Marble, Betz, Gibson, Sharapova as well. So no place for Jen in the top 25. Maybe top 20 open era.
@@carrerau7138 Tracy Austin, Andrea Jaeger and Jennifer Capriati all would have been Top 15 if they played five years more. Austin and Capriati looked like they were going to be in the conversation for Greatest of All Time and Jaeger was going to be an All-Time Great. Injuries and burnout derailed their path. Jaeger went from being a 14-year old 8th grader in the winter of 1979-80, to six months later being Top 6 in the World. Austin was the equal of Chris Evert at 16. Capriati was going to break all the records. I knew Jennifer and Andrea and worked with Tracy’s and Chris’ brothers and study tennis history. Seles was going toward the GOAT also. She would definitely have been Top 4 if she didn’t get stabbed. Likely Top 2 or 3. 1. S Williams Graf Navratilova 4. Lenglen Wills Court Evert 8. Seles 9. King 10. Connolly This much, I’m pretty sure of. From 11-15, and 16-20, and 21-25, you have done some good studying.
Capriati would have one final look next year at the ‘04 Open, but this was the last semi where you sensed Capriati BELIEVED it was her time to win her home slam. No Williams sisters. But Henin simply refused to surrender that night on Ashe. ❤
I totally agree just like the 91 semifinal with Monica put her on a decade spiral I believe this semifinal with the Justine anded her career she never really did anything after this and by 2004 in the fall she was out with an injury and never came back.
@@safee4540 actually, Serena dominated for 16/18 months during this tough era, more of less the length of Henin's reign too. Than, Serena dominated again, for a much longer time, during the extremely weak WTA era after 2012. To my eyes, her first 2002/2003 dominion, even if it happened when Henin and Clijsters still were a little bit too young, is much more significant than the 2013/2017 one.
@@pierdomenicosommati443 Spot on, 100%. The 2010-20 era has been extremely weak and erratic in Women's Tennis, with no great H2H rivalries emerging. Serena Williams reached 23 GS not through competition but purely through longevity. Many years ago, Martina Navratilova commented on that apparent weakness, on the WTA tour.
Not necessarily true. Never ceases to amaze me how many people dismiss today's players as if they're nothing. These girls play at a far more intense level than those of the 90s and early 00s. Henin is one of the players I could indeed see holding her own, along with obvious examples like Williams and Sharapova, but there aren't too many others. Women's tennis through the 90s to early 00s had Navratilova, Graf, Seles, Sanchez Vicario, Capriati, Hingis, Henin, Clijsters, Davenport and the Williams sisters winning majors, and that's about it, aside from the odd one. In the past ten years alone we've had Williams, Halep, Kerber, Barty, Osaka, Swiatek, Sabalenka, Kvitova who've won multiple titles, then when you factor in the maiden title winners like Gauff, Rybakina, Raducanu, Andreescu, Kenin, Stephens, Ostapenko, Wozniacki, Vondrousova and Krejcikova, it's hardly been a boring and predictable period. Most of the above players are still playing regularly too, aside from Williams and Barty. To be honest, there's no way you can fairly compare eras anyway.
Henin would also have thrived in today's more topspin friendly conditions. Clay was her favorite surface after all. Back in the early 2000s she could potentially be blasted off court and lose a mountain of free points to big servers like the Williams
Pound for pound, at 90 odd lbs. no one better than Justine Hennen-Ardenne with the best 1 handed womens backhand ever. John Mcenroe had it right in his assessment of her years ago. Robert at 68.
Other weapon of henin was return of serve when she used to send missiles back with deep returns. You can see even when jen was serving big, henin was sending returns. Maybe one of reasons she gave serena too much trouble.
Justine's groundstrokes were so graceful and fluid...a lot like Hana Mandlikova. Jennifer was such a clean striker of the ball. Every shot was solid and with authority. If she was going to lose you were going to have to beat her, particularly in the big matches. 3-0 in slam finals, and 1-0 in the Olympic finals.
@@sabra1066 You are wrong. Why bother to try to contradict someone when your attempted contradiction is incorrect? Especially as it's so easy to google it. Mystifying....
I just love Henin's backhand. I have to admit that I'm sucker for one-handed backhands; I find them just so much prettier than two-handed backhands, not to mention that they are normally more powerful.
Capriati made four US Open semifinals in her career. Three of them were lost in final set tiebreakers, the fourth was a straight sets loss to Venus. Bad luck, or failure to perform under pressure?
She just got outplayed. Capriati was an aggressive defensive player-she couldn’t beat players that were outright more aggressive than her, or rarely could. She was waiting for mistakes her instead of going for winners.
I remember screaming watching this match and my mum asking if I was OK from another room 🤣 And I was not even a fan of either player. It was just so high level!!!
@truthspeakerandseeker7032 Go watch US Open 2004 QF between Capriati and SW. Umpire and line persons conspired to cheat against Serena Williams blatantly, calling several balls that were INSIDE the lines out. Usually, mistakes could be made when the balls caught the outside of the lines but never when they were inside. One such ball that did not even touch the line was not called by the line person, probably because that would be too blatant of a cheat, but the umpire overruled and called it out. After that match, US Open officials had to apologize to Serena because they knew what was going on. That match was the reason we have Hawkeye now. And what about Capriati? She of course knew all those shots were good but not a word out of her. Contrast that with Alcaraz who would give his opponent the point when he saw line person and umpire made a mistake.
A nice pick, thanks for posting. Here's amazingly entertaining, quality rallies by both players. Overall, Justine in upper hand pushes Jennifer into backfoot. Struggling in finding her rhythm, under tremendous, relentless pressure from the other side of the net, which keeps Jennifer away from her full swing as usual. She fought hard with grit & determination. That's appreciable & to be appreciated there. A true gladiator she is. Angled-cross court, down the line at will, Justine's single-handed backhand is a formidable weapon. Not muscular, look at her her stature. Unbelievable for a player like her to be able to generate such power (& accuracy)! Razor-sharp would depict her quality. Not too short or long, a very fine highlight!
You have to give it to Justine. Her backhand, though not that powerful, can produce great angles and can really change the pace of a rally. I think what's missing from Jen is the angle. If only she can produce great and powerful angles like Seles & Davenport, she'd be twice as formidable as she's a power hitter and moves on the court well.
Interesting. She definitely relied on her heavy topspin and power. Serena and Justine used more angles but varied it up. Monica was the queen of angular tennis. I’ve still never seen a player play angles that well except for an in form Serena. This was a good match because Jen’s off kilter heavy shots against Justine’s all around power game made a great contrast of shots. Jen gave Justine hell and was so close. Justine just too good that day.
Henin's backhand "not that powerful"?? Ahahah this is really funny. She even hits outright down-the-line backhand winners with Capriati freezed on her feet at just a couple meters from the ball😅 You can achieve something like that only with very powerful shots, otherwise it's just impossible😅
Jennifer Capriati was on pace to become the Greatest Female Tennis Player of All Time before she got sidetracked and had some injuries. Monica Seles would have also. So was Tracy Austin. And so was Maureen Connolly.
Whenever I see Capriati, I only remember the match against Serena Williams when umpire and line persons were conspiring against Serena, calling everything close to the lines out, and Capriati went along with it. I would never feel right winning those points.
Peak Venus was pretty inconsistent at that level. She was easily losing focus and precision. That's why her "peak moments" were so brief, and her weeks at n.1 so few.
@@pierdomenicosommati443 Venus never really took tennis that serious, around that time. I don't think Venus was even at her peak around that time either. Illness and injuries affected her the opportunity to get better. Remember Venus was still very young around that time too, her precision and focus would have improved
Looked it up, both Evert 5'6 and Justine 5'6 inches, but with a smaller build, plus a handed backhand, AND did achieved no. 1, so I would say pretty amazing.
Back then I had four favorite players: Justine Henin, Kim Clijsters, Jennifer Capriati and Patty Schnyder. Most of them went very far in those grand slams!
Up 5-3 in set 2 and 5-2 in set 3. She seemed to tighten up just a bit when she had the leads but she didn’t hand it to Justine either. Henin took it away.
The tournaments Capriati really wanted to win she never won Miami and US Open. She came so close winning those tournaments with some though battles against the Williams sisters in finals and semi final. The Williams sisters did not play the US Open in 2003 and Capriati saw it as an opportunity to win the US Open that year, but she came up against another talented player Henin
Two lions at their best. The demonstration that a one handled backhand is more damaging that a two handed one. In my opinion, Justine showed the best femenine tennis ever and Capriati very close, probably she would have been a legend, hadn't she gone the wild way of life at her youth.
Capriati could never get to a single final at the Open. 1991- BARELY lost. 2001- lost. 2003- really should have won. 2004 - lost to Dementieva who was serving atrociously. Not disappointed though. I couldn't stand her attitude.
this match exposed Capriati as not an aggressive power hitter. though she did get close to win, she would not have won the final. but knowing Kim she could have bottled it and choked as usual
Capriati definitely was an aggressive power hitter, but she was pretty good at defending too, and sometimes at hitting hard from defense. The problem is that here she found somebody better than her, who was able to keep the edge on rallies more often than her, so Capriati was mostly forced to stay on defense, on the run, and to rely mostly on Henin's unforced errors. Plus, Henin's backhand was just a shot from a different category. It was often totally impossible to counterpunch.
The 91 US Open final with Monica pretty much derailed her career for almost a decade and this match put the nail in the coffin. Jennifer Capriati has been on the losing end of so many amazing and greatest female matches of all time. Both happened at the US Open, she wanted a US Open Grand slam so bad The first time in 91 I think you can overlook but this one she never recovered from this. A career just continued to skid.
It should also be noted in both matches Jennifer capriati had the lead she served for the third set with Monica numerous times and in this match she had an opportunity to serve out the match as well and couldn't do it.
Remade highlights of this match in a much better quality.
thank you very much
Thank u so much. Memories
Where?
Justine's backhand is the most beautiful shot I've ever seen on a tennis court, pure perfection and I miss it so much!
Same here
Everyone talks about her backhand but her forehand I thought was her key to getting to #1. ATP forehand technique
@@HCaulfield115 Well, for a reason Justine Henin was called "the female Roger Federer"! I was fan of both Justine Henin and Roger Federer!
Yes, you're absolutely right Justine's forehand is also that strong. By the way Justine was a Graf fan herself! 😇
Absolutely brilliant ! 👏👏👏🔝❤️
@@MusikPiratCH
Henin peaked and became no. 1 way before Roger Federer
But yet, we call her the woman version of Roger, and not the other way around
I always find this very weird
Went into this match cheering for Capriati. By the time it ended I was an Henin fan - for life.
You can easily be a fan of both players! Incredible tennis here - even if you compare it to today's women's tennis (e.g. at Wimbledon)! I wonder whether Iga Swiatek would had any chances vs Henin, Clijsters or Capriati? I really doubt it. Even when Patty Schnyder said Swiatek is the best athlete in women's tennis (today) I doubt she could match those athletes of the past. I always wonder how effective that wonderful backhand by Henin would be today? 🤔
@@MusikPiratCH today's players would be absolutely not ready to face a shot like that. Pure devastation.
I saw Henin play for my first time in 2001, while watching (initially with a certain distraction) at a VHS recording of her Paris semifinal against Clijsters. By the end of that VHS (she lose that match, after dominating Clijsters for 1 and half sets), I was an Henin fan forever :)
I was so lucky to watch very closely her closed practise on hard court in tournament in Toronto.. She had 2 man sparing partners changing every 10 min.. She was beating them up with her shots especially with her backhand.. I have been watching tennis for 30 years and I have not seen better player than Henin untill this moment...
Literally what happened to everyone, you watch henin once and you are like wtf is that
I’ve always been amazed how much power Justine got from her ground strokes specially her one handed back hand. She has such a slight frame but generated so much pace.
There're two/three motivations for that:
1) great timing: that's pure talent, difficult to train
2) great muscle decontraction, and (somewhat linked to decontraction) great arm independence: this allows her to avoid losing energy in jerky jumping/turning of the trunk or of the whole body (like Capriati is often doing on her forehand)
3) the one-handed backhand, which is definitely more powerful and heavier than the two-handed, if hit with good timing and without holding back... Justine was exceptional in both these departments.
@@pierdomenicosommati443 Good points, and we all know it's the Indian more so than the arrow, but her racquet setup also helped a ton: a Wilson Hyper Hammer 5.3 Stretch MidPlus with Power Holes (European-only version) -- 95" head for balance of control and power, 27.5" extended length for reach and power, medium-thick 23mm beam with thick cross-dimension for torsional rigidity, very stiff 75RA (!!!) flex for maximum power transfer (Pure Drive -esque) and to top it all off, natural gut strung at 60 pounds for even more power.
TL;DR on paint jobs - You can see in this video the racquet is painted to look like a Hammer H Tour, and in subsequent years the nCode N Tour, nCode N Tour 2, BLX Tour and finally K Tour, but make no mistake, it was the HH 5.3 Stretch MP PH underneath all those paint jobs all along; easiest way to tell is if you look at high-res photos of her with the racquet, showing the interior grommet holes at 9 or 3, you can see elongated openings instead of conventional plastic circular grommets -- those are "Power Holes", as Wilson called them, and for a Tour racquet at Justine's spec, the HH was the only release that had them (none of the subsequent models did).
Best one handed backhand of all women ever by Justine Henin!!! And she is a very nice and sympathic woman and player 🙂👌👍🎾❤️!!!!!!!
I think her backhand is actually better than Wawrinka's. Probably the best in tennis history.
I loved watching JUJU❤️
To this very day there is no player in the WTA that has played anything like Justine, she was such a crafty talented player I miss watching her play. its such a a joy to watch these replays
I remember this match. It was one of two huge matches I recall where Capriati had the lead late but lost. I felt for her, but this was probably the tournament when I first really noticed Henin (Henin-Hardenne). I would never forget her after it. An instant classic.
Capriati was a powerhouse back in the day man. But Henin...what an athlete!
Capriati was ungracious in defeat. Her handshakes!
@@Mop222 no she wasnt, not when henin was always stopping the matches and stopping capriatis momentum on purpose with her medical time outs. in both grandslams they played henin was pretending to be injured in both. once maybe but twice? she wasnt cramping with the way she was running down capriatis balls that put henin in the stands and the in between points acting like she was cramping. jennifer knew it was bullshit. everytime justine pretended to be injured she would come back and play out of her mind and that was purposely done to throw off the momentum. even kim made the comment in the press against henin accusing her of the same thing. capriati blamed herself and was at angry at herself for not putting away the match after being 2 points away from the match 10 times thats on jennifer and she knew it and right when you lose the match she is going to be heartbroken and upset so what do you expect? countless players that always had to do some crap to break her rythme against her. mauresmo constantly holding up her serve when the returner is supposed to play to the pace of the server. it happened countless times players after players because it was the only way they could beat her and jennifer knew it and usually jennifer was pissed off at herself for letting it get in her head when so many matches she had on her racket to win. she was never disrespectful nor was she extra lovey dovey because they were all bitches. you could always tell who jennifer respected and admired against monica, against steffi, against gabby, against kim, the legit legends that she used to play that didnt used to do that shit compared to the new girls. jennifer grew up and played in a generation where integrity and class were standard not like the shit the new generation tried to pull. why fake it if you dont feel it. no need for a show that was bs.
Evening match.....and it was truly epic. I was there, I bought a last minute ticket and boy oh boy, it was the best live match I had ever seen! TY for posting this.
Back when being seeded at a Slam meant something. I miss this WTA🥺
Justine was one of the best competitors ever. Even at her size, she competed and won her share against Serena.
Loved Justine and loved her backhand, the best shot in women tennis ever
No, Graff forehand
Jennifer was very talented player, in the first set, she’s reversed the situation in minutes with ease. In my opinion, when Jennifer was inspired, she was one of the strongest players of all time! I Miss so much her game! ♥️
Luckily Jennifer Capriati (after her Olympic victory versus Steffi Graf back in Barcelona 1992) she came back on the court to show some fantastic tennis (with 3 grand slam victories)! I really loved her game.
On the other hand this backhand by Justine Henin is that strong (but don't forget her forehand that is also very strong - Henin was a Graf fan)! Back then in 2003 I saw 3 of my favorite female tennis players battle it out (Justine Henin, Kim Clijsters and Jennifer Capriati)!
She was a very inconsistent and streaky player she would go on points where the ground strokes were on fire and then she would almost act like she was completely lost on court.
Great player when on and inspired
I really liked Capirati, she had fallen off for a couple years due to personal issues, but was making a comeback. She was always a great talent in tennis. I miss this kind of talent in women's tennis. Hein has one of the most beautiful one handed backhands in tennis and both these women were beautiful strikers of the ball. When you have great volliers like these two, you have memorable matches like this one. As an American I was rooting for Capirati, but Henin played some beautiful tennis against a great player, and you couldn't help but become a fan of her playing.
Capriati is a cheat and poor sport. Look at that handshake, then go watch the US Open match between Capriati and Serena Williams (I forgot what year) in which umpire and line persons conspired against SW and called nearly all of her close shots out. Some of the shots were even clearly INSIDE the lines, and they still called them out. And Capriati shamelessly went along with all of that. That was the match that accelerated the introduction of Hawkeye system because humans had shown to be completely corrupt.
@@tomsd8656cry
Henin the Belgian garden tool
@@tomsd8656 Also Capriati's tantrum meltdowns while playing Hingis in the 2002 Australian Open final. She acted horribly.
Henin is the most complete woman tennis Player
I knew Jennifer and Steven at Harry Hopman/Saddlebrook in Florida and they were great kids. Twelve-year old Jennifer was always bubbly and friendly and Steven was a great little 9-10 year old competitor in the court. The got along great too, as did Mary and David Pierce who were also great kids around camp.
JUSTINE H is former world no.1 WS in tenis ..she is one of the best tenis ever..her backhands is one of the great in the world..she absoulty Amazing.Legendary player in the Universe...Although she is no tall.167cm..but she has all tobe great player..she had great serves..strong powerfull hit the balls..fenomenal footwork..great returne serves..she is clever players...even she often beating so many great ..power full ..and tall player like Williams Sisters .Davenport.Seles..Mauresmo.Capriati..Clijsters..Ivanovic..Sharapova..D.Safina and Jankovic..they are all former world.no.1....She also beat M.Hingis in so many match...
Well technically the only player during her time that she wasn't able to overcome was Venus Williams. Venus has a 6-2 record against Justine (with that last win in 2007 coming when Venus was dealing with her illness). During her prime Venus use to slay Justine. I mostly attribute this to Venus's height, but her speed on the court back in those days and her ability to make Justine move with her ground strokes and keep the ball out of Justine's strike zone. Serena wasn't able to do this as well against Justine and relied heavily on her serve to get her out of trouble.
@@rlj489 yaa...in that times for sure..Williams Sisters still tobe Mosters for so many Great player incuding her...thanks for your comment
I saw this match live back in 2003. One of the greatest US Open performances and matches I've ever seen.
I will forever rememer watching this match live...one of the best WTA matches in history in my opinion.
100 percent. The WTA today doesn't even come close.
You'll never see another Justin Henin in your lifetime, , Her game was magic and a joy to watch. LOVED Jennifer as well growing up in Florida
Peak henin's game will destroy 2010s decade of pushers and dominate the tour. Only players who could give serena a match unlike 2010s decade players who needed serena to hit 35.
Henin's famous one-handed backhand is the best I've ever seen in women's tennis. What a player she was.
Once a cheater will always be a cheater. She is a cheater, TWICE !! But to each his own. I'm glad she 's retired.
@@sallysobstory7694 about Serena the same? Once an aggressive and arrogant ball eater...
marty dav Mauresmo’s was always amazing
@@Mysicalgreenunicorn03 Yes she had a great backhand too, but I think Henin's was even better - it was like a tracer bullet. I really liked Mauresmo's attacking all-court game. She played serve-and-volley in a way that hadn't been seen in women's tennis since the days of Martina.She reminded me of Hana Mandlikova in that she had every shot in the book, but her flaky temperament stopped her winning more.
Such a great champion, Justine. So beautiful to watch, so mentally strong.
That's what I always admired about her most, that mental toughness. Just refusing to give up, ever.
I miss this era of women's tennis.
Pound for pound man or woman , Henin was the best. Youll never see anyone like her again
Wrong ×××××××××× Xxxxxxxxxxxx😢😮
Agreed.
This really felt like Capriati's slam, coming off her first title in ages the week before and playing off the crowd the whole tournament through. Henin just would not quit though, can't really fault Capriati for breaking. But the 2004 semi must give her nightmares.
Two of the Top 15 Greatest Female Tennis Players of All Time and NO GRUNTING and I LOVE it!
JenCap is not even in the top 25 greatest ever.
@@carrerau7138 Top 20. She was the greatest player ever up to age 14, maybe 15.
@@swalterstennis Lenglen, Wills-Moody, Bjurstedt-Mallory, Brough, Connolly, Bueno, Court, King, Goolagong, Evert, Navratilova, Mandlikova, Graf, Seles, Sanchez, Hingis, Davenport, V. Williams, S. Williams, Henin, Clijsters are definitely greater.
I would add Jacobs, Marble, Betz, Gibson, Sharapova as well.
So no place for Jen in the top 25.
Maybe top 20 open era.
@@carrerau7138 OK, finally. Someone worthy of discussion!
@@carrerau7138
Tracy Austin, Andrea Jaeger and Jennifer Capriati all would have been Top 15 if they played five years more. Austin and Capriati looked like they were going to be in the conversation for Greatest of All Time and Jaeger was going to be an All-Time Great. Injuries and burnout derailed their path. Jaeger went from being a 14-year old 8th grader in the winter of 1979-80, to six months later being Top 6 in the World. Austin was the equal of Chris Evert at 16. Capriati was going to break all the records. I knew Jennifer and Andrea and worked with Tracy’s and Chris’ brothers and study tennis history. Seles was going toward the GOAT also. She would definitely have been Top 4 if she didn’t get stabbed. Likely Top 2 or 3.
1. S Williams
Graf
Navratilova
4. Lenglen
Wills
Court
Evert
8. Seles
9. King
10. Connolly
This much, I’m pretty sure of. From 11-15, and 16-20, and 21-25, you have done some good studying.
One of the best match in us open's history.
More like the biggest choke! Jennifer served for it and couldn’t close it out.
What a brutal match. How much I miss Hénin on the WTA
Oh My… these 02 Warriors gave such a great fight 👏👏👏 where do you see this level nowadays???
Capriati would have one final look next year at the ‘04 Open, but this was the last semi where you sensed Capriati BELIEVED it was her time to win her home slam. No Williams sisters. But Henin simply refused to surrender that night on Ashe. ❤
I totally agree just like the 91 semifinal with Monica put her on a decade spiral I believe this semifinal with the Justine anded her career she never really did anything after this and by 2004 in the fall she was out with an injury and never came back.
Henin.- the most graceful, intelligent size defying player I've ever seen in tbe women's game. Absolutely tragedy she was a RU at Wimbledpn twice.
I almost forgot how good were women in that era, and the one before, 1989 to 2005. I can't watch a women's game for more than 5 min now.
I agree. Awesome era for women’s tennis.
@@safee4540 if it wasn't for Serena injuries during that era she would of dominated even more
@@safee4540 actually, Serena dominated for 16/18 months during this tough era, more of less the length of Henin's reign too. Than, Serena dominated again, for a much longer time, during the extremely weak WTA era after 2012.
To my eyes, her first 2002/2003 dominion, even if it happened when Henin and Clijsters still were a little bit too young, is much more significant than the 2013/2017 one.
You are absolutely right. Women's tennis has become very boring and stereotype
@@pierdomenicosommati443
Spot on, 100%.
The 2010-20 era has been extremely weak and erratic in Women's Tennis, with no great H2H rivalries emerging.
Serena Williams reached 23 GS not through competition but purely through longevity.
Many years ago, Martina Navratilova commented on that apparent weakness, on the WTA tour.
If Henin was playing in this era she would have at least twice as many slams. Just so good.
Anyone playing in this era could have twice as many Slams lol
Not necessarily true. Never ceases to amaze me how many people dismiss today's players as if they're nothing. These girls play at a far more intense level than those of the 90s and early 00s. Henin is one of the players I could indeed see holding her own, along with obvious examples like Williams and Sharapova, but there aren't too many others.
Women's tennis through the 90s to early 00s had Navratilova, Graf, Seles, Sanchez Vicario, Capriati, Hingis, Henin, Clijsters, Davenport and the Williams sisters winning majors, and that's about it, aside from the odd one.
In the past ten years alone we've had Williams, Halep, Kerber, Barty, Osaka, Swiatek, Sabalenka, Kvitova who've won multiple titles, then when you factor in the maiden title winners like Gauff, Rybakina, Raducanu, Andreescu, Kenin, Stephens, Ostapenko, Wozniacki, Vondrousova and Krejcikova, it's hardly been a boring and predictable period. Most of the above players are still playing regularly too, aside from Williams and Barty.
To be honest, there's no way you can fairly compare eras anyway.
Henin would also have thrived in today's more topspin friendly conditions. Clay was her favorite surface after all. Back in the early 2000s she could potentially be blasted off court and lose a mountain of free points to big servers like the Williams
@@Nightopian1982 Sorry...but Henin would beat the skirts off of any the WTA players today. Pure and simple.
Capriati nemesis, had she won this match she would get her 2001 momentum back, when she is confident , her all around game is tough to beat.
Justin went on to win US Open 2003! Great tournament.
Pound for pound, at 90 odd lbs. no one better than Justine Hennen-Ardenne with the best 1 handed womens backhand ever. John Mcenroe had it right in his assessment of her years ago. Robert at 68.
Tennis was more beautiful back then. This particular game is top 10 iconic games ever.
Match not game
The technique of Justine is just unbelievably good, just waw.
Super classy handshake 😂😂😂
Must have picked that up from Steffi Graf..
Ah, yes, the olde dead fish handshake by Capriati
Henin wanted to celebrate and Capriati was waiting for her at the net and didn't want to linger on the court ... this is an awkward situation.
This is one of the most memorable women’s tennis matches I’ve ever had the pleasure to watch live on TV
Incroyable franchement aujourd’hui aucune ne joue comme cette génération…
Other weapon of henin was return of serve when she used to send missiles back with deep returns. You can see even when jen was serving big, henin was sending returns. Maybe one of reasons she gave serena too much trouble.
she only gave serena trouble on clay and when serena was out of shape. serena is 7-2 against henin off clay and 1-5 against her on.
@@nunyadamnbidness2531 doesnt matters. She still leads more on slam wins.
@@deepakmahajan4978 lol. Serena 8-6 Henin. Henin 7 - Serena 23
@@deepakmahajan4978 exactly man
@@sreelekhamadhuri8732 coz henin retired. otherwise Those slams would have changed.
Justine's groundstrokes were so graceful and fluid...a lot like Hana Mandlikova. Jennifer was such a clean striker of the ball. Every shot was solid and with authority. If she was going to lose you were going to have to beat her, particularly in the big matches. 3-0 in slam finals, and 1-0 in the Olympic finals.
She lost us open 2006 final to sharapova
@@sabra1066 You are wrong. Why bother to try to contradict someone when your attempted contradiction is incorrect? Especially as it's so easy to google it. Mystifying....
That handshake tho.😳
Warm and full of love.Justine would love more of that
Bad Loser.
They were both Uber douchebags. Great players but not even close to someone with clijsters class.
@Hearth And Soul - interesting
@@33ladyRAM @HearthSide is right tho. Justine just hung in long enough for Capriati to get impatient enough to lose the match.
I just love Henin's backhand. I have to admit that I'm sucker for one-handed backhands; I find them just so much prettier than two-handed backhands, not to mention that they are normally more powerful.
This, more than any match, is where Henin's legendary mental toughness was born.
It was there before. Just not in plain view.
Capriati made four US Open semifinals in her career. Three of them were lost in final set tiebreakers, the fourth was a straight sets loss to Venus. Bad luck, or failure to perform under pressure?
She just got outplayed. Capriati was an aggressive defensive player-she couldn’t beat players that were outright more aggressive than her, or rarely could. She was waiting for mistakes her instead of going for winners.
Watching this vid shows that your non-baseline shots still matter. Sometimes you can't afford to miss that crucial lob or volley.
I think nerves.
Henin’s only 42 now. This seems like a very long time ago
I remember screaming watching this match and my mum asking if I was OK from another room 🤣 And I was not even a fan of either player. It was just so high level!!!
I can’t believe this was 21 years ago. WTF!!
This is crazy yes
Capriati was a terrible human.... glad we don't see this on the court now.
Hennin had this one of a kind back hand, damn
Justine one of the greatest allrounders of all-time.
Justine and Jennifer, 2 of my favourite players...❤❤
Jennifer the junkie, thief and cheater?
Justine. Brilliant player.
..beautiful tennis..
Largely, and sadly, a forgotten era of women’s tennis.
This was the good ole days in tennis for the women
The women's game is lost now. Current players would have no chance during this era.
@@WeirdoInTraining That's why Serena is the GOAT 👍
Justine's technique must be the perfect one. She has a small build yet she generates so much power on all of her shots.
What a sportsmanship of those American tennis players. It seems that bothered them Justine kicking their asses in a daily basis.
Not every American. Capriati was one of the worst in terms of sportsmanship. I would even say she's a cheat.
@truthspeakerandseeker7032 Go watch US Open 2004 QF between Capriati and SW. Umpire and line persons conspired to cheat against Serena Williams blatantly, calling several balls that were INSIDE the lines out. Usually, mistakes could be made when the balls caught the outside of the lines but never when they were inside.
One such ball that did not even touch the line was not called by the line person, probably because that would be too blatant of a cheat, but the umpire overruled and called it out.
After that match, US Open officials had to apologize to Serena because they knew what was going on. That match was the reason we have Hawkeye now. And what about Capriati? She of course knew all those shots were good but not a word out of her. Contrast that with Alcaraz who would give his opponent the point when he saw line person and umpire made a mistake.
23:10 - Cold handshake
This is epic both players better than any female player today by far far far 😊😅
So incredible!!
Her backhand is a work of art. Likely the best in history both mens and womens. Astounding
A nice pick, thanks for posting. Here's amazingly entertaining, quality rallies by both players. Overall, Justine in upper hand pushes Jennifer into backfoot. Struggling in finding her rhythm, under tremendous, relentless pressure from the other side of the net, which keeps Jennifer away from her full swing as usual. She fought hard with grit & determination. That's appreciable & to be appreciated there. A true gladiator she is.
Angled-cross court, down the line at will, Justine's single-handed backhand is a formidable weapon. Not muscular, look at her her stature. Unbelievable for a player like her to be able to generate such power (& accuracy)! Razor-sharp would depict her quality.
Not too short or long, a very fine highlight!
You have to give it to Justine. Her backhand, though not that powerful, can produce great angles and can really change the pace of a rally. I think what's missing from Jen is the angle. If only she can produce great and powerful angles like Seles & Davenport, she'd be twice as formidable as she's a power hitter and moves on the court well.
Interesting. She definitely relied on her heavy topspin and power. Serena and Justine used more angles but varied it up. Monica was the queen of angular tennis. I’ve still never seen a player play angles that well except for an in form Serena. This was a good match because Jen’s off kilter heavy shots against Justine’s all around power game made a great contrast of shots. Jen gave Justine hell and was so close. Justine just too good that day.
Henin's backhand "not that powerful"?? Ahahah this is really funny. She even hits outright down-the-line backhand winners with Capriati freezed on her feet at just a couple meters from the ball😅 You can achieve something like that only with very powerful shots, otherwise it's just impossible😅
It doesnt understand what its talking about,somehow being not that bright...
Her backhand is not that powerful? Are you on downers?
This was the best I've seen Capriati play before yet somehow she still lost. Her serve let her down in the end.
Henin has game to dominate across any generation.
Justine Henin is the best player of all time, hands down. She’s had it all! Flawless.
The female version of Federer.
F the Numbers, just look at her.
Jennifer Capriati was on pace to become the Greatest Female Tennis Player of All Time before she got sidetracked and had some injuries. Monica Seles would have also. So was Tracy Austin. And so was Maureen Connolly.
Rather Henin
Justine's backhand was superb!😮
What a handshake! 🤝🤷
Whenever I see Capriati, I only remember the match against Serena Williams when umpire and line persons were conspiring against Serena, calling everything close to the lines out, and Capriati went along with it. I would never feel right winning those points.
Great match. Both these two players were no match for Venus Williams when she was at her peak 2000-2003. They had more of a rivalry with Serena
Peak Venus was pretty inconsistent at that level. She was easily losing focus and precision. That's why her "peak moments" were so brief, and her weeks at n.1 so few.
@@pierdomenicosommati443 Venus never really took tennis that serious, around that time. I don't think Venus was even at her peak around that time either. Illness and injuries affected her the opportunity to get better. Remember Venus was still very young around that time too, her precision and focus would have improved
Missing both. Henin was a great player. Jennifer was great too, but a bit too conservative at times.
Pound for pound, smallish Justine best womens player ever, givin size and build, and with a 1 handed backhand.
she's not smaller than Evert
Looked it up, both Evert 5'6 and Justine 5'6 inches, but with a smaller build, plus a handed backhand, AND did achieved no. 1, so I would say pretty amazing.
@@bobmalack481 Justine would destroy Evert
Back then I had four favorite players: Justine Henin, Kim Clijsters, Jennifer Capriati and Patty Schnyder. Most of them went very far in those grand slams!
What was with the salty hand shake from Capriati?
14:45 phenomenal running cross-court backhand winner!
Maybe the best shot I've ever seen
"Everytime she's complained, she's been wrong" must be the best resume of Capriati's carreer.
Great skill on fast hard courts too
That’s a heart breaker for Jen , she had that match !! :(.
Up 5-3 in set 2 and 5-2 in set 3. She seemed to tighten up just a bit when she had the leads but she didn’t hand it to Justine either. Henin took it away.
Always became a pusher when it mattered
The tournaments Capriati really wanted to win she never won Miami and US Open. She came so close winning those tournaments with some though battles against the Williams sisters in finals and semi final. The Williams sisters did not play the US Open in 2003 and Capriati saw it as an opportunity to win the US Open that year, but she came up against another talented player Henin
I love ❤️ Justin ,
Plays like RF ,
A lioness
I love it when Jen was on her A game. 🎾💎🎉
Two lions at their best. The demonstration that a one handled backhand is more damaging that a two handed one. In my opinion, Justine showed the best femenine tennis ever and Capriati very close, probably she would have been a legend, hadn't she gone the wild way of life at her youth.
Justine got “the best” one-hand backhand shots, ever, in my opinion.
Her backhand was a more revered shot, but her forehand was what actually did the damage to her opponents.
❤ one handed backhand
Justine was deceptively powerful 👊🏻
Capriati could never get to a single final at the Open. 1991- BARELY lost. 2001- lost. 2003- really should have won. 2004 - lost to Dementieva who was serving atrociously. Not disappointed though. I couldn't stand her attitude.
Henin just does not give up!😊
This was peak women’s tennis.
Capriati was such an ungracious player.
3:06. What an incredible backhand return winner!
What a match ! , better than any one of the last years..
this match exposed Capriati as not an aggressive power hitter. though she did get close to win, she would not have won the final. but knowing Kim she could have bottled it and choked as usual
I think it only exposes that you don't like Capriati very much.
I think it also exposes that he doesn't like Kim either
Capriati definitely was an aggressive power hitter, but she was pretty good at defending too, and sometimes at hitting hard from defense.
The problem is that here she found somebody better than her, who was able to keep the edge on rallies more often than her, so Capriati was mostly forced to stay on defense, on the run, and to rely mostly on Henin's unforced errors.
Plus, Henin's backhand was just a shot from a different category. It was often totally impossible to counterpunch.
That handshake said THIS is a player I don’t respect lol The question is WHY hmmmmmm 🧐
GREAT GREAT JUSTINE
Is that Matthew Perry in Capriati's box at 2:28?
The 91 US Open final with Monica pretty much derailed her career for almost a decade and this match put the nail in the coffin.
Jennifer Capriati has been on the losing end of so many amazing and greatest female matches of all time.
Both happened at the US Open, she wanted a US Open Grand slam so bad The first time in 91 I think you can overlook but this one she never recovered from this.
A career just continued to skid.
It should also be noted in both matches Jennifer capriati had the lead she served for the third set with Monica numerous times and in this match she had an opportunity to serve out the match as well and couldn't do it.
Jay-Z and Beyoncé at 13:09
loving henin and what a match