Very mysterious...hopefully nothing too terrible.
From The Age: Henin-Hardenne withdraws for 'personal reasons'
WORLD No. 1 Justine Henin-Hardenne is the Australian Open's first major withdrawal — her absence confirmed 10 days before the grand slam starts but an elaboration on the supposed "personal reasons" behind her non-appearance is still to come...
The Belgian, singles champion at Melbourne Park in 2004 and runner-up to Amelie Mauresmo in controversial circumstances in 2006, is expected to issue a statement today.
"I was told the withdrawal was for personal reasons," Sydney tournament director Craig Watson said. "Obviously we are very disappointed; Justine is our defending champion and the world No. 1.
"I believe she is quite upset and we certainly wish her the best and hope she is able to return to the courts very soon."
Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley confirmed the no-show, but said he had not been given any reason for it.
"They have told us that Henin-Hardenne will make a statement at the end of the week," Tiley said.
Aw.. thats a shame, i was looking forward to seeing her play this January. After the Open her rank will fall to atleast 2 or 3 as she'll be losing hefty rank points. Atleast 500.
Posted by: Andrew | January 04, 2007 at 12:41 PM
I'm shoked
I can't believe she split from her husband :o
Posted by: Nexty | January 04, 2007 at 12:47 PM
she split from her husband? where did you hear that?
Posted by: Kelly | January 04, 2007 at 03:05 PM
Maybe it is good news, maybe she is pregnant!!
Posted by: shelly | January 04, 2007 at 07:42 PM
I know some of the Belgian papers were reporting that she and her husband were divorcing (and one even threw in that she would be taking back her maiden name for good measure), but they didn't have any named sources so just speculation at this point. We'll know soon enough.
Posted by: lisen | January 04, 2007 at 08:03 PM
She did say "Personal Reasons" as her reason for not coming to Australia therefore maybe the emotional stress from the divorce is hurting her concentration on the court. Remember in 2005 with Myskina and her mother was sick and how bad of a year she had...
Posted by: Kelly | January 04, 2007 at 08:25 PM