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Henin abruptly retires from tennis
No farewell tour, just farewell as she found it harder and harder to motivate herself to raise her game against bigger and stronger opponents. Henin stands just 5 feet 5 3/4 and weighs just 126 pounds.
“I decided to stop fooling myself and accept it,” said Henin, who has won seven Grand Slam titles — four French Opens, two U.S. Opens and an Australian Open.
“I always based everything on this motivation — this flame — that was in me,” Henin said. “Once I lost that, I lost many things.”
Henin’s announcement comes just one day after Annika Sorenstam announced her retirement from golf at the end of this year. Except for a seven-week period last year, Henin has been ranked No. 1 in the world since Nov. 13, 2006.
“I had reached my limits, and I feel strong and relieved that I could take this decision,” she said in her announcement in Limelette, Belgium. “There are plenty of things that I can do. There are no regrets. I did everything I had to do in tennis.”