Justine Henin WTA
Belgium

Justine Henin

Belgium

Quick Answer

Justine Henin is a 44-year-old WTA tennis player from Belgium. Justine plays right-handed.

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Quick Facts

Age 44 years
Born June 1, 1982
Plays Right-Handed
Country BEL Belgium
Tour WTA
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Career Achievements

Statistic Value
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Biography & Playing Style

Justine Henin: The Small Belgian With the Most Beautiful Backhand in Tennis

If you only ever watch one clip of Justine Henin, make it a one-handed backhand down the line on the red clay of Paris. She was 1.67 metres tall in an era of powerful, towering baseliners, and she beat almost all of them anyway, with a swing so elegant that commentators still hold it up as the benchmark for one-handed backhands in the women's game.

Henin won seven Grand Slam singles titles, 43 WTA titles and an Olympic gold medal, spent 117 weeks as world No. 1, and then did something no other reigning No. 1 had done: she walked away while she was on top. Here is the story of one of the most complete players the women's game has ever produced.

Early Life: Liège, Paris and a Promise

Justine Henin was born on 1 June 1982 in Liège, in French-speaking Belgium. As a little girl she went with her mother to watch the French Open, and the family story goes that she told her mother she would one day win it.

Her mother, Françoise, died of cancer when Justine was 12. It is impossible to tell Henin's story without that loss. It shaped the intensity people saw on court and the fierce, private person she became off it. In her teens she began working with Argentine coach Carlos Rodríguez, who would guide almost her entire career (1995–2008, and again for her 2010–11 comeback). He built her game around movement, variety and an almost stubborn belief that a small player could out-think bigger ones.

Playing Style: Variety as a Weapon

Henin's tennis was a lesson in how many ways there are to win a point.

  • The backhand. A classic one-hander she could drive flat, roll with heavy topspin, slice low or flick for a sharp crosscourt angle. It was the shot fans came to see.
  • Movement and footwork. She covered the court beautifully, especially on clay, and turned defence into attack in one step.
  • All-court instincts. She came forward far more than most baseliners of her era, finishing points with volleys and drop shots.
  • Serve and forehand. Neither was huge by modern standards, but her kick serve and heavy forehand gave her the time to set up everything else.

Against the power of Serena and Venus Williams, Lindsay Davenport and Kim Clijsters, she proved that angles, spin and tactics still mattered.

The Grand Slam Titles

Henin reached her first major final at Wimbledon in 2001 and lost to Venus Williams. Two years later, the breakthrough came:

Her 2003 French Open final was an all-Belgian affair against Kim Clijsters, her great rival and compatriot, and she beat Clijsters again in that year's US Open final. Her 2005 French Open final against Mary Pierce was over almost before it started: 6-1, 6-1.

The only major she never won was Wimbledon. She reached the final there twice, in 2001 and 2006, and in 2006 she became the most recent woman to reach the final of all four Grand Slams in one calendar year.

The Numbers That Tell the Story

  • World No. 1: 117 weeks, finishing the year at No. 1 in 2003, 2006 and 2007
  • Titles: 43 WTA singles titles
  • Olympics: singles gold medal at Athens 2004
  • Fed Cup: part of the Belgian team that won the competition for the first time in 2001
  • WTA Championships: winner in 2006 and 2007
  • Career record: 525–115, a winning percentage above 82%
  • Official prize money: about $20.9 million

Her 2007 season is one of the great years in modern women's tennis: two Slams, the season-ending championships, and ten titles in all.

The Rivalries

Henin's career was defined by some of the great rivalries of the 2000s.

  • Kim Clijsters. Two Belgians, near neighbours in age, with completely different personalities. Clijsters was open and relaxed, Henin intense and private. They met in both the 2003 French Open and US Open finals, Henin won both, and together they turned Belgium into a women's tennis superpower.
  • Serena Williams. Their 2003 French Open semi-final, which Henin won in three sets in front of a partisan Paris crowd, remains one of the most talked-about matches of the decade. Serena beat her in the 2010 Australian Open final, but Henin won their memorable quarter-finals at Wimbledon and the US Open in 2007.
  • Amelie Mauresmo and Maria Sharapova also produced big matches, including Henin's win over Sharapova in the 2007 WTA Championships final and her loss to Mauresmo in the 2006 Wimbledon final.

Two Retirements

In May 2008, weeks before the French Open, Henin announced her retirement at the age of 25. She was the world No. 1 and the three-time defending champion at Roland-Garros. She said she had nothing left to give. The tennis world was stunned.

In September 2009 she announced a comeback, and in January 2010 she reached the Australian Open final as a wild card, losing a tight three-setter to Serena Williams. It looked like a second chapter was beginning. But an elbow injury, suffered in a fall during Wimbledon in 2010, never healed properly. In January 2011 she retired for good.

Life After Tennis

Henin has stayed close to the sport without ever chasing the spotlight.

  • Her academy. The Justine Henin Academy, south of Brussels, is where she spends much of her time, working with young players and adult members alike.
  • Television. She is a respected analyst on Eurosport and France Télévisions during the Grand Slams, known for calm, technical and honest commentary.
  • Youth tennis. She is an ambassador for the Roland-Garros Junior Series, running coaching sessions with young players.
  • Recognition. She was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2016, the first Belgian to receive the honour, and received the Philippe Chatrier Award from the ITF in 2023.

She has two children and has spoken openly in interviews about her regrets, such as never finishing school, and about how much more at peace she is today than during her playing years.

Why Henin Still Matters

Watch the women's game in 2026 and you will see very few one-handed backhands. That makes Henin's career look even more remarkable. She showed that a player who wasn't the tallest or the most powerful could dominate through skill, movement and nerve. When commentators talk about "complete" players, she is one of the first names they mention.

If you want to understand how her era compares to today's, it helps to know how the WTA ranking points work. Or simply look up her 2007 French Open highlights and watch that backhand.

Quick Facts

  • Full name: Justine Henin
  • Born: 1 June 1982, Liège, Belgium
  • Height: 1.67 m
  • Plays: right-handed, one-handed backhand
  • Coach: Carlos Rodríguez
  • Grand Slam titles: 7 (4 French Open, 2 US Open, 1 Australian Open)
  • WTA titles: 43
  • Highest ranking: No. 1 (117 weeks)
  • Olympics: gold, Athens 2004
  • Retired: May 2008; comeback 2010; final retirement January 2011
  • Hall of Fame: inducted 2016
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Equipment & Gear

What Racket Did Justine Henin Use? A Wilson Player From Start to Finish

Picture Justine Henin's backhand and you picture a Wilson racket. Unlike many champions who switched brands mid-career, Henin stayed with Wilson throughout her time at the top, and the frames she used tell you a lot about how she played: compact heads, plenty of control, and just enough weight to let a 1.67 m player hit through much bigger opponents.

One thing first, because plenty of gear sites get it wrong: Henin was not a Babolat Pure Drive player. She was a Wilson athlete.

The Rackets, Era by Era

Early career: Wilson's "Hammer" family

In her early years on tour, Henin used frames from Wilson's Hammer family, the line built on Wilson's "weight in the head" philosophy. The International Tennis Hall of Fame lists her with a Hammer Tour model. Exact version-by-version details from those years are not well documented, so we won't pretend to know which paint job she used in which month.

2005: the nTour 95

This is the best-documented racket of her peak. Henin won the 2005 French Open with the Wilson nTour 95, famously crushing Mary Pierce 6-1, 6-1 in the final. The retail nTour 95 was new for 2005 and continued the evenly balanced Hammer-style design. Its published retail specs were:

  • Head size: 95 sq in
  • Weight: about 303 g unstrung
  • Balance: even (about 35 cm)
  • Length: 27.25 in
  • Swingweight: about 330

That was a light, spin-friendly frame by the standards of the "players' rackets" of the time, which suited a woman who generated pace through timing and racket-head speed rather than brute force.

2010 comeback: the Wilson BLX Tour

When Henin returned from her first retirement at the 2010 Australian Open, Wilson put her front and centre of the launch of its BLX Tour, a 95 sq in frame with an extended 27.25-inch length and an open 16x20 string pattern. She reached the final in Melbourne in her second tournament back, and "Henin's racket" became one of the talking points of that summer. The extra length gave a little more reach and leverage on serve, useful for a smaller player.

Retail Paint vs. Pro Reality

Here is the honest caveat that applies to almost every professional: the racket you saw on television was not necessarily identical to the one sold in shops. Top players often keep a frame they like for years and simply have it painted to match the current retail model, and they usually have weight, balance and grip adjusted by their stringer.

For Henin, there is no reliable public record of her exact customised specifications, weight, balance or swingweight. Any site that gives you a precise number to the gram is guessing.

Strings

Henin's exact string setup and tension are also not reliably documented. What we can say is that she played during the years when polyester strings (led by Luxilon) were taking over the tour, and many top players used either full polyester or a hybrid of natural gut and polyester. Without a trustworthy source, we won't state which she used.

How the Racket Fit Her Game

Her equipment choices lined up neatly with her style:

  • A 95 sq in head rewarded clean contact and gave precise control, exactly what you need to aim a one-handed backhand down the line.
  • Moderate weight let her swing fast and whip heavy topspin, especially on clay.
  • An open 16x20 pattern on the BLX Tour helped the strings grip the ball for spin and slice.

The racket did not make the backhand. But it was the right tool for a player whose game was built on variety, timing and shape rather than raw power.

If You Want to Play Like Henin

The Henin-era frames are long out of production, but you can find their spirit in current Wilson models:

  • Wilson Blade 98: the closest modern descendant of the control-oriented Wilson frames of that period, with a 98 sq in head and plenty of feel.
  • Wilson Pro Staff 97: a little more classic and solid, great for players who like to drive through the ball.
  • Vintage option: used nTour 95 and BLX Tour frames still turn up on resale sites if you want the real thing for nostalgia hits.

A practical tip: a one-handed backhand is much easier with a racket you can swing freely. If you are a club player, don't pick a heavy pro-style frame just because your hero used one. Choose a weight you can handle through a full match.

Quick Facts

  • Brand: Wilson, throughout her career
  • Key frames: Hammer-family models (early career), nTour 95 (2005 French Open title), BLX Tour (2010–11 comeback)
  • Head size: 95 sq in on her best-known frames
  • Exact pro specs and string setup: not publicly documented
  • Apparel partner in her playing days: Adidas
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Net Worth & Earnings

Justine Henin Net Worth: What Seven Grand Slams Earned

How rich is a woman who won seven Grand Slams, an Olympic gold medal and spent 117 weeks as world No. 1, then retired at 28? Less than you might think by today's standards, and more interesting than a single headline number.

Let's be clear from the start: Justine Henin has never published her finances, and any "net worth" figure you see online is an estimate. Celebrity-wealth websites put her somewhere in the tens of millions of dollars, but their figures vary widely and none of them is verified. What we can do is look at what is actually known: her official prize money, her sponsors, and what she has done since she stopped playing.

Official Career Prize Money: About $20.9 Million

The one hard number is her prize money. According to the WTA, Henin earned $20,863,335 in singles and doubles prize money over her career. That was a huge sum for her era, and it still places her among the top 30 earners in the history of women's tennis.

It is worth remembering when she earned it. Henin's best years were 2003–2007. Back then, Grand Slam winner's cheques were a fraction of today's. Wimbledon only started paying men and women equal prize money in 2007, and a Grand Slam title in 2026 is worth several times what it was when Henin was winning them. A player with her record today would earn far more on court. If you are curious how today's pay compares, see our guide to how much tennis players earn.

Also keep in mind that prize money is gross income. Players pay for coaches, travel, physios and stringing out of their own pockets, and they pay tax in multiple countries. The number on the WTA website is not what ended up in her bank account.

Endorsements

Henin's main commercial partners in her playing days were brands tied directly to the court:

  • Adidas dressed her from 2003 until the end of her career, and publicly thanked her when she retired in 2011.
  • Wilson supplied her rackets throughout her career, including the nTour 95 she used to win the 2005 French Open and the BLX Tour line launched around her 2010 comeback.

As a multiple Grand Slam champion and world No. 1, she would also have had deals with Belgian and European companies, but the value of her contracts was never made public. Unlike some stars, she was never a global lifestyle brand. She was intensely private, and her commercial profile reflected that.

Life After Tennis: Academy, Television and Speaking

Since retiring in January 2011, Henin has built a quieter, steady career around the sport:

  • The Justine Henin Academy south of Brussels, where she coaches and mentors young players as well as adult members.
  • Television work as an analyst for Eurosport and France Télévisions during the Grand Slams.
  • Ambassador roles, including the Roland-Garros Junior Series.
  • Corporate speaking, where she talks about leadership, resilience and high performance.

None of these come with published figures, which is another reason why any precise net worth estimate should be taken with a pinch of salt.

How She Compares

Henin's prize money puts her in a strong but not extreme position among her peers:

  • Serena Williams earned about $94.8 million in prize money, and her off-court business empire is on a completely different scale.
  • Kim Clijsters, Henin's great Belgian rival, earned around $24 million in prize money, in a similar bracket.
  • Today's stars such as Aryna Sabalenka or Iga Swiatek can earn in a single season what Henin earned across several.

The real driver of the difference is the explosion in prize money and in global sponsorship over the last 15 years, not the size of anyone's trophy cabinet.

What Drives Her Wealth

If you want to understand Henin's finances without guessing numbers, think of four pillars:

  1. Prize money, about $20.9 million gross, mostly earned between 2001 and 2010.
  2. Sponsorships from Adidas, Wilson and others during her peak.
  3. Her academy, a long-term business and passion project.
  4. Media and speaking work, which provides ongoing income.

Key Financial Facts

  • Official career prize money: $20,863,335 (WTA)
  • Net worth: not public; online estimates vary widely and are unverified
  • Main sponsors in her career: Adidas (apparel), Wilson (rackets)
  • Current work: her academy in Belgium, TV analysis for Eurosport and France Télévisions, ambassador and speaking roles
  • Grand Slam titles: 7
  • Retired: January 2011

Inside Justine Henin's World

Latest news, records, gear, and stories featuring Justine.

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