Justine Henin v. Martina Hingis | Sydney 2006 R1 Highlights

Highlights of the first round match between Justine Henin and Martina Hingis at Medibank International (Sydney 2006)

[@kamrankaifi6707]

My two favourite women's players. Would love to watch them again

[@estheryee4084]

Great footage of my two all time favourites in the WTA - missing these 2 so much for their finesse and skills.

[@rodelc644]

It breaks my heart if I were to choose between these 2 brilliant players

[@swordofmymouth9692]

Henin..the Federer of women's tennis. Intelligent, superb ball striking. One of the players you look at to develop your game..Wow.

[@tramp2827]

Federer is Henin of male tennis

[@paddystrick5462]

Two women's player with a good footwork, touch, and variety. Only Henin has more power than Hingis...

[@Rune8119]

Same height,pretty much the same weight …

[@co9971]

@@Rune8119 true but Henin was fitter. probably had more muscle. Hingis said she would never get that fit.

[@lukey1210]

Hingis was way more knowledgeable and could easily exploit a weakness that’s why she dominated and he in didn’t. He in was dynamite but not on hingis’s level

[@outcometechnology]

Body and age differences aside, it's partially due to the racket: the Wilson Hyper Hammer 5.3 Stretch Midplus, euro edition (with Power Holes). Very high 75RA stiffness -- inherently higher power stick than the series of pre-EZone Yonex's used by Hingis.

[@pierdomenicosommati443]

Henin was much more explosive. Than, she had that amazing one-handed backhand, with all the easy effortless power that this shot usually brings with it, but without the disadvantages that sometimes it can have. A totally lethal shot, and it was not only about the outright winners... actually, the most important thing was the fact that she was very ready to exploit the weak balls her opponents were gonna rietreve most likely after she hitted one of those backhands, even when they were not winners.

[@noddy1414]

Great match to watch - no obnoxious grunting or screaming from either player here :)

[@yussepig6629]

The 2 most talented players ever.

[@carrerau7138]

Steffi and Navratilova were even more talented. Because athleticism is also talent, a part of the whole talent package.

[@Fedthebest75]

@@carrerau7138 Definitely not Graf.

[@carrerau7138]

@@Fedthebest75 When you consider how many slams Steffi won without proper preparation (due to injuries), when you consider how gracefully and elegantly she was able to move on a tennis court then you will realize what a hard worker Navratilova was. Henin herself would laugh you in the face if you were to tell her that she was more talented than Steffi. Hingis lacked far too much mental strength and power to be called one of the most talented players. And yes, both are an important part of talent as well.

[@AdyHh-up9ez]

Won bcoz she got her man rival stabbed. Never forget ​@@carrerau7138

[@AdyHh-up9ez]

​@@carrerau7138they weren't. Eheir era was pathetic . When fat housewives were playing. Game became athletic after 2000 with more emphasis on fitness. Even slow Davenport was beating Graf. And she became.more fir in 2005

[@user-yt5ip5yf7v]

One hand backhand master

[@adamlarsson3828]

Hingis played really well here at Sydney 2006 - great movement and fabulous anticipation, as ever. She had added some weight to her forehand, compared to the early 2000s. i felt that Hingis came out playing a more dynamically early in the year, becoming a lot more responsive as the months passed. (i was training back then and watching both of the tours on a daily basis.) But she came up against a very confident player that could clinically control the point and then finish with winners .... off everything, especially the forehand. If Hingis ^did retrieve the ball, Henin finished with punch volleys, drivevilleys or overheads. It is very tough to contend with that.

[@lukey1210]

Same as pierce the elder they got the more lethal they got

[@suriachen27]

Amazing powerful one handed background. The speed The accuracy The sharpness of angle The elegant pose Everything.

[@AshutoshSingh-sp4jq]

Henin and Hingis were more of finesse kinda athletes. Not very big on the power but great sense of the geometry of the court and unfathomable movement. It was literally like lightning. Give these two a short ball, approach to the net boom and the ball's gone where - for a winner. Extremely talented the two of them with sheer shot making skills. But I still feel the weight of the burden of am early career fell on Martina more than Justine. Martina was only sixteen when she went from a newcomer to the ranked number one player in her campaign of 1997. She's probably the best teenaged champion the sport of tennis will ever have seen. But pure respect for Justine too. Exceptional careers they had.

[@pomerlain8924]

Henin did have plenty of power. She was never going to hit as hard as Serena or Sharapova or even Clijsters, but she could hold her own thanks to her aggressive court positioning and her clean ball striking.

[@YDVDNVRR]

Henin is pretty powerful. Not a huge hitter, but way more punch than Hingis.

[@kecleonboi]

Are you kidding? Henin had lots of power

[@danielrojas4238]

​@@pomerlain8924 Henin back on those days she could hit backhands at 95mph easily just that she was all around player, Serena was way more muscular than the rest so she always was aggressive player with perfect control but Henin could hit big serves and hit hard with both forehand and specially with her backhand even more than Clijsters and Sharapova, just Serena had bigger serve and could hit hard with more ease

[@deepakmahajan170]

There was article about hardest hitters. Serena Venus henin was in 80 mph to 90 mph groundstroke speed with first serve reaching 116 mph. Sharapova was in second tier who is seen as massive power player

[@nhlanhlamakhanya2285]

It's noticable that Hingis had added more power by this time but Henin was just MORE powerful.

[@se6001]

2 of my favorite players ever. I just wish Hingis added a bit of power to her game, just like Henin did. I felt like may be she was a bit stubborn, or trying to prove a point that her game is good enough. I loved her still. Miss them both on the tour but glad to see them happy off the court :)

[@carrerau7138]

But how do you add power?

[@kextrz]

​@@carrerau7138I agree with se6001. Hingis had the shape and size to add power to her game. Maybe she didn't feel comfortable trying to do so. Henin extracted as much power as anyone can imagine given her size. Injuries played a major part in Henin's career. Injuries also affected Hingis's career, to a lesser degree. How much can the human body be pushed before it starts to break down?

[@justhamm8346]

Graf "got" Seles' stabbing Serena "got'" Henin's freakishly short career We live in a world full of couldawouldashoulda, don't we all?

[@jwashington4863]

Henin controlled her career! She came back and thought she would succeed but serena was ready! Let's not act like Serena didnt go through injuries. She bounced back and did what was needed!

[@rorschach3005]

@@jwashington4863 That final was so close... it was like Federer being beaten by djokovic in that wimbledon. Henin played superb. In their respective primes, Henin was the better player

[@user-gu1un7pb7k]

Did Justine really stand in the way of any slams besides 2003 French Open though? The 2007 victories Henin had Serena was so out of form there was little chance she would've went on to win the whole thing IMO.

[@24ghosh24]

@@rorschach3005 i guess henin is the only player to beat both in form williams in a same tourney..us 2007

[@killghel]

@@24ghosh24 wrong. Clijsters was at the 2009 US open. She was unranked while both sisters were in the top 5

[@ericmauricio511]

Justine Henin es sin lugar a dudas la tenista femenina más completa que he visto: lo tenía todo. Excelente servicio, un golpe de derecha más que respetable, jugaba muy bien de fondo de la cancha, también, era muy eficaz en la red y, ni hablar de su arma predilecta: su hermoso y mortífero revés: ¡era espectacular!. En este juego contra Martina Hingis, casi el 80% de los puntos que ganó, lo hizo con ese golpe y si yo fuera entrenador de tenis de niños, lo primero que les enseñaría a ellos es a que aprendan la técnica del revés de la Henin. ¡Chao!.

[@nordattack]

Henin backhand! Greatest the game has ever seen.

[@doctorgrigori585]

I was watching AO 2000 1r and clearly Martina doesnt have anymore the speed or the edginess she had back then . Henin on her side developed a far more aggressive game.

[@kofiofosu9051]

Gigi’s was a really good player. Henin was on another level.

[@alexalvarez6809]

Henin was in her prime here, while Hingis was coming back from 2 years off the tour in only her second tournament back. I'd say Hingis did exceptionally well here.

[@nathalietamasik6027]

2 grandes championnes 👏🏻👌🏻🫶🏻🙏🏻💙✨💜✨🪬

[@adeninji1]

How was Henin able to generate such power?

[@pjcdm]

Kinetic chain

[@joshuamcpherson007]

People have their theories, but I agree with Billie Jean King...pound for pound, Justine was the strongest tennis player out there...male or female.

[@the1tfactor]

Rotation, rotation, rotation!

[@adamlarsson3828]

shoulder to trunk rotation. very fast swing speeds. jump into and wrist snap on the serve. if you have these qualities you will be /banging/ the ball, even at public park level!

[@monstertrucktennis]

@@the1tfactor 👍 Rotate and strike the ball, don't stroke it.

[@geminigeek1839]

My two favorite players. I miss watching them play

[@bbbazzinga]

Technically speaking, the two best players of the 2000's. Sadly Henin retired very early and Hingis was too underpowered to play in that era.

[@pomerlain8924]

You mean Hingis was too underpowered.

[@bbbazzinga]

@@pomerlain8924 Yep. Edited

[@deepakmahajan170]

Hingis who never won a slam in 2000s lmao

[@GoVeganOrDie]

Bec hingis was too old

[@stonehenges5722]

Nice watch these two play. Some players games are best seen on radio.

[@TriniBoy16]

Those 2 Henin backhands at 7:15 were ridiculously good

[@danguee1]

Jeez - you're not wrong, there! I've been working ever so hard on my ohb the last few years and it's like a Lajovic-lite version - and I'm pretty happy with that (very solid). But, wow, I'd love to have a Justine-lite version. Gorgeous.....

[@Tommy-xt6st]

Hingis really should have worked on her serve more. Not only it lacks power, the placement was not good. Henin who is the same height (may be shorter) as Hingis, had a far better serve. Today, you cannot serve like hingis and expect to win matches.

[@captainKbobkeeshan]

I never understood why any of the tennis players but definitely Hingis didn't work on her serve once Serena came into the game. Serena basically said... I'm going to win many points with this serve and then on top of that I'll back it up with my strong overall play. What do you have? and Hingis never came up with the serve goods. I wondered if she just didn't have the body for it. But then I looked at Henin, who had a big 1st AND 2nd serve. And thought, if Henin could do it, Hingis should be able to.

[@Theofilusnata]

Henin was so good at offensive of both wings

[@captainKbobkeeshan]

Yeah... I was thinking that Hingis shouldn't hit to Henin's backhand. But, then I remembered that Henin's FH was very powerful and where she won the most winners. So, her BH was more of the liability, per se.

[@tramp2827]

People overlook Justine's forearm, but when it's working, it's a dream to watch how she places the ball.

[@senorgato70]

this match feels like it was grabbed from the 70's or 80's when female players were, on average, below 5'8". Nowadays, more plays are above 5'10" than there are players below.

[@laprimaverrra]

The female equivalent of Roger Federer vs the Swiss Miss = great tennis!

[@MarkG998]

Breh, the Tennis Highlights rectangle is way too big on the screen, it's so distracting! Please make it smaller!

[@pasqualeferraro84]

Pity Henin played 5 years only. From 2001 to 2007, I did not like her when in activity I always wanted Serena to win but Henin was really a phenomenal player. She deserved to win many more Slams and titles

[@jwashington4863]

You do realize she came back in 2009-2010

[@pasqualeferraro84]

@@jwashington4863 actually it was 2010 and not even the full year, that attempt was a failure her body could not cope

[@omarvillanueva1422]

Henin The Best player

[@laprimaverrra]

Can we talk about that point at 4:12? Beautiful.

[@tramp2827]

Henin is always thinking.

[@danguee1]

Two of my all-time favourite women's players. Also loved Evert, Navratilova, Sabatini, Seles - players with character and contrasting styles. Currently, WTA tennis is a bunch of clumsy bots and pretty much unwatchable...... But Justine is top of that pile!

[@seppukun208]

Henin is the greatest female player of all time

[@wendellremoroza9672]

Says who?

[@24ghosh24]

@@wendellremoroza9672 i agree..shes the most gifted ever.

[@deepakmahajan170]

Henin improved to compete in modern game, hingis became outdated. Good enough to stay in top 10 or 20, but not good to win slams in 21st century

[@angel91485]

why put two previous champions in R1..I wouldn't have returned there if I was one of them.

[@gyanendrasinha3120]

Henin could defeat the Willaims sisters. That alone speaks of her ability.

[@fabricecardon2452]

Justine was too good for Martina

[@iceescape]

Hingis was the smarter player but Henin had the power.

[@James-sh7kx]

no one dares to mention power when Gorena is in da house

[@nhankt05]

Smarter? Henin has all Hingis' skills but at a higher level than Hingis

[@7troyfreund]

Nonsense. Justine was a ruthlessly intelligent player who knew how to play different styles against different players. Her serve was far more varied than Martina’s. She was constantly keeping Hingis guessing on the rally patterns. That takes smarts AND skills.

[@Sann-bp6lw]

Very annoying blue banner

[@dariatregan7512]

Best single handed backhand of all times, regardless of gender