By Sebastian Fest Nov 13, 2006, 16:02 GMT
Madrid - Justine Henin-Hardenne finishes the 2006 tennis season as world number one and seems intent on maintaining her position in the coming years.
The unassuming Belgian moved to the top of the rankings released Monday fresh from her weekend defeat of former number one Amelie Mauresmo of France in the year-ending WTA Championships in Madrid.
The win in Spain was Henin-Hardenne's 28th tournament victory but the 24-year-old says she is still highly motivated to succeed in the sport and intends to remain at the top in the coming years.
'I have the feeling that this is my life right now and for the next few years. I'm feeling happy being on the court because I'm healthy,' Henin-Hardenne said in an interview with Deutsche Presse- Agentur dpa.
'Sure, I can begin a new life with 30, but right now my life is tennis, and I'm very happy about that, because I've been playing tennis for the last 20 years. It's been all my life, a lot of sacrifices, and when you finally win it's a great feeling.'
Henin-Hardenne is unusual in that she has been with coach Carlos Rodriguez for a decade now but she clearly has no intention of changing her winning partnership with the Argentinian.
Not surprising considering that this year Henin-Hardenne became the first player since Steffi Graf in 1993 to reach all four Grand Slams finals and the WTA Championships final in the same year.
'It's an amazing relationship, I'm lucky that he moved from Argentina and came to Belgium more than 15 years ago,' she said.
'You know, sometimes you meet people in your life, it happens just a few times and you know this one is the good one, and that's what happened with Carlos.
'It's been a great adventure with him, more than ten years, it doesn't happen very often on the tour, that a player and a coach stay together for such a long time. There is a lot of respect between the two of us, we feel like we have been growing up together.
'He teaches me something new every day, and I always listen to him with the same attention, the same respect as ten years ago. That's probably why we are together right now.'
Henin-Hardenne says that while she still loves going on court every day and pushing herself to new limits, the travelling does take its toll.
'But you have to accept good things and bad things, and I'm pretty happy that I can fulfil my passion,' she said.
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