Being completely honest, I root for Henin because of her name. Years ago, especially when she still had the "-Hardenne" part of her name, I think everyone just Anglicized it and called her "HEN-in". Then people started realizing that that's not really her name, and it sort of morphed into "EN-in". Then, about a year before her retirement (in my entirely subjective memory), it morphed into its present form: "eh-NEH". I really just enjoy hearing Pam Shriver and Mary Jo Fernandez contort themselves over her name.
I do actually like watching her, though. I like how powerful she is despite being 5'6", 130 lbs. She's not built like Serena or Venus or Lindsay Davenport, but she hits that one-handed backhand, the deadly forehand, big serves ... She plays Big Babe Tennis with the physical stature of any random young lady on the street. She's the same size as Marion Bartoli!
Also, I have this weird weakness for one-handed backhands. Even on the men's side, you don't see it that often, but for whatever reason, I just find it much more aesthetically pleasing than the two-handed version.
And finally, I like rooting for late-career players and comeback players. Current examples include James Blake, Lleyton Hewitt, Henin, Kim Clijsters, even Roger Federer and Venus Williams to an extent -- it's really only true in tennis, but I enjoy watching the grizzled vets try to stave off the up-and-comers in what is, more than many sports, a very young persons' game.
Friday, January 22, 2010
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