French Open champion Justine
Henin-Hardenne suffered a pre-Wimbledon injury scare on Saturday when she hurt
her left hand and had to retire hurt during her final against Kim Clijsters at
the Ordina Open.
Just two days before Wimbledon fortnight begins, the Belgians were contesting
the title match in what was a repeat of their final at Roland Garros a fortnight
ago.
Henin-Hardenne, a right-handed player, had taken the first set on a tie-break
to make a promising start.
But she suffered the injury to the fingers of her left hand when slipping and
tumbling over on the grass surface early in the second set, and her performance
was clearly hampered during the next two games.
After falling 3-0 behind, the world number three told the match umpire she
would have to quit the match due to extreme pain in each finger on her left
hand.
Event organisers stressed that the injury would not necessarily force her out
of Wimbledon where she was runner-up in 2001 to Venus Williams of the United
States.
And there appeared to be signs of an improvement in her condition when
Henin-Hardenne told reporters that she was feeling pain in just two of her
fingers several minutes after quitting the match.
The S'Hertogenbosch title went to Clijsters, strengthening her status as the
world number two behind Serena Williams.
Henin-Hardenne was due to go for a medical check-up following her press
conference, when it was expected she would undergo an X-ray on the injured left
hand.
Asked whether she will be able to play her first-round match against Ukrainian Julia Vakulenko at the All-England Club, Henin-Hardenne responded in the
positive.
"I think it's going to be alright," she said.
The decision to quit the match was more than precautionary, as she was clearly
in intense pain after the fall, although the Wimbledon third seed although she
looks set to travel to London.
However she explained that she would rest the wrist on Sunday and hopefully
begin practice at Wimbledon's Aorangi Park on Monday, before her match which is
due to be played on Tuesday.
"I think it was definitely the right thing to stop playing," she added.
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