Tennis: Henin-hardenne Crashes Out

Justine Henin-Hardenne, a shell of the player she has been for the past 12 months, relinquished her French Open crown against Italy's Tathiana Garbin yesterday and then turned her mind to Wimbledon, the one grand slam title she has yet to win.

But another 3 weeks may not be enough time for her to recover from the glandular fever that ruined any hopes she had of winning for a second successive year at Roland Garros.

In this respect the 7-5, 6-4 defeat against Garbin, who is ranked 85 places below the Belgian world No1, hardly constituted a shock, although it was only the second time since 1925 that the women's title holder had departed so early.

Henin, who had not played in any of the pre-French Open clay-court tournaments, was simply not ready to make her comeback in the most physically demanding of the grand slams.

Injuries and viruses appear to be ever more prevalent in both the men's and the women's game, reinforcing the argument for pruning the tournament schedule.

Henin, who has made something of a virtue of fronting up to her problem with nerves, preferred to lay the blame in that direction rather than dwell on her illness. "I was really nervous and wasn't moving well. I was late all the time."

Too early, many would argue. As much as she wanted to play here, it was surely an incorrect decision.

No doubt she hoped that if she could get through the first week, and with so many of the other leading women players also underprepared, she might be able to hold on to her title. But she was wrong.

"Maybe my goal was too high. Maybe I made a mistake." Of that there is no doubt.

France's Amélie Mauresmo, now the leading player in the top half of the draw, gave her supporters on the main Philippe Chatrier court a few moments of anxiety before reaching the last 32 with a 6-0, 4-6, 6-1 win over Spain's Anabel Medina Garrigues.