Henin happy with Slam preparation

Players Under the Microscope / Editor / 13 May 2007 / Leave a Comment

Despite going out of the German Open at the semi-final stage, Justine Henin believes she has had good preparation for her tilt at the French Open.

Poor weather in Berlin meant this week's tournament suffered from repeated disruption, and Henin suffered more than most as she found herself on court for the fifth time in three days during her last-four showdown with Svetlana Kuznetsova.

The Russian eventually booked her place in the final (6-4 5-7 6-4) following two unforced errors from Henin in game nine of the final set. It was only Kuznetsova's second win over the Belgian star in 16 meetings.

Henin, who was chasing her fourth title in the German capital, was not too downhearted after the defeat revealing that she was happy to come through the week without picking up an injury and will now take two weeks off ahead of the French Open, which starts on May 27.

"This was the toughest week I ever had - it's been bizarre," said Henin. "It was very hard mentally, physically. Today I was missing some energy, some legs on the court.

"It was very dangerous actually and everyone was scared they were going to get injured," she added. "I had a lot of difficult moments but I just kept fighting. I'm glad because I had a good preparation here and a lot of matches on the clay and that's good for the French."

The 24-year-old remains the 2.54 favourite to enjoy success at Roland Garros, with Serena Williams (5.1) and Amelie Mauresmo (12) her closest rivals in the betting.