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Post by Edna Krabappel on Jan 26, 2011 9:54:33 GMT -5
Due to elbow injury. Unless it's some sort of a premature April fools joke.
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Post by DBBN on Jan 26, 2011 10:00:59 GMT -5
LOL. Well, that worked out exactly as she had planned.
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Post by R. Black on Jan 26, 2011 10:04:04 GMT -5
A bit earlier than expected... I thought the announcement would come at some point between Wimbledon and the end of the year.
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Post by Edna Krabappel on Jan 26, 2011 10:09:55 GMT -5
A bit earlier than expected... I thought the announcement would come at some point between Wimbledon and the end of the year. Just what I was thinking. Still, to me it makes even less sense than the first time around. Back then I could understand the burnout, loss of motivation, nagging injuries and what not. But now it's really unlike her to go to Australia knowing she had a serious injury that could put an end to it all. The only explanation is that she had no motivation to climb up the rankings again after losing all her AO points so she gave it a shot all things considered. Which more or less means she was finished anyway.
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Post by Wagasi on Jan 26, 2011 10:22:35 GMT -5
This all happened while I was in the shower!
What a bizarre second career. I wish you the best Justine.
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Post by DBBN on Jan 26, 2011 10:25:02 GMT -5
Reading her letter, it sounds like she had expected the injury to not be that serious...that it was almost ready again for the grind. But that Australia only made it worse.
This time it makes more sense to me because at least "I'm tired of losing and I'm in serious pain" > "I'm tired of losing...BYE!" And now I understand what the Mashabators are talking about of "tarnishing her legacy." She made another Slam final, good job...but her last 4 Slams were 4R 4R DNP 3R. Let's not drag this out.
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Post by Lady on Jan 26, 2011 10:43:42 GMT -5
But now it's really unlike her to go to Australia knowing she had a serious injury that could put an end to it all. The only explanation is that she had no motivation to climb up the rankings again after losing all her AO points so she gave it a shot all things considered. Which more or less means she was finished anyway. She said that to fix her elbow completely, she required a surgery. But the healing process then would take about a year and then they'd be no point in coming back. So she tried to play through it, obviously didn't work. I'm just really upset, there's noone really worthy enough to care for in WTA now. Sunshine vs St. Kim finals? Meh...
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Post by Traveling Man on Jan 26, 2011 11:27:32 GMT -5
Oh my.
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jon
Full Member
Posts: 286
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Post by jon on Jan 26, 2011 11:31:49 GMT -5
Best wishes to Justine.
Seems a little impulsive though. Why not just say "I'll stop for a few months and see how it goes"? Now a new comeback would make her look like a big joke.
I hope she has fun in her new life. Maybe she can go sell junk on the shopping channel with Rena.
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Post by Traveling Man on Jan 26, 2011 11:38:43 GMT -5
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Post by lexpretend on Jan 26, 2011 11:44:33 GMT -5
Sad way to end it (and a part of my brain is shouting "why can't this happen to Kim?"). But I'm primarily relieved that this dismal failure of a comeback is over.
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jon
Full Member
Posts: 286
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Post by jon on Jan 26, 2011 11:48:05 GMT -5
I have no idea why this clown hasn't been permabanned yet. I've never seen him contribute anything useful. All he does is shouting insults in bold characters. edit: Oh, looks like he's banned now
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Post by Edna Krabappel on Jan 26, 2011 12:35:34 GMT -5
Now a new comeback would make her look like a big joke. I really don't think there will be one. She's turning 29 this year, with a body that's increasingly falling apart every time she takes a racquet in her hands. I don't see her as a new Kimiko.
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Post by Brinyi on Jan 26, 2011 12:39:06 GMT -5
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Post by janie on Jan 26, 2011 12:55:09 GMT -5
Oh no!
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Post by lexpretend on Jan 26, 2011 13:49:59 GMT -5
Also: if St. Kim ends up with more Slams than Justine...
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Post by Wagasi on Jan 26, 2011 14:09:50 GMT -5
Also: if St. Kim ends up with more Slams than Justine... Possible! She'll probably be pregnant again soon though and call it a day. Their careers have been too symmetrical so far for Justine to quit and Kim to hang around for another half decade collecting slams. Also, her career ending injury came in a match with Kim This retirement makes so much more sense to me than the first one. Having grown up watching Graf who seemed to enjoy being at the top of the game and seemed to want to continue winning everything despite numerous injuries, it was strange to see Justine talk about a loss of motivation when she was no.1, had just had the best year of her career and wasn't injured. This one is more like the Capriati/Seles/Pierce style retirement where one final injury does you in.
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Post by janie on Jan 26, 2011 17:01:49 GMT -5
Yeah, I think the docs have made it clear that that elbow is not ever going to be fit for that kind of use again. I'm brokenhearted (at least tennis-fanwise). Looking into a WTA future consisting of the unappealing Kim and Serena winning over and over; various headcases choking their brains out; mindless shrieking ballbashers from Hell; and passive retrievers for whom hitting a winner is a pleasant but almost unnecessary rarity does not fill me with hope and joy. There are no new JH's or Frannys that I know of coming along the pike to make the sport fun to watch. I mean, if Kuzzy could always play the way she did at the end of her marathon match, I'd enjoy watching her a lot, but she's Headcase #1. Oh well, maybe China can produce something someday. Meanwhile, goodbye Justine! Thanks for the memories. :'-(
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Post by Grarliner on Jan 26, 2011 17:05:33 GMT -5
I can understand this too. Obviously she's really hurt and she doesn't see much potential for getting better soon. This is the opposite of the first retirement. This time the spirit is willing but the body is not. Justine out of the game is a huge loss as it was the first time, of that there is no doubt. I really wish she'd made a better decision about Australia. Maybe if she had stayed at home and rehabbed her elbow for a few more months it would've been okay. I suppose we don't know. I guess it's fitting (in a dark way) that she was retired by an injury. Justine is truly star-crossed when it comes to injuries and it is so amazing what she was able to achieve in between freak illnesses and unfortunate wear-and-tear. I must bring one thing up, though. The timing of her announcement. It's like when the Yankees hire a new manager DURING the World Series. There was no reason she could not wait four more days for the tournament to be over. Instead she has to steal some of the spotlight away from the tournament and the eventual winner by announcing this now. I guess Justine ruined someone else's moment in Australia once again.
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Post by Wagasi on Jan 26, 2011 17:35:06 GMT -5
I dunno. Announcing her retirement after Kim winning might look worse.
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Post by Grarliner on Jan 26, 2011 17:52:13 GMT -5
I dunno. Announcing her retirement after Kim winning might look worse. True. If it were me, I wouldn't announce right after the tournament, either. I'd announce in another week or two. After, like, Dubai or something.
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Post by Edna Krabappel on Jan 26, 2011 17:55:22 GMT -5
There's also Fed Cup coming up, where she was supposed to play and would have to explain why she's missing out. There really wasn't an opportune moment to make this announcement, so it was probably for the best this way.
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Post by Grarliner on Jan 26, 2011 18:00:55 GMT -5
There's also Fed Cup coming up, where she was supposed to play and would have to explain why she's missing out. There really wasn't an opportune moment to make this announcement, so it was probably for the best this way. No, just make a withdrawal. I think it's bush league to do it during a Slam. Like I say, she doesn't have to announce this any time soon. No need for it to be today, tomorrow or next week. It's not that big of a deal, but not during the Slam, Justine!
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Post by lexpretend on Jan 26, 2011 18:49:12 GMT -5
I would have been A-OK with Justine announcing this within an hour of Kim winning championship point. That would have been hilarious.
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Post by The Chloe on Jan 26, 2011 19:16:39 GMT -5
Sad face.
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Post by Bruguera's heavy balls on Jan 26, 2011 20:24:52 GMT -5
lowest point in the wta I can remember, perhaps 1995 was similar
with the 4 best players beinf Graf, Sanchez Vicario, Conchita and Mary Pierce,
now it is Serena, Kim, Woz and Zvonareva
A world with Woz as the number 1 player, is like a world in which the Virginia Slims Championships or whatever it is called right now, blew up because of a terrorist attack, and now the number 9 is the number 1
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Post by leelee on Jan 27, 2011 2:00:46 GMT -5
It may be dumb, but Justine really has done that for me. The way she retired and began her return only a year later. Ending her career with a loss to Stosur, at her slam, which I fully expected, such a sad way to end it.
Justine was a rare player on SEWTA that I actually looked up to for her hard work and her faux "retirement" just ruined all of that. Seemingly quitting on the spur of the moment, so she could live her life. Which basically ended up as doing celebrity junk and taking a year off. Blaaaah. Leaves such a sour taste in my mouth.
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Post by R. Black on Jan 27, 2011 2:57:37 GMT -5
Top players make so much money now that it's easy to say "fuck it" on the spur of the moment in their mid 20s.
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Post by Lady on Jan 27, 2011 5:22:01 GMT -5
The medical release
"The statement of Professor Bellemans medical doctor in orthopedic and sports injury specialists, Leuven:" Justine Henin has been advised by medical staff to immediately stop her professional tennis career.
This opinion was given after the latest MRI scans Inspection, which were taken after her last match at the Australian Open tournament in Melbourne, which showed a significant deterioration in her elbow after an injury at Wimbledon 2010, which she had suffered a capsuloligamentous injury.
Justine has been informed that the only alternative was a major operation, with a long rehabilitation (up to a year), an operation not without risk and without warranty that she will again reach her pre-competitive level.
The immediacy of the opinion is based on a major deterioration of the elbow on MRI images, with progressively increased damage to the nerve of the elbow and the other structures of the elbow joint, despite the tremendous efforts of the athlete to strengthen its clearing and make his muscle-building exercises as intensively as possible.
Justine has been informed that, if she immediately stops all her tennis activities and leaves her elbow time to heal, she has a real chance she could do her daily activities without pain at the elbow. Now if she decides to continue playing at high level, this might not be guaranteed and may no longer be supported at medical level"
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Post by DBBN on Jan 27, 2011 11:20:33 GMT -5
Oh right. This happened. SIGH
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