Dubbed the 'female Federer', Justine Henin shocked the tennis world when she announced her retirement in May 2008, to become the first female to quit the game as No.1. However, she returned to the game in 2010, inspired by Roger Federer's career Grand Slam, in her quest to capture the one title that eluded her - Wimbledon.

After seeing her idol Steffi Graf lose the women's final to Monica Seles at Roland Garros, Henin turned to her mother and said, "One day I'll be on that court and maybe I'll win". At the age of 14, Henin teamed up with Carlos Rodriguez, who would see her become world number one.

Henin turned professional in 1999 and won her first tour in Antwerp event as a wildcard and in 2001 she won her first three tournaments of the year, reached her first Grand Slam semi-final at Roland Garros and broke into the top ten. But 2003 was the defining season for Henin, winning eight titles, including victory at the French Open in June. After winning the US Open title she overtook Kim Clijsters to reach the No. 1 spot.

By March 2004 Henin had accumulated an astonishing 7626 points, the highest points total in the history of the WTA rankings. However, her season was plagued by illness, withdrawing from a number of tournaments with respiratory illness, hypoglycaemia and then the fatiguing cytomegalovirus, which left her with barely enough energy to walk. Despite not playing a single competitive match since May, Henin won the Olympic gold medal in Athens. Such was her dominance in the early part of the season that she was not knocked off the No.1 spot until September, despite playing in just two tournaments since since April.

Henin continued to dominate the women's rankings for the next three years, losing just four matches in 2007 but after mixed results in 2008 Henin announced her retirement in May 2008 with immediate effect. However, a fortnight after former rival Kim Clijsters celebrated her comeback with a Grand Slam victory at the 2009 US Open, Henin announced she would return to the tour in 2010, in a bid to win the Wimbledon title, the only jewel missing in her already impressive crown.

In just her second tournament back, Henin showed glimpses of her best tennis as she stormed into the Australian Open final, but fell at the final hurdle to top seed Serena Williams.

After picking up titles in Stuttgart and s'Hertogenbosch, Henin headed to London to launch her Wimbledon campaign, but in the high-profile fourth-round clash against long-time rival Clijsters, Henin fell and damaged her elbow.

The Belgian was forced to miss the US Open, and was not seen again until January, but she was forced to hang up her racket for a second time after causing further damage to her elbow.

Career high
At Roland Garros on the clay courts she affectionately calls "my garden", Henin defended her French Open title for the second successive year, becoming just the second woman to win three straight titles at Roland Garros (repeating the feat of Monica Seles between 1990 and 1992).

Career low
After a dominant start to the 2004 season, Henin was knocked down by the debilitating cytomegalovirus. After six weeks on the sidelines the defending champion became the first top seed in the history of the French Open to be knocked out in the second round, falling to little-known Italian Tathiana Garbin.

Quotes
"Pound for pound she is the best athlete I've ever seen. She's incredible and she continues to get better." Billie Jean King

"After I stopped I couldn't watch tennis for a year. I wasn't interested anymore. I was just exhausted mentally and physically. I wanted to discover if I could exist without being a tennis player."

"I need to relax and take some oxygen when I can. That's what I couldn't do in the past. I was in my bubble the whole time, all day, all night."

Trivia
In May 2009, Henin starred in a reality TV show called 'The Twelve Labours of Justine Henin, where she had to complete 12 personal challenges, including cooking, singing and playing football.