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Henin hangs up her racket again

ESPN staff
January 26, 2011
Justine Henin © Getty Images
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Justine Henin: A career in pictures

Former world No. 1 Justine Henin has announced her retirement from tennis after failing to recover from an elbow injury.

Henin made a shock return to the sport last year after initially retiring in 2008, but after reaching the Australian Open final in only her second tournament, she damaged her elbow during her fourth-round clash against Kim Clijsters at Wimbledon.

After six months on the sidelines, Henin returned to action at the Hopman Cup in Perth, but crashed out of the Australian Open at the hands of Svetlana Kuznetsova.

"After my crash at Wimbledon, I knew it would be difficult to come back. But I had decided to keep playing and to give everything to overcome the injury," Henin told her official website. "In these recent months I have rarely been spared from the pain, those months were very hard."

Tests revealed Henin's elbow had suffered further damage as a result of her efforts in Melbourne, and she confirmed that on the advice of doctors she had decided to call it a day.

"I suffered a lot last week and every day gave me more and more pain, but I believed that my will would take the upper hand," she said. "My elbow is too fragile and hurt so that my passion and my profession at high level cannot continue to exist."

The seven-time grand slam champion thanked her coach Carlos Rodriguez and her fans for their support.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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