be inspired

there were a few possible headlines. 'first woman to defeat williams sisters in a grand slam since hingis', 'after serena, henin sees off venus'. but it could have become 'venus avenges sister', 'stunning comeback by venus'.

in fact, when henin somehow trailed 5-6, after leading 5-4 and serving for the set, i was staring at wimbledon again. she pulled level before sweeping the tie-breaker. in the second set, after racing to a 3-0 lead, it somehow became 3-3. at that point in time, i had that sinking feeling that henin might just end up on the wrong side of the match of the tournament. henin rallied to retake the lead 5-3. then she allowed venus to claw one back 5-4. and i was willing her to win, so that i could sleep. however, in the deciding set, she trailed 15-30 before three errors gave henin the victory.

in the end, i was relieved that henin pulled through. to have to play both the williams sisters is not easy. when venus and henin stood together, you could see why. 185cm and 167 cm. venus really towers over henin.

robinho once said, 'strength can never beat intelligence.'

but if intelligence were not careful, strength can easily crush it. that's why, to me, having to play both serena and venus is the toughest route to the final. and by beating them both, i think she has proven her championship credentials. as well as inspired. the smallest player beating the most powerful player.

the us open is henin's to lose.