granddog29
Banned
Justine Henin's worst surface by far was always grass, but even so she is widely considered one of the best, if not the best player and grass court player both, to not win Wimbledon, along with Mandilikova and possibly Seles (in Seles's case purely player, 0% the grass court player part). Bartoli's best surface was always grass, but it still was a shock she managed a Wimbledon title.
It brings up an interesting question now though. Which is the better grass court player. It has been debated before how Henin stacks up with some of the weaker (in terms of grass ability) 1 time Wimbledon winners on grass- Sharapova, Hingis, Kvitova, but now one has to wonder about Bartoli. Bartoli not only has won Wimbledon, but she has 2 Wimbledon finals- matching Henin's quota, she has won Eastborne in her career, and she beat Henin head on in her all time peak year when they met on grass. I do not believe winning Wimbledon automatically makes one better than Henin on grass. I dont for half a moment believe Conchita Martinez for instance was a better grass court player than Henin. I really dont even believe Hingis is as apart from her Wimbledon title she virtually did nothing else on grass, especialy for a long time #1. However Bartoli is a tougher question.
2007 was the crown jewel of Henin's career, the only year she truly dominated and was by far the Worlds best player, the year she beat Serena in 3 slams on 3 different surfaces, the year she generally was thumping all the other top players and winning virtually every event and every major event she was in. Yet she was denied a chance at the elusive Wimbledon title losing to a non prime Bartoli in the Wimbledon semis from 6-1, 2-0 up.
Henin's edges on grass are a more consistent Wimbledon record with 5 times to the semis or further, and numerous Eastbourne titles.
However with Bartoli's Wimbledon title, having some other decent success on grass, and her beating peak of peaks Henin when they met on grass, who is the better grass courter.
It brings up an interesting question now though. Which is the better grass court player. It has been debated before how Henin stacks up with some of the weaker (in terms of grass ability) 1 time Wimbledon winners on grass- Sharapova, Hingis, Kvitova, but now one has to wonder about Bartoli. Bartoli not only has won Wimbledon, but she has 2 Wimbledon finals- matching Henin's quota, she has won Eastborne in her career, and she beat Henin head on in her all time peak year when they met on grass. I do not believe winning Wimbledon automatically makes one better than Henin on grass. I dont for half a moment believe Conchita Martinez for instance was a better grass court player than Henin. I really dont even believe Hingis is as apart from her Wimbledon title she virtually did nothing else on grass, especialy for a long time #1. However Bartoli is a tougher question.
2007 was the crown jewel of Henin's career, the only year she truly dominated and was by far the Worlds best player, the year she beat Serena in 3 slams on 3 different surfaces, the year she generally was thumping all the other top players and winning virtually every event and every major event she was in. Yet she was denied a chance at the elusive Wimbledon title losing to a non prime Bartoli in the Wimbledon semis from 6-1, 2-0 up.
Henin's edges on grass are a more consistent Wimbledon record with 5 times to the semis or further, and numerous Eastbourne titles.
However with Bartoli's Wimbledon title, having some other decent success on grass, and her beating peak of peaks Henin when they met on grass, who is the better grass courter.