Both women are two of the shortest and slightest on the women's tour. However, whilst Justine Henin has enjoyed overall success against the power players of today, fellow Lilliputian-by-tennis-standards Martina Hingis has been struggling of late. Where is Martina going wrong and what can she learn from Henin's game to turn things around?

At the start of the new millennium, things were all so different. Hingis was playing Henin in the first week of the 2000 Australian Open and beat her fairly easily 6-3 6-3. Yet to reach her twenties, she had won five Grand Slam singles titles and been world No 1 for nearly three years.

Henin, meanwhile, had yet to make a proper breakthrough on the tour and was overshadowed by fellow Belgian Kim Clijsters. Although power players had always hindered Hingisian hegemony, Martina held winning records over principal big hitting rivals, the Williams sisters, and could hold her own against Lindsay Davenport to win some of their clashes.

'This year Henin has tasted French Open success, is the world No 1 and has enjoyed two wins over Serena Williams - arguably the greatest power merchant of them all'


By the end of 2002, however, the stars weren't shining so brightly on Martina. Hingis had lost her No 1 spot the year before and, even more worryingly, had not won a Grand Slam title since 1999. She had suffered an agonising defeat to Jennifer Capriati in the final of the 2002 Aussie Open, failing to convert any of her own four championship points, and a demoralising fourth round loss to Monica Seles in the last 16 of the US Open - a player who she usually dominated in matches.

Hingis left the game for three years and, during her absence, Justine won four Grand Slam titles (plus another two since Hingis' 2006 return). Henin was showing Hingis how to live and, indeed, thrive among the power-playing giants of women's tennis. Notably Henin enjoyed several Australian Open wins over 6ft 2ins  Davenport and defeated Serena Williams at the French Open.

This year Henin has tasted French Open success, is the world No 1 and has enjoyed two wins over Serena Williams - arguably the greatest power merchant of them all. At a little under 5ft 6ins - one of the smallest women on the tour and the shortest top ten player - Henin has proven that modest size doesn't have to be a disadvantage in the world of women's tennis. Hingis, despite being a good inch taller than Henin, has struggled this year. She was out-powered by Clijsters in their Australian Open quarter-final match and has lost to lower-ranked power players like Daniela Hantuchova.

So what is going right for Henin? Firstly, she has recognised the need to improve her own personal physical fitness and strength and has worked very hard on this over the last few years. She is much stronger now than the talented but physically frail player she was of six years ago when she lost her three-set Wimbledon final against Venus Williams.

She has added muscle tone and bulk to her slight frame while remaining agile around the court. While she will never boast the supersonic service speeds of the Williamses, Henin regularly fires down aces over 100mph and is actually one of the faster, if not the fastest, servers on the women's tour having beefed up her first serve in recent years too.

Hingis, meanwhile, loathes weight training and seems almost resigned to the fact that she will get out-powered by a bigger player. Henin has shown that this doesn't have to be the case and the Belgian is in fact one of the most powerful players on tour, thanks to her strength and fitness work and excellent timing and technique.

Secondly, Henin's desire to succeed is obvious. Tennis is her life. Hingis, meanwhile, has mellowed as she approaches the early autumn of her career. The temper tantrums exhibited upon losing that Franch Open final to Steffi Graf back in 1999 seem a distant memory. Tennis does not seem to be the be all and end all it once was for her.

But if she wants to revisit her glory days of the late nineties, Hingis will need to take a leaf out of Henin's coaching manual and regain her steel - both physically and mentally.