For years tennis players have risen at young ages to the top of the game, and by 25 they have had enough or their bodies have had enough. For me, this doesn’t have anything to do with the over-demanding schedule. It’s down to the players entering many unnecessary tournaments during periods that could be spent healing injuries or just messing about on the court.

Young players don’t always take the best care of their bodies - and this in the long term catches up with them.

Justine Henin recently revealed to the world that her time in tennis up. She had had enough, and wanted to have a career in some other aspect of life. She was one of the most amazing tennis players to watch, and I hope everything in the long term suits her well.

'There are many little things that could have demotivated her, such as that she had won nearly everything on the circuit'


She was more than just a great tennis player, she was a sports ambassador for tennis throughout the world. Why would a woman of 25 quit at the top of her game? Well, in tennis there are many little things that could have demotivated her, such as that she had won nearly everything on the circuit.

It’s very common when you have won everything to lose that aspect of hunger; you expect to win, creating no joy in overcoming all your challengers.

For a sold three years now, Henin has been like Roger Federer in the men’s game. She won everything and most of the time didn’t have a large amount of competition. But Federer hasn’t quit yet, so is it fair that Henin just lays down her racquet? Yes, of course - she won every major, the French Open four times. Federer is still competing for this last major, so the hunger is still there for him.

Some people say there are too many tournaments…but players don’t have to enter them all. I really don’t understand people going crazy over the schedule - everything is pretty good in the system. Players eventually run out of gas, not only in tennis but in other sports as well.

We need to stop telling ourselves the schedule is to blame, that’s far from the case. It’s also different depending on how good a player is. You could be at a low standard so tend to lose in the first or second …but if you’re at the top you could be reaching five finals in a row. Maybe that doesn’t seem a lot, but think about the amount of matches to reach each final, and all the travel. It really is the player’s choice to overplay or not.