Justine Henin-Hardenne ousted by Tathiana Garbin

Q. Was it maybe too soon for you to come back, do you think, after illness?

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: Yeah, probably. But, you know, I have to come back on the tour one day. And now I know where I am, and I know what I have to do. I know that I still need a little bit more time to be hundred percent. It's not easy to recover.

But I have no regrets that I came here because, you know, I had to come back. I was feeling good, but on the court it's for sure different.

It is a tough situation, but I think that in the past I came through many times, and I'm sure I'll do it one more time.

Q. Did you feel it more today or were you feeling a bit tired in the first match?

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: No, I think that in the first match, you know, I didn't know what to expect. And then I was very happy to win this first match. It hasn't been easy to recover. But I don't want to find any excuse. It's hard to come back, for sure, after this kind of problem that I got. But it's not the main reason, you know.

I was really nervous, I wasn't moving well, I was late all the time. I couldn't play my game. So it is a little bit frustrating, but it's a choice that I made and I have to assume that now. And it's okay, life continues. It's a bad day; tomorrow is going to be better.

Q. There are only three or four weeks between now and Wimbledon. Will you be looking forward to Wimbledon or do you think you may take a rest?

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: I don't know. I don't know what to expect. In the next few days I'll take a little bit of rest and then start practice when I'll feel better, when I'll feel rested.

But Wimbledon is, for sure, in my calendar now. It doesn't change anything. I'll see how I'm going to recover now. But doesn't change anything in my calendar.

Q. How do you explain that today you were playing less well than the other day against Testud? Was a different approach, psychological? Also can you tell me something about Garbin because you already lost to her once.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: Yeah, but she played a very good match. What could I say? It was my bad day and it was her great day. There's nothing else to say.

She took her chances, and I wasn't the player I have been for 12 months now. But it's okay, it's life. This kind of situation can happen, especially after what I lived in the last few weeks. It's not easy to come back, you know, after a period of doubt, don't know if I could come. But I decided to come because it's a tournament I like to lot, and I'm not going to change my mind about this because I lost today.

Q. Adidas is promoting a marketing promotion which uses the phrase, your phrase, "Nothing is impossible," which you said at the US Open. What does that phrase mean to you in your career and in your life?

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: I think, you know, when I was little girl and I wanted to be a professional tennis player, I was five or six years old and I started playing tennis, and nobody could believe that I would do it one day, you know, winning Grand Slams, being No. 1. I'm sure that impossible is nothing, and I proved it many times.

Maybe right now it's a little bit too much.

Q. Do you think these health problems could hurt you? You're known for your condition, but you've had some serious health problems, too. Do you think this could hurt your career or is it something you think you'll be able to overcome?

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: No, I think it's going to go away, you know. It's going to be over soon. I just need a little bit of time right now. You know, it's only a few weeks that happened. I need a little bit of time to feel rested, to feel hundred percent, to feel prepared the best as I can because hasn't been the greatest preparation that I wanted.

But it's like that. We'll never change that.

Q. Do the doctors recommend any specific regime, like vitamins, new supplements or anything like that?>

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: You know, I have very good medical staff, and they do everything they can for me. You know, like I said, I just need a little bit of time and a little bit of rest, and we'll see.

Q. You were up 4-2 in the second set. Can you talk about what happened at that point?

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: We could see up and downs during the whole match, you know. But I've never been able to fight, you know, like I'm used to. I've never been able to play my tennis, to be aggressive. You know, I was really negative.

Yeah, it's been very tough situation for me. I thought at this point that I could come back, but too many up and downs. I was losing my concentration too often. I was playing two points hundred percent and the next four points I didn't. It's not easy to win like that.

Q. You were serving 5-4, you had two double-faults. Then you were up 4-3 in the second set. Again two double-faults. 10 double-faults. That is more a mental problem than physical, do you think, psychological?

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: No, I think you can -- you know, you can look at the statistics, look at them 10 times, it's not going to change anything. It's more than that. You know, it's a situation that's not easy to deal with. When you miss competition, when you come back, you can't say that you can increase your level in two days. It's very difficult.

But it was a little bit too much pressure for me today.

Q. You've always been a fighter. Did you feel that as the champion, you owed it to the game and to the French Open to be here and to go out on your shield if you had to?

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: I did it for me and only for me, for anyone else. I have no regrets about that, because it was my decision. So I didn't have to do it for anybody.

Q. Fair enough, you did it for you. Good answer. But does that mean that you felt you owed it to yourself to at least try?

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: Oh, yeah. You know, I came here and I said, "Okay, I want to live match after match, going step by step." But maybe I went too far. Maybe my goal was too high with my possibilities now. Maybe I did this mistake.

Q. Now that you're out, will you pick a winner?

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: I don't care about this right now.

THE MODERATOR: Questions in French.

Q. The match has been over for an hour and a half now. Can you look back on your defeat at this level?>

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: Well, it's not easy to come here and talk about the defeat. But that's the way it is. You've got to live with it. In the life of a professional tennis player, you've got good moments and bad moments. I discussed this with Carlos about 15 minutes ago. I've been through moments before. I'm sure I'll be able to recover once again.

Q. More than anything, it was all about stress today.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: Yes, absolutely. I can't hope to come back to my previous level after a few weeks out of the courts, but the doubts about my tennis meant that I couldn't play 100% and really develop my game out there.

There's nothing to be ashamed of, there's nothing to hide. You've got to accept that it's human and it's happened to a number of other players before me. I think it's a kind of situation that will lead me to react in the near future.

Q. It must have been difficult in the fact you went through an extraordinary season last year, very tiring, full season this year. That's too much?

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: Yes, pressure is, of course, always present. That's inevitable. A lot of things have happened. The accumulated fatigue, that didn't help.

But, as I said, I decided to come here because I wanted to. Now I know where I stand. I know that there's a number of things that I still need to do. I need more time to recover, to be ready to defend my chances on court.

Q. Compared to a couple of months ago in Amelia Island, you played a very tough match against Conchita Martinez, then you lost to Amelie. We felt that you were really giving it all you had, and that was not enough. Do you have the same feeling today? >

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: Yes, in a way. But I know better now where I stand in terms of my tennis. Clearly being stressed doesn't help. It adds to the lack of fitness, perhaps, because obviously I wasn't at 100%. I played my first match and had difficulties recovering. But you need to keep going. It's not easy. But clearly I wasn't physically very fit on court today.

But this has to do with the fact that I haven't yet completely recovered. Did stress increase that fact? That's something that's difficult to say.

Q. This year the tournament is very open. We get the feeling that the favorites among the players, particularly in the women's draw, are a little bit more tense. A number of players have said this. Do you think it affected you, as well?

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: That's possible. But before my first match, I was really concentrated on my first match. When I won that match, at that point in time it increased my confidence. So maybe I started thinking too far rather than taking it a day at a time. That was what I had decided to do when I came here, was to take things a day at a time.

Maybe my objective was too high as compared to my present fitness, my health. So maybe I could have built this one day at a time. But I shouldn't have been thinking about it from the start.

Q. At 100%, you're a fabulous player, but your physique isn't like the Williams sisters. Does that explain why you need more time to recover and you need to be perfect?>

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: Well, that's absolutely possible. I'm absolutely aware that I must be at 100% physical fitness to really make a difference. If I had a health problem and I can't recover as easily; maybe I feel it more than another player.

Q. Is this the hardest defeat of your career?

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: I think that's difficult to tell. My defeat in Amelia Island, Doha, this one certainly hurts more. When I lost in the first round two years ago, that wasn't very nice either. But for the moment it's probably the case.

Q. You were very positive on Monday. Today we felt that you were very negative. What was the difference?

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: I didn't play well today. I couldn't even count on anger, frustration, on the kind of thing that I use to play a match. I was feeling a bit empty. That's very frustrating.