Justine Henin Factfile

A look back at the career of Justine Henin, who has announced her retirement from tennis at the age of 28. 1982: Born in Liege, Belgium, June 1. 1987: Starts playing tennis. 1997: Wins French Open juniors as a wildcard. Wins Belgian national championships. 1999: Turns professional. Wins her debut WTA Tour event in Antwerp as a wildcard. Leads Belgium to semi-finals of Fed Cup. Reaches second round of French Open, her debut grand slam. 2000: Forced to withdraw from French Open with arm injury. Reaches fourth round at US Open. Breaks into world's top 50 for first time. 2001: Beats Venus Williams en route to her first Tier I semi-final at German Open. Takes Jennifer Capriati to third set in German Open before retiring with ankle injury. Becomes first player in 13 years to go into Australian Open with two straight tournament wins, in Gold Coast and Canberra. Reaches semi-finals of French Open and loses to compatriot Kim Clijsters despite leading by a set and a break. July - Reaches her first grand slam final at Wimbledon but loses to Venus Williams. 2002: November - Marries Pierre-Yves Hardenne. 2003: Wins maiden grand slam after beating compatriot Clijsters in the French Open final at Roland Garros. Beats Clijsters in the US Open final. Becomes world number one for the first time. 2004: Wins the Australian Open at Melbourne Park, again against Clijsters. Wins Olympic gold, beating Amelie Mauresmo in the final. Loses number one ranking after fourth-round US Open defeat. 2005: March - Returns to game following six-month injury absence. June: Thrashes Mary Pierce in the French Open final. Loses first-round match at Wimbledon to Greece's Eleni Daniilidou. 2006: January - Becomes the first woman in the open era to retire from a grand slam final after falling a set and a break down to Mauresmo. Henin cites intense stomach pain caused by anti-inflammatories. June - Retains French Open with victory over Svetlana Kuznetsova. July - Loses second Wimbledon final to Mauresmo. September - At the US Open, Henin becomes first woman for nine years to reach all four grand slam finals in a single year. She is beaten by Maria Sharapova but goes on to end the year as world number one. 2007: January - Withdraws from Australian Open to deal with marriage break-up. June - Completes a hat-trick of French Open wins with victory over Ana Ivanovic, emulating the feat of Monica Seles. July - Suffers shock Wimbledon semi-final defeat to Marion Bartoli after winning first set 6-1. September - Wins second US Open with victory over Kuznetsova. 2008: January - Beaten by Sharapova in Australian Open quarter-finals. May 14 - Announces immediate retirement from tennis. 2009: September 22 - Confirms on Belgian television that she will return to competitive tennis in 2010. 2010: January - Reaches Australian Open final, losing in three sets to Serena Williams. May 31 - Suffers first French Open defeat in six years, going down 2-6 6-1 6-4 to Samantha Stosur in the fourth round at Roland Garros. June - Beaten in three sets by Clijsters in fourth round of Wimbledon. 2011: January 21 - Beaten 6-4 7-6 (10/8) by Kuznetsova in third round of Australian Open. January 26 - Announces retirement from tennis for a second time after admitting defeat in her bid to recover from an elbow injury.