Justine Henin announced her retirement last week after winning seven Grand Slam singles titles and 41 WTA singles titles. Mark Renders/Getty Images

Hopefully I am first off the blocks with this question: What is your opinion on Henin's retirement? As a long time fan (before she even won her first title), there is no doubt that she would be in the Hall of Fame. Do you consider her someone who has overachieved despite the physical nature of the modern game? Could she have won more titles or is she another by-product of the power game? How is the media taking it since she has finally opened up to you last year?
-- Ed Chew, Melbourne, Australia

Since Ed was first on the case, he gets his questions answered. To me, Henin is a no-brainer Hall of Famer. Not even a debate to be had. And she's also on the short list (no pun intended) of the sport's all-time great overachievers. She reached a point in a career when it was clear she could go one of two ways. She could cruise and remain in the top 10, winning some matches, maybe reaching the odd Grand Slam final before getting swatted away by bigger players. Or she could really devote herself to upgrading her game and offsetting her deficit of raw power with things like versatility and determination. She chose option two. And she had a gilded career to show for it.

Three quick points:

• As much as she's being portrayed as the artistic underdog trying to beat back the Big Babe Brigade, did Henin really want for power? Part of her appeal was that she could outserve and outhit the physically superior players. Check out her service speed or winners counts and she hardly fits the picture of the bicyclist sharing the road with the SUV's.

• As I wrote in Sports Illustrated this week, here's a theory: these quick careers and abrupt retirements are the underbelly of progress. The WTA has made immense qualitative strides from the days of moonballing pixies. (Did you know Tracy Austin supposedly weighed 85 pounds when she won her first U.S. Open?) But the heightened competition and increasingly physical nature of the sport exacts a hell of a price on the athletes.

• I remember being impressed watching Henin, then 18, beat Anna Kournikova in the 2000 U.S. Open. And I remember being more impressed by how fiercely, defiantly independent she was in the press conference afterwards. Went and looked up the transcript and here's the very first sound bite. "I think I am here to play tennis, is the best important in my life. I think [Anna is] a really nice girl. She likes her look, and everybody likes her look. But I am not here to do cinema. I am here to play tennis and I think that's the best important." Say this about JH: She stayed true to herself to the end.

With Henin gone, who will break through first: Ana or Jelena? Someone else? Also, a major hole is going to open up in the rankings. Do you really think Maria can hold on to the No. 1 spot? Predictions! Predictions! Predictions!
-- Sjohnna, Phoenix, Arizona

Unfortunately in women's tennis, the ability/luck to stay healthy means as much as raw ability these days. I think, in a vacuum, Serena and Sharapova are clearly the two best players out there. But both battle injuries so frequently that their rankings don't always reflect their skill. Here's my blind top five now: Serena/Sharapova, two Serbs and Kuznetsova. But there is a huge opportunity for a another player -- Dinara Safina? Elena Dementieva? Even hard court queen Lindsay Davenport? -- to make a breakthrough.

If, say, a durable Kuznetsova or a semi-durable (despite constantly complaining) Jelena Jankovic can simply stay healthy and play enough events, I could see either being No. 1 by year's end. But remember, Henin hogged a lot of points in the second half of 2007; so Sharapova, for instance, isn't defending all that much.

What does it say about the Williams sisters that they have outlasted more "committed" players like Hingis, Clijsters and, now, Henin?
-- Cameron, Denver, Colorado

Yes, let's all take a minute and give some long overdue credit to Venus and Serena Williams. (To quote Chris Clarey: "Richard wins again.") All the critics -- and the legion of former players -- who have ripped them for their thin schedule and their "outside interests" should be lining up to apologize. Given the demands of tennis today, maybe their approach is necessary for a long and successful career. "I play when I want, not when the WTA tells me to. I rest my body and my mind. I don't travel excessively." It may be maddening to the suits. But they ain't walking away at age 25, either.

That is the most depressing news ever. Henin has been one of the most versatile and stylish players to come in a decade. Ok, call me partial to a single-handed backhand, but with Mauresmo (another lovely player to watch) seemingly on her way out and now Henin, we are left to watch the mass products of Bollettieri and their "hit, hit harder, and then hit even harder" brand of tennis. I think I'm going to back to bed to bury my head in a pillow. Federer, I'm counting on you to give us something to watch the rest of the year!
-- G.S., San Jose, California

You know, I cling to the optimism that tennis is somewhat cyclical in these respects. Henin showed that the antidote to brute, unimaginative power, was a well-rounded, complete game that transferred to a variety of surfaces. I think we can resign ourselves to the evolutionary reality that there won't be many more 5-foot-5 players coming down the pike. But I'd like to think that there's a female Gasquet (or even Donald Young!) working on her zinging one-handed backhand and her volleys as I write this, convinced that it's the best way to beat the Nicole Vaidisovas of the world.

In the same week that Henin retired, Yanina Wickmayer -- Belgium's new No. 1 -- cracked the top 100. How far do you think she can get? I think top 30 at best.
-- Steve, Brussels, Belgium

I've never seen Wickmayer play. But I feel like for Belgium's sake, I should give as optimistic an answer as possible. A year ago Belgium had two players in the WTA's top five. Today, it has one in the top 100.

I'll say it here and now: Henin wins the 2009 French!
-- Bob Romero, Monee, Illinois

Yes, sad as Henin's announcement was, I kept returning to this name: Kimiko Date. Competition is addictive and recent history tells us that players who take a hiatus can get their groove back quite easily. While Henin is burned out now, how does one not speculate about a comeback? It's January. She's spent months vacationing and relaxing and swigging fruity drinks adorned with umbrellas. She's caught up on The Wire and all those unread New Yorker magazines accumulating in her bathroom. She's learned how to make a soufflé that doesn't collapse. She flicks on the TV and sees Jelena Jankovic lift the Australian Open trophy and she thinks, "Wow, I used to spank her." Cue music.

Shots, miscellany

• There were several late-arriving questions about the report by the independent anti-corruption panel. (You can read it on the ITF website.) Seemed pretty unremarkable to me. Tennis is "potentially at a crossroads." No kidding. Meanwhile Davydenko-gate is no closer to being resolved. And, tennis being tennis, Davydenko is not only the featured ATP blogger this week, but the top seed at an event presented by -- wait for it -- bet-at-home.com.

• So yesterday I joined four of my esteemed colleagues -- Chris Clarey of the International Herald Tribune, Tom Tebbutt of the Globe and Mail, Philippe Bouin of L'Equipe and Rene Stauffer, a Swiss journo who recently wrote an excellent book on Federer -- to chat about the French Open and sundry other topics. Think of this as the online Algonquin Roundtable. Here's the link.

• Another Slam, another suicide pool. Click here to enter.

• Daniela Hantuchova will be the subject of a photo exhibit taking place a few minutes from Roland Garros: Ambassade de Slovaquie en France, 125 rue du Ranelagh, 75016 Paris. Click here for more info.

• For the dermatology portion of today's show: It's an enflamed gland, I'm told. Now stop asking!

• Is there a doctor in the house? If so, I'm curious what you guys think of this: Andy Roddick withdraws from Roland Garros the other day. Within an hour I get an email from a publicist who represents a New York physician. This physician hasn't treated Roddick and doesn't have any specific knowledge about his injury. But he is available to comment on sports shoulder injuries. This struck me as residing somewhere in the zone between distasteful and unethical. ("Hey, a celebrity got hurt. Maybe this is a way for me to get my name in the paper!") Be curious if any physicians had thoughts. Maybe I'm being overly cynical here.

• Nice to see Stefan Edberg availing himself for seniors tennis.

• Doubles lovers, check out this new book from Marcia Frost.

• Chee Lee of Palo Alto, Calif., writes: Hey Jon. How about a shout-out to Washington University in St. Louis, the newly-crowned D-III National Tennis Champions! It is the school's first-ever national tennis title, with hopefully many more to come! [Ed: a double shout-out since the team roster contains no 25-year-old former pros!]

• Jim Bartle of Huaraz, Peru writes: If ESPN's tennis coverage on its Latin American channels is any example, we shouldn't worry about its U.S. Open coverage. It is showing all four Hamburg quarterfinals live today, and will repeat two of them tonight. In fact they have been showing four matches daily throughout Rome and Hamburg (including Nieminen-Scheuttler!), sometimes a choice of different matches on the two channels. The commentary is very reserved, British style. (i.e. no Jimmy Arias this year -- boo!)

• The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) has announced its 2008 national award winners for Division III men's and women's tennis. Highlighting this year's awards are the Wilson/ITA National Coaches of the Year: Rush Cole of Christopher Newport (men) and Ann Lebedeff of Pomona Pitzer College (women).

Also honored in women's tennis were:

• ITA Senior Player of the Year: Gabriela Carvalho, University of the South
• ITA Rookie Player of the Year: Janelle Arita, DePauw University
• ITA Player to Watch: Jordan Cook, Wheaton College (Ill.)
• ITA/Arthur Ashe Jr. Award for Leadership and Sportsmanship: Trish Devine, Wellesley College

The men's award winners were:

• ITA Senior Player of the Year: Andy Bryan, Gustavus Adolphus
• ITA Rookie Player of the Year: Michael Greenberg, Kenyon College
• ITA Player to Watch: David Maldow, Johns Hopkins University
• ITA/Arthur Ashe Jr. Award for Leadership and Sportsmanship: Josh Williams, Wheaton College (Ill.)

• Interesting ATP petition making the rounds.

• Speaking of which, the ATP announced that the Indian city of Bangalore will replace Mumbai as an ATP Tour tournament. Held in Mumbai for the previous two years, the new Bangalore event will be played in the week commencing Sept. 29, after the ATP board approved a request to move the tournament week and venue.

• Though the article credited him John McEnroe with winning Wimbledon in 1992, this month's Vanity Fair -- the notorious Miley Cyrus issue -- featured McEnroe's hot spots in Paris, London and New York.

• Ever wonder what the Queens Artois Championships look like a month prior to the big dance?

• Had a random Swiss tennis question too convoluted to repeat in full. If any Swiss -- or better yet, Basel residents and/or tennis heads -- have a few minutes, mind sending me an e-mail? Thanks.

• Thanks to Joseph Lynch of Wantagh, N.Y., for noting that Jelena Dokic won still another ITF circuit event and has broken into the top 300.

• Our friend Hiroshi of Tokyo sends the following Kimiko Date dispatch:

"It's great to know that a lot of tennis fans outside Japan still remember Kimiko Date 12 years after her retirement. (I think her name appeared a few times in the Mailbag over the last couple of months.) Since someone asked for more information on Kimiko Date's comeback story, here's a little contribution from a Japanese local.

As mentioned in the May 7 edition of the Mailbag, two weeks ago she advanced to the final as a qualifier in her first tournament in 12 years (the winner was Tamarine Tanasugarn, the No. 2 seed, ranked No. 89). That was great story. When tennis lost popularity here after Date's retirement, she suddenly appears and a challenger event gets a nation-wide attention. A lot of people visit Date's blog to leave words of encouragement to her and appreciation for giving them an inspiration. Last week she played in another ITF tournament and lost to the top seed Aiko Nakamura in the quarterfinals, whom she'd beaten in the quarterfinals the previous week. Even though Date lost, this is a good story for Japanese tennis because Nakamura (who is ranked around 80th, the third-highest Japanese female player) has been struggling of late in WTA tour and must have regained her confidence. While Date prefers not to call it a comeback, she identifies her reasons to play again in pro tournaments as: 1) to express her gratitude for the tennis world, 2) her hope to see another Japanese player who could compete in the world's top level and to give stimulation and motivation to other players and 3) her love for a challenge. To me, she has already achieved each of these goals in the few weeks. This week, she's playing another ITF tournament as a wild card and as of now she has not yet played a match. Her schedule after this week has not been announced. Although her playing in WTA tour is probably not so realistic, as a big fan I can't help hoping that she can stay injury free and play in a WTA tournament in the near future.

• Megan of Indianapolis: Marat Safin looks so much like actor Eric Dane (which you have already noted in Mailbag) that you must retire him for any other Long Lost Siblings. But the Bob Bryan-Steve Holt (character in Arrested Development) similarity is a story you can still break.

Have a great week everyone. Especially Jamayan Watkins of Raleigh, N.C.