Henin bows out at the top

Despite being one of the greatest players the world has seen, Justine Henin's shock retirement meant she left the game with so much talent unfulfilled.

Often described as the female Roger Federer, Henin could have been even more dominant than her male counterpart had circumstances not conspired against her.

Injuries, illness and personal problems have all left their mark on the Belgian, who won seven grand slam titles but could have won double that number.

Born in Liege in 1982, she moved with her family to Rochefort, just a stone's throw from the local tennis club, at the age of two.

By five she was already showing a prodigious appetite for the game, though a talent for football threatened to point her career in a different direction.

But it was tennis she chose and, after turning professional in 1999, she made rapid progress up the rankings.

With her ferocious attacking game, she became just the fifth player in history to win her debut tournament on the WTA Tour.

By the end of 2001 she had already broken into the world's top 10 after reaching her first grand slam final at Wimbledon.

At that stage it seemed only a matter of time before she would be triumphant at the All England Club, but it was to remain the only grand slam to elude her.

Her excellent all-round game would surely have brought her a first Wimbledon title had she continued her career.

Her forehand was the most feared in the women's game but it is her one-handed backhand, considered by some to be the best shot the women's game has seen, for which she will be best remembered.

On both flanks she produced awesome power which belied her slight frame.

Though comparisons with Federer persisted, it was on the surface which has been the Swiss' Achilles' heel where Henin was most at home.

Of her seven grand slam titles, four came on the clay of Roland Garros in a dominant run between 2003 and 2007 which was only broken by illness in 2004.

Respiratory problems left her unable to train and severely weakened, and meant she bowed out of the French Open in the second round.

In truth her health was probably her biggest weakness.

Just a year after turning pro, her 2000 season was limited by arm, foot and toe injuries.

Her ill-fated title defence in Paris was one of just nine tournaments she managed in 2004 as a strain of cytomegalovirus wiped her out.

And in 2006 at the Australian Open, she became the first woman in the open era to retire from a grand slam final, citing stomach pains caused by drugs used to treat a shoulder injury.

But 2007 was her finest season on tour, winning 10 tournaments, including the French and US Opens, and closing the year on a 25-match winning streak to be named WTA player of the year.

Henin completed the year with a 63-4 record and became the first player in tour history to win more than US$5 million in a single year.

It was a stunning performance in the face of adversity, given that Henin started 2007 by withdrawing from the Australian Open as she negotiated the separation from her husband of little more than four years, Pierre-Yves Hardenne.

That was the latest in a series of personal setbacks for Henin, who lost her mother at the age of 14 and, until last year,