Former top-ranked player Justine Henin, a seven-time Grand Slam champion – with four of those victories coming at Roland Garros, fell short of admitting that she cheated at the controversial match against Serena Williams at French Open 2003. In an interview that was posted at the Roland Garros website, when asked if she ever cheated on court, Henin said “Honestly, never.” but went on to expound on her answer, stating.
“There was that time playing Serena in 2003 when I raised my hand to say I wasn’t ready for the serve. But otherwise, honesty is very important to me. I’m not capable of openly cheating. When young players cheat at my academy, I put a stop to it immediately.”
In that match, Henin raised her hand to signal Serena that she’s not ready to receive the latter’s serve. However, she did not confirm this to the umpire at that time and Serena ended up not getting the chance to have her first serve back. This particular incident caused waves during that time because the match ended with Henin winning.
Read the transcript of the interview HERE.
