Justine Henin; () (born June 1, 1982 in Liège) is a Belgian professional tennis player from the Walloon (French-speaking) region of Belgium. She is currently ranked number 1 in the world.

She is regarded as one of the greatest female tennis players of all time, winning 38 career titles and exceeding $17 million in prize money. Henin has won seven Grand Slam singles titles, including four French Open singles titles (four of the last five and the last three, consecutively), one Australian Open and two U.S. Open titles. She also has won a WTA Tour Championships singles title and the singles gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Tennis experts cite her mental toughness, the completeness and variety of her game, her footspeed and footwork, and her one-handed backhand (which John McEnroe has described as the best single-handed backhand in the men's or women's game) as the principal reasons for her success.

Henin has a very aggressive, yet highly versatile, all-court playing style and can hit all the fundamental shots to an extremely high level of technical proficiency. Henin plays with a rare combination of power and finesse that allows for her success on all surfaces. Consequently, Henin's playing style is one of the most admired in tennis: John McEnroe has described Henin's tennis as "Federertennis", frequently describing Henin as 'the Roger Federer of women's tennis' (BBC commentaries and studio interviews, Wimbledon 2005, 2006, 2007). At Roland Garros 2007, Martina Navratilova said that "Henin's offence is just phenomenal... it's sort of like we've got 'the female Federer', or maybe the guys have 'the male Justine Henin', because she is just head and shoulders above everyone else right now" (interview with Barbara Schett, europsort, 7th June 2007).

Henin's single-handed backhand is the worst backhand in the world. It's weak and anyone can crush it for a winner., now rare in both men's and women's tennis, is one of the most powerful and accurate in the game (Henin frequently records higher speeds off her single-handed backhand than many of leading players' DHB speeds). Henin can hit both 'flat', topspin and slice variation off this wing and can strike winners from any part of the court. Her backhand can also be also disguised, surprising her opponents with dropshots. Her slice backhand is one of the best in the world. However, Henin's forehand remains her most dangerous weapon, and the stroke that she normally uses to dictate the play of a match. Along with Serena Williams, Venus Williams and Ana Ivanovic, Henin consistently records the most 'winner heavy' stats of all the top 20 ranked players, the majority of her winners typically being forehand groundstroke winners. In each of her last three matches at the US Open, Henin hit substantially more winners than each of her opponents: quarter-final versus Serena Williams, 30 - 17; semi-final versus Venus Williams 29 - 26; final versus Svetlana Kuznetsova, 25 - 11.

Despite her relatively small size, Henin has an extremely powerful serve, which has been measured at a top speed of 124 mph [2005 Charleston]. Her average first serve speed in the 2007 US Open semi-final [first set] was 107 MPH - the same as her opponent, Venus Williams (nine inches taller), who holds the world record for the fastest serve in a main draw Tour (or Grand Slam) event. Henin's serve frequently features in the top 10 of the 'Women's Serve Speed Leaders' list, produced at every Grand Slam event throughout the year.

Henin's footwork, balance, and court coverage are exceptional - most notably on clay - and she is adept at changing from a defensive style to an aggressive one. Henin has always had good to exceptional volleying skills, and has used serve-and-volley play with more frequency in recent seasons.

Justine Henin was born on June 1, 1982. Her father is José Henin; her mother, Françoise Rosière, was a French and history teacher who died when Justine was 12 years old. She has two brothers (David and Thomas), and a sister (Sarah). She also had an elder sister who was killed in a car accident before Justine was born. When Justine was two, her family moved to a house in Rochefort, situated next to the local tennis club, where she played tennis for the first time. At age six, Henin joined Tennis Club Ciney where her coaches discovered her talent immediately. She outclassed the other children in training sessions and was notably ambitious. Her mother routinely took the young Henin across the border to France to watch the French Open. Henin saw the 1992 final involving her idol Steffi Graf and Monica Seles. Although Graf lost, the experience impressed Henin, who apparently told her mother, "One day I will play here and I will win."

In 1995, shortly after her mother’s death, Henin met her coach Carlos Rodriguez who has guided her career ever since. Following a conflict with her father over her tennis career and her relationship with Pierre-Yves Hardenne, Rodriguez soon became not only her trainer but in some ways a second father figure.

On November 16, 2002, Henin married Pierre-Yves in the Château de Lavaux-Sainte-Anne. However, on January 4, 2007, Henin withdrew from the upcoming tournaments in Australia, including the Australian Open, due to personal problems. Various news agencies reported that she intended to divorce. She has since confirmed on her official website that she has separated from her husband and she also resumed her maiden name, Justine Henin, instead of Justine Henin-Hardenne. Her divorce and the serious car accident of her eldest brother helped to clear the path for Justine to make contact again with her close family (which she communicated very openly to the local press). During the 2007 French Open, her brothers and sister attended her matches for the first time in her professional career.

Henin, known as "Juju" to many of her fans, has been coached by Carlos Rodriguez of Argentina since she was 14 years old. In 1997, she won the junior girl's singles title at the French Open. Early in her senior career, she regularly reached the late rounds of international competitions and won five International Tennis Federation tournaments by the end of 1998.

She began her professional career on the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) tour in May 1999 as a wild card entry in the Belgian Open at Antwerp and became only the fifth player to win her debut WTA Tour event.

Henin established herself as a major competitor in 2001 when she reached the women's singles semifinals of the French Open and the women's singles final of Wimbledon, losing to Venus Williams. By the end of the year, Henin was ranked seventh in singles, with three titles to her name. Also that year, she reached the French Open women's doubles semifinals with Elena Tatarkova, and helped Belgium win the 2001 Fed Cup.

In 2002, she reached four WTA finals, winning two of them, and finished the year ranked fifth. Her German Open victory, her first win at a Tier I tournament, was noteworthy as she beat Jennifer Capriati in a semifinal and Serena Williams in the final, the then number two and number five ranked players, respectively.

In 2003, Henin won her first Grand Slam tournament, the French Open, defeating her compatriot Kim Clijsters in the final 6-0, 6-4. She reached the final after defeating top ranked Serena Williams in three sets, recovering from a 2-4 deficit in the third set. At one point during the semi-final, Henin raised her hand during her opponent's service, and Williams faulted. Williams then asked the umpire for another first serve but the fault was upheld. The incident has often been cited by the media (mainly in the U.S.A), rightly or wrongly, as an example of her alleged lack of sportsmanship.

Henin reached the semi-finals at Wimbledon where she encountered Serena Williams again at a major. Williams took revenge on Henin to beat her in straight sets.

Later that year, Henin won her second Grand Slam tournament, the U.S. Open, again defeating Clijsters in the final 7-5, 6-1. Henin reached the final by defeating Jennifer Capriati 7-6 in the final set of their semifinal match. During the match, Henin was two points from defeat eleven times. The match ended well after midnight and Henin, after receiving treatment for dehydration and cramping, returned the next day to defeat Clijsters.

On October 19, 2003, Henin replaced Clijsters as the top ranked female singles player. She was named the International Tennis Federation's women's singles World Champion for 2003.

Henin started 2004 by winning a warm-up tournament in Sydney. She then won the Australian Open in Melbourne, defeating Kim Clijsters 6-3, 4-6, 6-3.

As of March 22, 2004, Henin had accumulated the highest point total (7626) in the history of the WTA rankings. Because the awarding of quality points was eliminated in 2006, this point total may never be exceeded.

By the end of the 2004 spring hard court season, Henin had built a 25-match Tier I winning streak and a 22-1 win-loss record (winning her first 16 matches).

At the start of the 2004 clay court season, Henin's health was adversely affected by infection with a strain of cytomegalovirus and an immune system problem. She often slept up to 18 hours a day and barely had the strength to brush her teeth, let alone play competitive tennis.

Although she decided to defend her French Open title and was seeded first in the tournament, she lost her second round match against a much lower-ranked player, Tathiana Garbin of Italy. At the time, the loss marked only the second time in 15 Grand Slam events that she'd lost before the fourth round.

Henin returned to competition in August and won the women's singles gold medal at the Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, defeating Amélie Mauresmo of France in the final 6-3, 6-3. Henin reached the gold medal match by defeating Anastasia Myskina in a semifinal after having trailed 1-5 in the final set, which she won 8-6. Her medal ceremony was attended by fellow countryman and IOC president Jacques Rogge.

In September 2004, she failed to defend her U.S. Open title, losing to Nadia Petrova in the fourth round. This defeat caused her to lose the number one ranking, which she had held for 45 non-consecutive weeks. She then withdrew from the 10 remaining tournaments of the year in an effort to recover her health and improve her fitness. Her plan to rejoin the tour at the beginning of 2005 was delayed when she fractured her kneecap in a December 2004 training session.

On March 25, 2005, after more than six months away from competition, Henin returned to the WTA circuit at the NASDAQ-100 Open in Miami. She lost to second ranked Maria Sharapova in a quarter-final. She rebounded at her next tournament, winning the clay court Family Circle Cup in Charleston, South Carolina. She won two more clay court titles before the start of the 2005 French Open. Her victories over top ranked Lindsay Davenport, Sharapova, Elena Dementieva, Svetlana Kuznetsova, and Petrova made her a top contender for the title there.

Henin was seeded tenth at the French Open and defeated the French player Mary Pierce, 6-1, 6-1, to take her second title at Roland Garros. The win marked Henin's 24th consecutive clay court win and her tenth consecutive final win, a streak stretching back to Zürich in October 2003. In capturing the title, she defeated Kuznetsova in the fourth round, Sharapova in a quarterfinal, and Petrova in a semifinal.

With her French Open victory, Henin moved from number 12 to number seven in the women's singles rankings. She joined Monica Seles as the only two currently active (in 2005) players on the WTA Tour to have won the French Open at least twice and was a perfect 24-0 in her 2005 clay court season.

At Wimbledon 2005, Henin's win streak of 24 matches was snapped in the first round by Greek Eleni Daniilidou 7-6, 2-6, 7-5. With this defeat, she became the first French Open champion in the open era to lose in the opening round of Wimbledon. A hamstring injury sustained earlier in the year eventually limited her to playing only 11 more matches for 2005.

In 2005, TENNIS Magazine placed her in 31st place in its list of 40 Greatest Players of the TENNIS era.

In November, at the 2005 WTA Tour Championships, she was named the inaugural winner of the Whirlpool 6th Sense Player of the Year, which honors the player who has demonstrated the most sixth sense intuition, that is to say "heightened intelligence, unbeatable performance and pinpoint precision."

In January 2006, Henin returned to competitive tennis in a tournament in Sydney, a tune-up for the 2006 Australian Open. She was seeded fifth and played former women's singles number one (and newly returned to competitive tennis) Martina Hingis in a much hyped first round match. Henin won 6-3, 6-3. She then defeated former U.S. Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in a semifinal 6-3, 6-1, before defeating Francesca Schiavone in the final 4-6, 7-5, 7-5.

In her Australian Open campaign, Henin defeated top ranked Lindsay Davenport and fourth ranked Maria Sharapova in three-set matches to set up a final against third ranked Amélie Mauresmo. While trailing 6-1, 2-0, Henin retired from the match, citing intense stomach pain caused by over-use of anti-inflammatories for a persistent shoulder injury. Henin was criticized by the press because she had stated after her win against Sharapova in the previous round that she was at the "peak of her fitness" and was playing the "best tennis of her life." She became only the second player (after Stefan Edberg), and the first woman, to retire from a Grand Slam final in the open era.

Henin captured her second title of 2006 at a Tier II event in Dubai, defeating Sharapova 7-5, 6-2. This was her third Dubai title, having won previously in 2003 and 2004.

In the following Pacific Life Open Tier I tournament in Indian Wells, Henin lost in the semifinal to fourth seed Elena Dementieva 2-6, 7-5, 7-5 after leading 6-2, 5-1. Henin also was ousted from the Miami NASDAQ-100 Open in the second round by Meghann Shaughnessy 7-5, 6-4. In April, Henin failed to defend her title at the Family Circle Cup in Charleston, South Carolina, her first clay court event of the season. She lost to third-seeded Patty Schnyder 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 in a semifinal. It was her first defeat in the Tier I tournament and the end of her 27 match win streak on clay.

In April, Henin led Belgium to victory over defending champion Russia in a 2006 Fed Cup quarterfinal. She defeated fifth ranked Nadia Petrova 6-7, 6-4, 6-3, and ninth ranked Elena Dementieva 6-2, 6-0. The wins were significant for Henin because Petrova had come into the tie with two consecutive clay court tournament victories and a 10-match clay court winning streak, while Dementieva had defeated Henin in their last meeting in Indian Wells and defeated second ranked Belgian compatriot Kim Clijsters on the first day of the tie.

Henin played at the Tier I German Open as the defending champion and defeated Mauresmo 6-1, 6-2 in a semifinal. However, she lost to Petrova in the final 4-6, 6-4, 7-5.

At the French Open in June, Henin rebounded from her loss in Berlin. In a semifinal match, Henin defeated second seeded Clijsters 6-3, 6-2. She then defeated Kuznetsova in the final 6-4, 6-4 to win her third title in four years there. Henin captured the title without the loss of a set and became the first French Open champion to defend her title successfully since Steffi Graf in 1996.

At the Eastbourne grass court tournament just prior to Wimbledon, Henin won the final against Anastasia Myskina 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(5).

Henin was the third seed going into Wimbledon and advanced to her third consecutive Grand Slam final without losing a set. She defeated Clijsters (who was seeded second) in a semifinal 6-4, 7-6(4) but lost the final to Mauresmo 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Henin withdrew from Tier 1 events in San Diego and Montréal because of injury but entered the Pilot Pen tournament in New Haven. There, she defeated Kuznetsova and Davenport en route to the title. It was her 28th WTA tour title. She returned to the number 2 ranking and crossed over US $12 million in career prize money.

At the U.S. Open, Sharapova defeated Henin 6-4, 6-4 in the final. Henin had won a hard-fought three-set semi-final over the Serb, Jelena Janković.

Henin was the first woman since Hingis in 1997 to reach the finals of all four Grand Slam singles tournaments in a calendar year. This was also the first time that both a man and a woman have reached the finals of all Grand Slams in one year, the man being Roger Federer.

Henin guaranteed her year end world No. 1 ranking by reaching the final of the WTA Tour Championships, defeating Sharapova 6-2, 7-6(5) in a semifinal. Henin then won the tournament for the first time in her career by defeating Mauresmo in the final 6-4, 6-3.

Henin is the first player since Hingis in 2000 to win the WTA Tour Championships and end the year as the top ranked player. Henin is the first woman to win at least one Grand Slam singles title in four consecutive years since Graf from 1993 through 1996. Her prize money earnings for 2006 totaled U.S. $4,204,810.

On January 4, 2007, Henin withdrew from the Australian Open and the warm-up tournament in Sydney to deal with the break-up of her marriage, resulting in losing the No. 1 ranking to Maria Sharapova. In Henin's first tournament of the year, she lost in the semifinals of the Open Gaz de France to Czech Lucie Šafářová 7-6(5), 6-4. She then won two hardcourt tournaments in the Middle East, the Dubai Duty Free Women's Open (for the fourth time in five years) over Amelie Mauresmo 6-4, 7-5, and her first Qatar Total Open title, in Doha, defeating Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final 6-4, 6-2. She also reached US$14 million in career prize money, and on 19 March regained the No. 1 ranking.

At the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, Henin reached the final for the first time in her career, where she lost to Serena Williams 0-6, 7-5, 6-3 after holding two match points at 6-0, 5-4. She then withdrew from the Family Circle Cup in Charleston with an ongoing respiratory problem. Her next tournament was the J&S Cup in Warsaw, Poland, which she won, beating Alona Bondarenko of Ukraine 6-1, 6-3 in the final. Later, at the Qatar Telecom German Open in Berlin, Henin won a marathon quarterfinal against Jelena Janković 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 after being behind 4-0 in the third set, only to lose her semifinal against Kuznetsova 6-4, 5-7, 6-4. The loss was only her second to Kuznetsova in 16 career meetings.

At the French Open, Henin was the two-time defending champion and top seed. In a highly anticipated quarterfinal match against Serena Williams, Henin won 6-4, 6-3. She then defeated Janković in the semifinals 6-2, 6-2. In the final, Henin defeated Ana Ivanović 6-1, 6-2 to claim her third consecutive French Open title, equalling Monica Seles's open era record, and surpassed US$15 million in career prize money earnings. Henin won the tournament without dropping a set.

In her first Grass Court tournament of the year, the International Women's Open in Eastbourne, Henin defeated each of her first three opponents in two short sets; Agnieszka Radwańska 6-4, 6-1; Nicole Vaidišová 6-2, 6-2 and Marion Bartoli 6-1, 6-3. The final, against Amélie Mauresmo, was the first Eastbourne final in nearly 30 years between the two previous Wimbledon finalists. Henin fought back from a break down in the final set to win in a third set tie-break for the second consecutive year, 7-5, 6-7(4), 7-6(2).

At Wimbledon, Henin lost to Marion Bartoli in the semi-finals, 6-1, 5-7, 1-6, one day after an emotional victory over Serena Williams in the quarter-finals. It was Henin's first win over the American on a surface other than clay. In the semi-final Henin had a 6-1, 1-0 break lead, and served in the second at 4-3; she also held a 0-30 advantage against Bartoli's serve at 5-5 in the second set before squandering two break points to give Bartoli a 6-5 lead, eventually capitulating her serve to love. In the third set Henin came close to losing a "bagel" set, dropping the first five games of the decider, and seven in a row, to go 0-5. After Henin's hold to 1-5, Bartoli served out the match, in a win described as one of the biggest upsets in Wimbledon history. Henin passed $16 million in prize money after Wimbledon, to stand at 8th in all-time career prize money, ahead of compatriot Kim Clijsters.

Henin won the Rogers Cup Tier I event in August in Toronto, defeating Jelena Janković 7-6 7-5 in a tough battle between the two top seeds. At a critical juncture of the second set, tied 5-5, Henin fought off 6 break points in a row, before cruising through the final game of the match. The victory was Henin's 35th on the WTA tour, moving her past Kim Clijsters, who retired with 34 wins.

Henin was in top form during the 2007 U.S. Open championship. She defeated her first four opponents in straight sets, with a 6-0 set in each match. Justine then faced Serena Williams in the quarters for the third time in a row in a major, and for the third time Henin emerged on top, 7-6(3), 6-1. She then defeated Venus Williams in the semifinals 7-6(4), 6-4 in a nearly two-hour battle of superb quality. By beating Venus, Justine became only the second player in history to defeat both Williams sisters in a Grand Slam (the first was Martina Hingis in 2001 at the Australian Open, where she beat Serena in the quarters and Venus in the semis, though she lost to Jennifer Capriati in the final). Henin won her second U.S. Open after being denied last year against Maria Sharapova. She defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova, the U.S. Open champion in 2004, the final score being 6-1, 6-3. With this straight sets victory, Henin went through the entire tournament without dropping a set, like her previous French Open win. When the WTA rankings were released on September 10th, Henin and Kuznetsova were the Top 2 players. The U.S. Open victory took Henin past the $17 million mark in career prize money.

In her next tournament, the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, Henin defeated Dinara Safina, Elena Dementieva and Jelena Janković in straight sets, before going on and winning a three set final against Tatiana Golovin. On October 9th, Henin mathematically clinched the year-end # 1 ranking for the third time in her career, having done so previously in 2003 and 2006.

Two weeks later, Henin competed in the Zurich Open. After a near-upset against Nicole Vaidišová in the semi-finals(3-6, 6-3, 7-5), she collected her 9th title of the year by defeating Tatiana Golovin once more (6-4, 6-4). She thus extended her winning streak since her Wimbledon loss to Marion Bartoli to an impressive 20 consecutive matches, and extended her lead in the rankings.

2003 * Belgian Sportswoman of the Year. * ITF World Champion. 2004 * WTA Player of the Year (for 2003). * Belgian Sportswoman of the Year. 2005 * Family Circle/State Farm "Player Who Makes A Difference". * Whirlpool 6th Sense Player of the Year. 2006 * Appointed UNESCO Champion for Sport. * ITF World Champion. * Belgian Sportswoman of the Year * Member of the Belgian Sporting Team of the Year (Fed Cup - Team) * European Sportswoman of the Year

*2001: Wimbledon (lost to Venus Williams) *2001: Hawaii (lost to Sandrine Testud) *2001: Filderstadt (lost to Lindsay Davenport) *2002: Gold Coast, Australia (lost to Venus Williams) *2002: Antwerp (lost to Venus Williams) *2002: Amelia Island (lost to Venus Williams) *2002: Rome (lost to Serena Williams) *2003: 's-Hertogenbosch (lost to Kim Clijsters)

*2003: Leipzig (lost to Anastasia Myskina) *2003: Filderstadt (lost to Clijsters) *2005: Toronto (lost to Clijsters) *2006: Australian Open (lost to Amélie Mauresmo) *2006: Berlin (lost to Nadia Petrova) *2006: Wimbledon (lost to Mauresmo) *2006: U.S. Open (lost to Maria Sharapova) *2007: Miami (lost to Serena Williams)

*2001: Filderstadt (w/Meghann Shaughnessy)

To prevent confusion and double counting, information in this table is updated only once a tournament or when the player's participation in the tournament has concluded. This table is current through the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany, which ended on October 7, 2007.

*A = did not participate in the tournament. *SR = the ratio of the number of singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played. *² If the ITF women's circuit (Hardcourt: 24-5; Clay: 33-7) and Fed Cup (Hardcourt: 4-0; Clay: 9-0; Carpet: 2-1) participations are included, then her overall win-loss record stands at 468-103. (The WTA website erroneously omits 3 of her roundrobin victories during the 2001 Fed Cup.)

: *As of October 22nd, 2007.

* 2003 Australian Open fourth round: defeated Lindsay Davenport 7-5, 5-7, 9-7. In a match lasting more than three hours, Henin overcame a 4-1 final set deficit, high temperatures, and muscle cramps to defeat Davenport for the first time in her career. * 2003 U.S. Open semifinal: defeated Jennifer Capriati 4-6, 7-5, 7-6(4). Capriati was two points away from victory eleven times in a match that stretched to midnight. After her victory, Henin went to the hospital for rehydration treatment. The next day, she defeated fellow Belgian Kim Clijsters for the title. * 2004 Athens Olympics semifinal: defeated Anastasia Myskina 7-5, 5-7, 8-6. After months of layoff due to a virus, Henin competed in the Olympics. Henin rallied from 5-1 down in the third set to defeat reigning French Open champion Myskina. She went on to capture the gold medal. * 2005 French Open fourth round: defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova 7-6(6), 4-6, 7-5. Henin saved two match points to earn a quarterfinal spot. In winning the tournament, she became only the second woman to win the French Open after saving a match point. (Myskina accomplished the feat a year before, also against Kuznetsova.) * 2005 Wimbledon first round: lost to Eleni Daniilidou 7-6 (8), 2-6, 7-5. It was the first time that a reigning French Open champion failed to win a match at Wimbledon. * 2006 Australian Open final: lost to Amélie Mauresmo 6-1, 2-0. Henin retired from the match with stomach pain. This was only the fourth Grand Slam women's singles final that ended by retirement since 1900 and the first in the open era. Henin stated afterwards that she feared possible injury had she continued to play. She was widely criticized by tennis commentators and writers for not finishing the match. * 2006 Wimbledon final: lost to Mauresmo 2-6, 6-3, 6-4. The final round was notable for featuring two "finesse" players who used their all-court games, a notable break from the previous years that featured a succession of power baseliners claiming the title. At almost every point throughout the match, both players approached the net to serve and volley. Tipped as the tournament favorite, Henin won the first set over Mauresmo. But Mauresmo recovered, winning the next two sets and keeping her composure to win her second Grand Slam title and deny the Belgian a career Grand Slam. * 2007 U.S. Open semifinal: defeated Venus Williams 7-6 (2), 6-4. Henin led a break but could not hold it and then finally held on and take the set by a tiebreak. In the second set, Henin was able to establish the score at 7-6 (4), 3-0. Williams would not give up and leveled the match, and eventually had three break points on Henin's service. Williams could not convert and lost the game, and then was broken yet again to allow Henin to be up a set and a break at 5-3. Despite serving for the match, Henin was broken by Williams. Williams then was broken and Henin reached the final, to go on and win the title.

* List of female tennis players * List of Grand Slam Women's Singles champions * Belgium at the 2004 Summer Olympics

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* Official site * Poetry in motion *