Valtrex, Interrupted?

For those of you who wonder why I'm so cruel toward Justine Henin -- God, I wish she'd go away AGAIN!-- this great exchange on Jon Wertheim's Mailbag might shed some light on the subject. Kudos to Jon for making me reconsider my feelings -- if only ever so slightly.

Q: You express surprise, or even shock, at the fact that Serena still carries a grudge over her 2003 French Open semifinal loss to Henin when Henin clearly cheated. Did it ever occur to you that perhaps honesty/not cheating means a lot to Serena and that is why it bothers her? Did it ever occur to you that Henin has never "come clean" about the incident and the media has essentially given her a free pass and perhaps that makes it worse? Or perhaps Serena is still so upset because she was going for her fifth consecutive GS victory (and considering that she won the U.S. Open, it could have been 7 in a row)? For me, I would never forget if someone so blatantly cheated me in any situation because I care about honesty. There is no expiration date on that.
--Eugene, San Francisco, Calif.

A: I'm not so surprised -- certainly not shocked -- that Serena is still, understandably, sore about this: that Henin's "lying and fabricating," as Serena called it at the time, is still lodged in her memory. (I'm not sure she "carries a grudge," as that implies a level of vindictiveness.) And again, it wasn't meant to condone or condemn. I just thought it was an interesting and genuine revelation from someone who can be hard to read at times.

I do get tripped up on this: When Serena went nuclear at the U.S. Open last year, one of her camp's explanations was that in the heat of battle, athletes can make some regrettable choices. Couldn't the same apply to Henin? Shouldered with pressure that most of us will never know, she made a split second choice she wishes she could take back. (See: Paul Daley, for the UFC fans in the audience.) And look, we all care about honesty. But in some situations, I'd contend that there is an expiration date. We look at the totality of circumstances, the passage of time, the ultimate effect of the dishonesty. Sometimes we move on. Sometimes we don't.

Eugene does make a good point though: Had some semblance of an apology been forthcoming, I suspect that would have gone a long way toward forgiving and forgetting. Unfortunately, no admission of guilt was forthcoming. And Henin continues to flout the rules with mid-match coaching. Which is too bad.