Melbourne: Justine Henin-Hardenne still has everything to prove despite retaining her world No. 1 ranking and winning the Australian Open, Martina Navratilova said on Sunday.

The legendary American said so long as former world No. 1 Serena Williams remained sidelined, Belgian star Henin-Hardenne’s achievement in taking top spot would have a question mark against it.

“As great as Justine has been playing, there’s an asterisk because really Serena lost the No. 1 ranking by not being around, not by losing it,” said the 47-year-old , adding she believed Serena — who has not played since winning last year’s Wimbledon — and sister Venus would return as hungry as ever later this year.

“I expect to see the Williams sisters back a little stronger. I hope Serena will get healthy and come back in full force, and Venus.”

“The game needs them. If you lose two of the biggest stars of the game, the game suffers,” said Navratilova, who saw her hopes of a remarkable 59th career Grand Slam title end in defeat in the mixed doubles final.

Navratilova said when all the world’s top players were fit women’s tennis was in a healthy state. “That’s where the strength of the game is, in all the stars playing at the same time. We need the girls back,” she said.

“Potentially it’s fantastic. But we have too many ailing players at the moment. We get them healthy and the game is in great shape.” (AFP)