When we think of tennis champions, certain traits come to mind: Foremostamongthemisconfidence. Roger Federer, Pete Sampras, Steffi Graf, Martina Navratilova, the Williams sisters — pick your champion, and you’ll find someone who believes, whatever the circumstances, that he or she is better than the person standing across the net.

That Justine Henin, who won her second U.S. Open and seventh major title on Saturday evening, now counts herself in the company of these all-time greats is amazing not just because of her slight build, but because of her temperament. Henin has had her moments of supreme confidence, none more impressive than the last few days of this tournament, when she defeated both Williams sisters — something no one had done on the way to a major title. But we all recall instances when she did not believe in her game. Those include the semifinals at Wimbledon this year, the Wimbledon final last year, and the Australian Open final two years ago, where a stomach ailment caused her to quit (uncharitably) in the middle of the final against Amelie Mauresmo. OnSaturday, with the match in hand, she double-faulted twice in a row after a fan yelled and interrupted her service motion.

Like Roger Federer, the most confident and self-sufficient of champions, Henin, 25, is versatile — no woman has as many shots, or as much ability to use both power and touch — and fiercely competitive. But she is also fragile and requires coaxing to remain on top, someone to tease out her talents, both physically and mentally. Carlos Rodriguez is that man.

Rodriguez, Henin’s coach since she was 14 years old, is philosophical, the sort of man who offers nuanced answers to any question you ask him, even those ones that seem simple. He’s watched Henin live through marriage, estrangement from her family and, earlier this year, divorce. He’s as much psychologist as tennis coach, and says he’s not surprised that he and Henin have remained together for so long in a sport where players choose coaches as casually as one might decide on a restaurant.

“It surprises me sometimes that players can change so often,” Rodriguez said. “I don’t understand that. I don’t understand how they work, only tennis, hit the ball, I cannot work like that. I have to know the person, I have to know what she feels, how she sees things to help her.”

Rodriguez said that losing to Marion Bartoli at Wimbledon was the best thing that happened to Henin this year. “She come back to reality after Wimbledon,” he said. “I am a human being, and sometimes human beings have failure.”

That failure helped her in her most trying moment this tournament, during the first set tiebreaker against Venus Williams — who, Rodriguez said, played better than she had in any of her eight previous matches against Henin (and Venus won seven of those). Henin led for most of the set, but she seemed like she might lose control until she started to move forward for volleys.

“That’s the only way to beat those kinds of players,” Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez speaks diplomatically about Henin’s future. Perhaps the Williams sisters will dominate tennis again. Perhaps someone else — maybe one of the young Serbs, Jelena Jankovic or Ana Ivanovic — will announce herself in coming months. But he has no doubt that Henin can win, and even dominate, so long as she believes in herself.

“I say to Justine, you have in your hands the possibility to be the champion of the champions,” he said. “A player that wins most of the Grand Slams one, two times, three times. You can do that. It’s up to you. I’m there to push and follow you wherever you go. But if you want to do it, you have everything to do it.”