Australian Open second round: Baltacha v Henin
Venue: Melbourne Park Date: Wednesday, 19 January
Coverage: Watch Baltacha v Henin live on BBC Two, Red Button and BBC Sport website (UK only) from 00:10 GMT on Wednesday full details

By Elena Baltacha World number 55 and British number one

As a tennis player you might get a handful of opportunities to play the legends of the sport and whatever the result, playing Justine Henin at the Rod Laver Arena is going to be an amazing experience.

But I won't be thinking about that when I am out there, I will be thinking about how to beat her.

I'm sure plenty of people will think I've got no chance against Henin, and I don't blame them.

She has won seven Grand Slam titles, including one Australian Open.

I have total respect for her career and she is one of the greatest players of the last few decades, but when I play her she will be another opponent and that's how I have to treat her.

There won't be any respect once we get into the match. If I play the reputation instead of the opponent then I will end up getting my backside kicked.

A year ago I played Dinara Safina at the Rod Laver Arena in the third round and I walked out there and felt a bit overawed by the size of the stadium, how much space there was around the court and by playing someone who had been ranked number one in the world.

I won't make that mistake again because I have learned how to deal with those situations better.

Since that day against Safina, I have had three wins over top 10 players [ Zheng Jie and Li Na twice], I have beaten a Grand Slam champion [Francesca Schiavone] and I had a good battles with Maria Sharapova, Agnieszka Radwanska and other top players.

Henin ground out a 5-7 6-3 6-1 win over qualifier Sania Mirza in round one

It's one of the really great things about getting your ranking up the way I have - you put yourself in a position to play those players and you learn something every time you do.

I'm not kidding myself, it's going to be incredibly tough but you just never know because it's not about who is a legend and who isn't; it's about two women playing a tennis match.

If I didn't think I had a chance, I'd stay in my hotel, fire up a Billy Connolly DVD and not bother coming to the court at all.

I can't control how she plays and it's not like I'm going to find much of a weakness in any of her shots but I can make sure I play as well as I can do and I can give it a really good pop!

I'm loving being in Melbourne so I hope I get to stay a bit longer.

The weather is not brilliant and it's been pretty cold but we're staying close to the Crown Casino down in the south of the city which is like a giant entertainment complex.

I don't gamble but I do love movies and music and finding nice places to eat and it's lovely to have it all on your doorstep, especially when you want to chill out and be away from the tennis.

Tuesday has been pretty restful. I came in for a bit of treatment from the physios to make sure my leg muscle, which I tweaked in my first round match against Jamie Hampton, is all fine.

I also had a chat to Five Live and to BBC Scotland, looking ahead to the match, and did some TV interviews.

It was fun and I don't mind talking about playing Henin because you don't know how many moments like this you're going to get in your career and you should make the most of them.

I will be doing that, but not until I've done everything I can to try and win the match.

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