Henin, Clijsters to meet in semifinal
Source: Agencies |
April 2, 2010, Friday
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BELGIAN pair Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters will meet in the semifinals of the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, after both advanced through their quarterfinal ties on Wednesday.
Henin took a step towards her third final since her comeback when she beat world No. 2 Caroline Wozniacki 6-7, 6-3, 6-4.
She now has a chance to avenge her defeat to Clijsters in January's final of the Brisbane Open after her long standing rival beat Australian Samantha Stosur 6-3, 7-5.
Henin, a nine-time grand slam winner who entered the tournament as a wildcard, recovered from losing the opening set by getting the upper hand in the second and a single break in the third was enough to take her through to the semifinals.
The 27-year-old only returned to competitive tennis in January after quitting the game in 2008 but she has already shown she has lost little of her quality.
She reached the finals in Brisbane and then the Australian Open before her second round exit at Indian Wells.
Henin broke in the eighth game of the second set to get back on level terms. Then she broke the third game of the final set and although Wozniacki showed plenty of determination and application, the Belgian was in no mood to give up.
Wozniacki said she was not at all surprised by Henin's comeback form.
"She had a break for 18 months, but she was still practicing hard and she is been working out a lot and she's been number one in the world," she said.
"She has the experience, all the package that she needs to become a great player again, and she is. So, I wasn't really surprised. It's really difficult to play matches again after you haven't played for a while, but I think she just didn't feel the pressure.
"She just went out there and enjoyed it and she's why the results also are coming."
In the men's, Spain's Rafa Nadal will face American Andy Roddick in the semifinals.
Roddick cruised with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Spain's Nicolas Almagro while Nadal was in blistering form in front of a packed crowd as he crushed France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-3, 6-2.
The big serving Tsonga matched Nadal in the opening exchanges but never recovered after the Spaniard broke his serve in the seventh game of the opening set.
From then on Nadal, wearing a bright yellow shirt, was in outstanding form, displaying his full range of strokes as he dealt with everything that Tsonga threw at him saving all eight break points in the match.
Nadal, always a favorite among the heavily Hispanic crowd in Miami, survived a crucial break point when he was 3-1 up in the second set but facing Tsonga's renewed determination and it was free cruising from that point.
"I played well, his service is always tough but I think I also served really well today," said Nadal, who now faces another big server in Roddick.
"I have to be very focused on myself and try to play aggressively on the return. He is a big competitor and a very good player."
Sixth seed Roddick never looked back after breaking at the first opportunity in the opening set.
In the second Roddick broke in the fifth thanks to two great forehand shots down the line and a delicate half-volley.
But the American never really had to take any risks as he kept it tight and looked to take advantage of whatever loose returns came his way.
"I felt like I played pretty clean today," said Roddick.
"He's a guy who takes lots of risk himself, so you can keep it low because he's the one kind of trying to hit the lines and being the aggressor.
"I played within the margins today, and hit it well."
Henin took a step towards her third final since her comeback when she beat world No. 2 Caroline Wozniacki 6-7, 6-3, 6-4.
She now has a chance to avenge her defeat to Clijsters in January's final of the Brisbane Open after her long standing rival beat Australian Samantha Stosur 6-3, 7-5.
Henin, a nine-time grand slam winner who entered the tournament as a wildcard, recovered from losing the opening set by getting the upper hand in the second and a single break in the third was enough to take her through to the semifinals.
The 27-year-old only returned to competitive tennis in January after quitting the game in 2008 but she has already shown she has lost little of her quality.
She reached the finals in Brisbane and then the Australian Open before her second round exit at Indian Wells.
Henin broke in the eighth game of the second set to get back on level terms. Then she broke the third game of the final set and although Wozniacki showed plenty of determination and application, the Belgian was in no mood to give up.
Wozniacki said she was not at all surprised by Henin's comeback form.
"She had a break for 18 months, but she was still practicing hard and she is been working out a lot and she's been number one in the world," she said.
"She has the experience, all the package that she needs to become a great player again, and she is. So, I wasn't really surprised. It's really difficult to play matches again after you haven't played for a while, but I think she just didn't feel the pressure.
"She just went out there and enjoyed it and she's why the results also are coming."
In the men's, Spain's Rafa Nadal will face American Andy Roddick in the semifinals.
Roddick cruised with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Spain's Nicolas Almagro while Nadal was in blistering form in front of a packed crowd as he crushed France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-3, 6-2.
The big serving Tsonga matched Nadal in the opening exchanges but never recovered after the Spaniard broke his serve in the seventh game of the opening set.
From then on Nadal, wearing a bright yellow shirt, was in outstanding form, displaying his full range of strokes as he dealt with everything that Tsonga threw at him saving all eight break points in the match.
Nadal, always a favorite among the heavily Hispanic crowd in Miami, survived a crucial break point when he was 3-1 up in the second set but facing Tsonga's renewed determination and it was free cruising from that point.
"I played well, his service is always tough but I think I also served really well today," said Nadal, who now faces another big server in Roddick.
"I have to be very focused on myself and try to play aggressively on the return. He is a big competitor and a very good player."
Sixth seed Roddick never looked back after breaking at the first opportunity in the opening set.
In the second Roddick broke in the fifth thanks to two great forehand shots down the line and a delicate half-volley.
But the American never really had to take any risks as he kept it tight and looked to take advantage of whatever loose returns came his way.
"I felt like I played pretty clean today," said Roddick.
"He's a guy who takes lots of risk himself, so you can keep it low because he's the one kind of trying to hit the lines and being the aggressor.
"I played within the margins today, and hit it well."
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