Henin, Roddick notch Brisbane wins
Source: Agencies |
January 7, 2010, Thursday
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FOR Justine Henin, the service problems and unforced errors she overcame yesterday to reach the Brisbane International quarterfinals were an important part of finding some rhythm in her comeback to the women's tour.
The seven-time grand slam singles champion dropped her opening service game in each set of a 6-4, 6-3 win over No. 132-ranked Sesil Karatantcheva, who was representing Bulgaria when Henin retired in May 2008 and is now playing for Kazakhstan.
Henin was chasing a lot of balls and being forced to defend against Karatantcheva's aggressive ground strokes, until she acclimatized to the humidity and conditions in her first night match in 20 months and went on the offensive.
"It's only my second match and the fact that I win, and I have an opportunity to play a third match tomorrow in a row, that gives a lot of confidence," Henin said. "I realized on the court it's important I had to be more offensive, and I did when I had to."
Henin was only a point from falling behind 0-3 in the second set before she rallied to win five straight games. But she was broken again while serving for the match at 5-2. She broke back immediately, sealing the win and a quarterfinal against seventh-seeded Melinda Czink with a crisp forehand winner.
Her first official match back was a straight-sets win over second-seeded Nadia Petrova of Russia on Monday.
Fellow Belgian Kim Clijsters will play a quarterfinal against Czech player Lucie Safarova, who had a 6-3, 6-1 win over sixth-seeded Aleksandra Wozniak of Canada yesterday.
Fourth-seeded Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia beat Hungary's Agnes Szavay 6-3, 6-1. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia earned a quarterfinal against third-seeded Ana Ivanovic after ousting Italy's Roberta Vinci 1-6, 6-4, 6-1.
On the men's side, top-seeded Andy Roddick won a serving duel to beat Carsten Ball 7-6 (0), 6-3 and set up a quarterfinal against Frenchman Richard Gasquet.
Roddick broke in the eighth game of the second set - the only service break in the match - and clinched it next game over the 22-year-old Ball, a big-serving left hander who was born and raised in California but plays for Australia.
"He serves huge. It was tough for me early on to get a read on it. I expected a tough one today, and it really was," said Roddick, who possesses one of the biggest serves in tennis. "It's not as much fun when it's flipped."
The seven-time grand slam singles champion dropped her opening service game in each set of a 6-4, 6-3 win over No. 132-ranked Sesil Karatantcheva, who was representing Bulgaria when Henin retired in May 2008 and is now playing for Kazakhstan.
Henin was chasing a lot of balls and being forced to defend against Karatantcheva's aggressive ground strokes, until she acclimatized to the humidity and conditions in her first night match in 20 months and went on the offensive.
"It's only my second match and the fact that I win, and I have an opportunity to play a third match tomorrow in a row, that gives a lot of confidence," Henin said. "I realized on the court it's important I had to be more offensive, and I did when I had to."
Henin was only a point from falling behind 0-3 in the second set before she rallied to win five straight games. But she was broken again while serving for the match at 5-2. She broke back immediately, sealing the win and a quarterfinal against seventh-seeded Melinda Czink with a crisp forehand winner.
Her first official match back was a straight-sets win over second-seeded Nadia Petrova of Russia on Monday.
Fellow Belgian Kim Clijsters will play a quarterfinal against Czech player Lucie Safarova, who had a 6-3, 6-1 win over sixth-seeded Aleksandra Wozniak of Canada yesterday.
Fourth-seeded Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia beat Hungary's Agnes Szavay 6-3, 6-1. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia earned a quarterfinal against third-seeded Ana Ivanovic after ousting Italy's Roberta Vinci 1-6, 6-4, 6-1.
On the men's side, top-seeded Andy Roddick won a serving duel to beat Carsten Ball 7-6 (0), 6-3 and set up a quarterfinal against Frenchman Richard Gasquet.
Roddick broke in the eighth game of the second set - the only service break in the match - and clinched it next game over the 22-year-old Ball, a big-serving left hander who was born and raised in California but plays for Australia.
"He serves huge. It was tough for me early on to get a read on it. I expected a tough one today, and it really was," said Roddick, who possesses one of the biggest serves in tennis. "It's not as much fun when it's flipped."
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