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Henin-Hardenne back to best form Posted: Tuesday January 21, 2003 6:18 AMUpdated: Tuesday January 21, 2003 6:38 AM MELBOURNE (Reuters) -- Justine Henin-Hardenne recovered from an erratic start to thrash Spaniard Virginia Ruano 6-2 6-2 and reach the Australian Open semifinals Tuesday. The Belgian fifth seed, who suffered from severe cramps during her marathon win over Lindsay Davenport two days ago, lost the first two games of the match but quickly regained control, winning 12 of the next 14 at Rod Laver Arena. "Yesterday I was in very bad shape, I couldn't practise at all," said the 20-year-old, who will face number two seed Venus Williams for a place in the final. "I'm pretty happy that I won 6-2 6-2 in this kind of match. When you are in the quarters, you want to give 100 percent and that's what I did." More noted for her stylish backhand, Henin-Hardenne did most of her damage with the forehand, firing 12 clean winners off that wing on her way to reaching her first Australian Open semifinal. Another whipped forehand into the corner on her second match point closed out proceedings after 82 minutes on court. The Belgian's best result in a grand slam was reaching the Wimbledon final in 2001, where she lost to Williams in three sets. Henin-Hardenne won their first meeting in Berlin earlier that year but has subsequently lost six times in a row to the powerful American. Williams beat Slovakian seventh seed Daniela Hantuchova 6-4 6-3 earlier Tuesday.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. |
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