Henin homes in on emotional title
Sunday, 17 February 2008
ANTWERP, Belgium, Feb 16 (AFP): Home favourite Justine Henin eased past Russian qualifier Alisa Kleybanova 6-4, 6-3 to reach the semi-finals of the WTA Diamond Games Friday.
The world number one, who is playing for the final time in Belgium as the tournament ends its run due to a calendar change, will face off on Saturday against another outsider in the shape of Timea Bacsinszky.
The Swiss qualifier progressed when third seeded Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova pulled out of their quarter-final suffering from a heavy cold while trailing 6-2, 4-6, 4-1.
Top seed Henin reached a set and 5-2 against her opponent, only to drop serve while trying to close out victory. But she managed it a game later with a break-back to advance in front of a sell-out 13,000 crowd.
The world number one, who is playing for the final time in Belgium as the tournament ends its run due to a calendar change, will face off on Saturday against another outsider in the shape of Timea Bacsinszky.
The Swiss qualifier progressed when third seeded Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova pulled out of their quarter-final suffering from a heavy cold while trailing 6-2, 4-6, 4-1.
Top seed Henin reached a set and 5-2 against her opponent, only to drop serve while trying to close out victory. But she managed it a game later with a break-back to advance in front of a sell-out 13,000 crowd.