The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Henin rallies to win

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Sunday, May 29, 2005

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Sport - Tennis

Henin rallies to win

PARIS: Justine Henin-Hardenne rallied to win her third round match at the French Open, overcoming a slow start to beat Anabel Medina Garrigues 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 on Saturday.

Henin-Hardenne needed 26 minutes just to win a game after falling behind 5-0, then found the range with her wide array of shots, seized an early lead in the final set and held her final four service games for the victory.

The 10th-seeded Henin-Hardenne improved to 23-1 since returning in March from a seven-month layoff because of a blood virus and knee injury. She has won 20 consecutive matches, all on clay.

``I had a lot of difficulties at the beginning, but that's because my opponent was so good,'' Henin-Hardenne said. ``This was one of my best matches in recent times. She didn't give away anything. This type of match is very satisfying, because you really need to go for it.''

The 2003 champion's opponent on Sunday will be reigning U.S. Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, who beat Marissa Irvin 6-1, 2-6, 6-0. That result left top-ranked Lindsay Davenport as the lone American remaining, male or female, among the 22 who entered the tournament.

Maria Sharapova had Anna Chakvetadze pounding the clay with her racquet in frustration — and that was just two games into the match. Taking charge from the start, Sharapova won a duel of 18-year-old Russians, 6-1, 6-4.

The second-seeded Sharapova is seeking her first Roland Garros title and trying to overtake Davenport to claim the No. 1 ranking for the first time.

Three other Russian women also advanced — sixth-seeded Kuznetsova, No. 7 Nadia Petrova and No. 12 Elena Bovina.

Jose Acasuso, who beat second-seeded Andy Roddick in the second round, led 3-0 when No. 27 Filippo Volandri quit with a recurring injury to his racquet hand.

No. 12 Nikolay Davydenko won the final 14 games to beat No. 21 Tommy Haas 7-5, 6-0, 6-0.

Playing on Court 1 known as the bullring, Henin-Hardenne needed two hours, 17 minutes on a sunny afternoon to finish off her Spanish opponent.

"I was feeling in great shape even at the end of the match,'' Henin-Hardenne said. ``I still had some energy left.''

Henin-Hardenne showed little evidence of the back injury that has hampered her in recent weeks, although she did hit six double-faults, increasing her tournament total to 23. She totalled 58 errors but also hit 45 winners to just 16 for Medina Garrigues.

Henin-Hardenne has beaten Spaniards on their best surface in all three matches this week.

``That wasn't easy,'' she said. ``What's coming isn't easy either.''

Shot of the tournament

Medina Garrigues hit perhaps the shot of the tournament — and still lost the point. Moving to her right when Henin-Hardenne hit a slam down the middle, Medina Garrigues braked and managed a lob by hitting the ball behind her back. Henin-Hardenne then put away a difficult backhand overhead for the point, prompting a rueful smile by the Spaniard.

Sharapova won the first five games against Chakvetadze, although the first two lasted a total of 24 points. Sharapova broke serve for the third time in the opening game of the second set, then held the rest of the way to win in 74 minutes.

Sharapova was briefly forced to delay her victory celebration. When Chakvetadze pulled a backhand barely wide on match point, Sharapova waited at the baseline while the chair umpire checked the mark and confirmed the call.

The two Russians shook hands, and Sharapova then grinned and blew kisses to the crowd on Court Suzanne Lenglen.

``I got off to a really good start, and I was in control from the first game,'' Sharapova said.

Bhupathi-Raymond win

Mahesh Bhupathi and Lisa Raymond of the U.S. beat Virginia Ruano Pascual of Spain and Jonathan Erlich of Israel 6-3, 6-4 to move into the second round of the mixed doubles.

In the second round, the pair will meet Todd Woodbridge of Australia and Katarina Srebotnik of Slovakia. The Wodbridge-Srebotnik pair defeated Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Julian Knowle 6-1, 3-6, 6-3. — Agencies

The Results

Prefix denotes seeding

Men's singles: Third round: Jose Acasuso (Arg) bt 27-Filippo Volandri (Ita) 3-0 retd.; Mariano Puerta (Arg) bt Stanislas Wawrinka (Sui) 1-6, 6-3, 6-1, 6-4; 12-Nikolay Davydenko (Rus) bt 21-Tommy Haas (Ger) 7-5, 6-0, 6-0.

Victor Hanescu (Rom) bt Luis Horna (Per) 6-3, 6-4, 6-4; 20-David Ferrer (Esp) bt Lee Hyung-taik (Kor) 6-3, 6-1, 7-5; 23-Sebastien Grosjean (Fra) bt 16-Radek Stepanek (Cze) 6-1, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4; 5-Gaston Gaudio (Arg) bt Felix Mantilla (Esp) 6-4, 6-4, 6-3.

Women's singles: Third round: 2-Maria Sharapova (Rus) bt Anna Chakvetadze (Rus) 6-1, 6-4; 6-Svetlana Kuznetsova (Rus) bt Marissa Irvin (U.S.) 6-1, 2-6, 6-0; 7-Nadia Petrova (Rus) bt Shahar Peer (Isr) 6-3, 6-1; 12-Elena Bovina (Rus) bt 7-Tatiana Golovin (Fra) 6-3, 7-5; Emmanuelle Gagliardi (Sui) bt Emilie Loit (Fra) 4-6, 6-3, 6-3; Nuria Llagostera Vives (Esp) bt 13-Nathalie Dechy (Fra) 7-6 (7/1), 6-3; 10-Justine Henin-Hardenne (Bel) bt Anabel Medina Garrigues (Esp) 4-6, 6-4, 6-3; 22-Francesca Schiavone (Ita) bt Anna-Lena Groenefeld (Ger) 7-6 (7/3), 7-5.

4-Elena Dementieva (Rus) bt Akiko Morigami (Jpn) 6-3, 4-6, 6-3; 8-Patty Schnyder (Sui) bt 32-Flavia Pennetta (Ita) 6-4, 0-6, 6-1; 21-Mary Pierce (Fra) bt 9-Vera Zvonareva (Rus) 7-6(2), 7-5; Sesil Karatantcheva (Bul) bt 11-Venus Williams (U.S.) 6-3, 1-6, 6-1.

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