Henin to face Kuznetsova in final

Justine Henin of Belgium celebrates after winning her semi-final match against Jelena Jankovic of Serbia for the WTA Qatar Total Open in Doha, 02 March 2007.

DOHA, Qatar -- Top seed Justine Henin beat Serbian Jelena Jankovic 6-7 6-2 6-4 to reach the final of the Qatar Open on Friday and stay on course for a 'Gulf Double'.

The Belgian's opponent in Saturday's final will be Russian second seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, who beat Slovak Daniela Hantuchova 6-4 6-2.

Henin, who won her first title of the season in Dubai last week after beating Kuznetsova in the semifinals, extended her winning streak to 7-0 after beating the fourth seed in two hours and 22 minutes.

Both players made a string of unforced errors, resulting in breaks and counter-breaks.

...more

"I think I need some tennis," said Henin, the world number two who split with her husband late last year and made a delayed start to the season. "I am happy to stay longer on the court. But it is always better to win in two sets.

"You need to keep fighting and I needed this kind of a match to get my confidence back. I am very happy with the way I kept fighting. I wasn't playing very well, but I came back very strongly," she added.

"I had my chances in the first set, but did not take those opportunities.

"In the second set I played much better and in the third set I had control of the match even though it was hard to keep my serve. I remained very aggressive on the return."

Jankovic, who withdrew from her semifinal against Amelie Mauresmo in Dubai last week, said she still had problems with a sore left ankle.

She also blamed the windy conditions for making too many mistakes, a complaint Henin echoed.

"It was a big problem," said the Belgian. "I wear contacts and with the sand and wind it wasn't easy at all. It was hard to play good tennis."

Henin broke Jankovic in the first game to gain a psychological advantage, but the Serbian broke back in the eighth to make it 4-4.

Henin led 5-4 with another service break, but Jankovic fought back again to level the scores. At 6-5 Henin was serving again for the set, but the Serbian saved the situation and forced the tie-break. Jankovic eventually clinched the set 7-5.
...less

Henin Beats Mauresmo For Fourth Career Dubai Title

Justine Henin of Belgium holds the trophy after she beat Amelie Mauresmo of France in their final tennis match for Dubai Duty Free Open 24 February 2007. Henin won 6-4, 7-5.

DUBAI, UAE - When the going gets tough, the tough get going. That was the theme throughout the week in Dubai as a somewhat rusty Justine Henin played her way back into top form, and on Saturday night extended her undefeated streak in the Middle Eastern paradise to 16-0 with her fourth Dubai Duty Free Women's Open title. She downed Amelie Mauresmo in an intense final, 64 75.

The championship match, played under the lights of the beautiful Dubai Tennis Stadium, was a tight affair save the first and final moments. The top-seeded Henin broke twice to jump ahead 4-1 in the first set; Mauresmo, the No.2 seed, got one break back then nearly pulled even, holding points to close to 4-all, but was unable to capitalize. The second set was a tight one as well as the players remained on serve throughout most of it; but again it was the Belgian who pulled through in the crunch, holding, breaking and holding on a 12-point, three-game tear for her 16th straight win at the $1.5 million, Tier II event.

...more

Henin said that the dynamic hinged on that near-turnaround in the eighth game.

"That was the key of the first set for sure, and probably of the match, because she was coming back in the match very strongly and I was starting to feel a little bit nervous; but I had good serves and was pretty aggressive," said Henin, who broke a 6-6 head-to-head tie against Mauresmo with the win. "Tonight I played my best tennis and I'm very proud of it."

The Belgian had not had an ideal beginning to the 2007 season. Having finished last season as the world's No.1, she missed the entire Australian season due to personal reasons, then fell in the semifinals of her first event of the year in Paris. But her fortune changed in the desert paradise that is Dubai, where she had already claimed singles titles in 2003, 2004 and last year.

"It was hard for me this week; I had a lot of ups and downs, but I kept fighting," said Henin, who survived three set scares from Tamira Paszek and Svetlana Kuznetsova in earlier matches. "I've been very positive. Each point has been important for me this week. I think I deserved it today. I love this place."

Mauresmo, who was coming off her third consecutive Proximus Diamond Games title in Antwerp (receiving the coveted diamond-studded racquet for that effort), was disappointed, but was still encouraged at her level of play this past week.

"I'm really proud of showing the crowd here in Dubai some of my best tennis; unfortunately I didn't get the title, but I really enjoyed it here," said Mauresmo, who won here in 2002. "I said at the beginning of the week it was going to be difficult to get through to the end. I almost got there. It was only the matter of a few points here and there. She just played some great shots at the right time."

Henin improved to 30-15 in Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles finals with the win, while Mauresmo fell to 24-20. They are expected to remain at No.2 and No.3, respectively, when the new singles rankings are released this coming Monday.

Others who made headlines this past week were Jelena Jankovic, who defeated Martina Hingis for a semifinal berth before spraining her left ankle and retiring against Mauresmo Friday evening; Kuznetsova, who also reached the semifinals before falling to Henin in three; and Eleni Daniilidou and Alicia Molik, who both notched Top 20 victories earlier in the week.

But Dubai belonged to Henin, who, playing just her second event of the season, brought out some inspired aggressive form to move herself back in the winner's circle. And she doesn't intend on slowing down, or looking back, any time soon.

"Sure I had a great season last year but that's already in the past. I love tennis so much and it's my passion, so every time I walk on the court, it's to give my best and to enjoy the moment. I love competition. I'm sure I'll come out even stronger with a little more time."
...less