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German Open: Henin beats Jankovic
Justine Henin rallied from 4-0 down in the final set against Jelena Jankovic on Saturday and reached the German Open semifinals with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 win.
- Indo-Asian News Service
- Updated: May 14, 2007 01:47 PM IST
Read Time:2 min
Berlin:
Henin, chasing her fourth title at the key French Open tuneup, completed the comeback with an overhead smash, then stepped on the court again a few hours later to face third-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova in the semifinals.
Downpours stopped the match at the rain-hit tournament with the 2004 US Open champion leading Henin 6-4, 5-7, 3-2.
The two will finish their match Sunday, ahead of the final against 12th-seeded Ana Ivanovic. The Serb teenager advanced when Julia Vakulenko quit with a right wrist injury while trailing 4-3 in the first set.
Henin played flawless tennis against the fifth-seeded Jankovic after she found herself down 4-0 in the deciding set.
"She played unbelievably - she didn't make a mistake until it was 4-4 or something," Jankovic said. "I'm very disappointed."
Henin's array of winners down the line, drop shots and pinpoint passing shorts forced a scream of frustration from Jankovic at one stage.
The match was stopped on Friday due to darkness - with Jankovic ahead 6-3, 4-4 - then halted twice by rain.
Jankovic has shot up to sixth in the rankings after two recent titles, but this was her fifth straight three-set loss to the world's top-ranked player.
Henin also charged back to win at the US Open semifinals against the Serb when trailing 5-3 in the second set.
"She is a champion. She is the only one I have trouble against - I have beaten all the other top-10 players," said Jankovic, who also was eliminated last week in Warsaw by Henin.
The 19-year-old Ivanovic will play her second final.
"It's never nice to win this way," Ivanovic said. "I am just looking forward to the challenge of playing the final."
Vakulenko's right wrist also forced the Ukrainian out of the quarterfinals at Warsaw, where she beat Kim Clijsters in the Belgian's last match before retirement.
Vakulenko, taking painkillers, upset both third-ranked Amelie Mauresmo and No 10 Dinara Safina on Friday.
Top-seeded Justine Henin rallied from 4-0 down in the final set against Jelena Jankovic on Saturday and reached the German Open semifinals with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 win.Henin, chasing her fourth title at the key French Open tuneup, completed the comeback with an overhead smash, then stepped on the court again a few hours later to face third-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova in the semifinals.
Downpours stopped the match at the rain-hit tournament with the 2004 US Open champion leading Henin 6-4, 5-7, 3-2.
The two will finish their match Sunday, ahead of the final against 12th-seeded Ana Ivanovic. The Serb teenager advanced when Julia Vakulenko quit with a right wrist injury while trailing 4-3 in the first set.
Henin played flawless tennis against the fifth-seeded Jankovic after she found herself down 4-0 in the deciding set.
"She played unbelievably - she didn't make a mistake until it was 4-4 or something," Jankovic said. "I'm very disappointed."
Henin's array of winners down the line, drop shots and pinpoint passing shorts forced a scream of frustration from Jankovic at one stage.
The match was stopped on Friday due to darkness - with Jankovic ahead 6-3, 4-4 - then halted twice by rain.
Jankovic has shot up to sixth in the rankings after two recent titles, but this was her fifth straight three-set loss to the world's top-ranked player.
Henin also charged back to win at the US Open semifinals against the Serb when trailing 5-3 in the second set.
"She is a champion. She is the only one I have trouble against - I have beaten all the other top-10 players," said Jankovic, who also was eliminated last week in Warsaw by Henin.
The 19-year-old Ivanovic will play her second final.
"It's never nice to win this way," Ivanovic said. "I am just looking forward to the challenge of playing the final."
Vakulenko's right wrist also forced the Ukrainian out of the quarterfinals at Warsaw, where she beat Kim Clijsters in the Belgian's last match before retirement.
Vakulenko, taking painkillers, upset both third-ranked Amelie Mauresmo and No 10 Dinara Safina on Friday.
Topics mentioned in this article
Tennis Andy Roddick Lukas Dlouhy Rohan Bopanna Leander Paes Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi Maria Sharapova
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