Henin-Hardenne, Clijsters win in Australia ( 2004-01-29 15:34) (Agencies)
Justine Henin-Hardenne and
Kim Clijsters both won in straight sets Thursday, setting up an all-Belgian
final at the Australian Open.
Belgium's
Kim Clijsters raises her arms in celebration after her semifinal win
against Switzerland's Patty Schnyder at the Australian Open in Melbourne
Australia, Thursday, Jan. 29, 2004. Clijsters won in straight sets 6-2,
7-6. [AP]
Both reached the semifinals at all
four majors last season, with Henin-Hardenne beating Clijsters at the French and
U.S. Opens. Neither had previously made the Australian Open final.
The top-ranked Henin-Hardenne advanced to her fourth Grand Slam championship
match with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Fabiola Zuluaga, who was seeded 32nd.
Clijsters passed a morning fitness test on her injured left ankle, then beat
No. 22 Patty Schnyder of Switzerland 6-2, 7-6 (2). She hasn't won a Grand Slam
title in three finals.
Zuluaga and Schnyder were in their first Grand Slam semifinals.
Clijsters hurt her ankle at the Hopman Cup and was sidelined for two weeks
before the Australian Open. She aggravated the injury in a quarterfinal victory
over sixth-seeded Anastasia Myskina on Wednesday, but said it was tightly taped
for the Schnyder match and didn't bother her.
"I can't make it any worse, so I'll just keep giving it a shot," she said.
"Maybe third time lucky," against Henin-Hardenne.
Despite concern over her foot, Clijsters still lunged at full stretch, doing
the splits to send up defensive lobs at the baseline. She chased down Schnyder's
drop shots and replied with winners.
Both semifinals were played under a closed roof at Rod Laver Arena as light
rain continued throughout the day.
Henin-Hardenne made 25 unforced errors, including 15 in the second set, but
said she played well on the big points against Zuluaga.
"It was a good fight, long rallies, I played well on the important points and
served well when I had to," she said. "I'm feeling good — I have won all my
matches in two sets. I have a lot of motivation, and it's great to be in the
final."
Henin-Hardenne said coming into a major ranked No. 1 was hard to handle in
the first week.
"It's been a difficult tournament for me. It was new and being the top seed,"
she said. "But the situation changed in the quarterfinals and I feel better and
better.
"Now I have to improve my level again if I want to win the title."
Clijsters lost only four points on her own serve in the first set. She won
five consecutive games after the fifth to win the first set in 22 minutes and
take a 1-0 lead in the second.
Schnyder held before trading breaks with Clijsters and holding a 5-3 lead.
Clijsters won the next three games and Schnyder held to force a tiebreaker.
Clijsters dominated the tiebreaker, taking 5-1 lead and then getting four
match points when Schnyder's forehand dropped wide. She produced a forehand
winner on the next point to close in 74 minutes.
Wimbledon champion Roger Federer beat eighth-seeded David Nalbandian 7-5,
6-4, 5-7, 6-3 and French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero eliminated Hicham
Arazi 6-1, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5) in quarterfinals Wednesday, setting up a semifinal
with the No. 1-ranking at stake.
The winner will advance to a final against the winner of the semifinal
between defending champion Andre Agassi and Marat Safin later Thursday.
Zuluaga, the first Colombian to advance so far at a Grand Slam, got bad line
calls on game points in her first two service games and lost both of them as
Henin-Hardenne took a 3-0 lead.
Henin-Hardenne dropped serve in the fourth game and then Zuluaga held before
the top-seeded Belgian won three consecutive games to close the first set in 36
minutes.
Zuluaga is "a great player and I had to play great tennis if I wanted to get
through," said Henin-Hardenne. "I had a great start, but it was more difficult
in the second set. I will be in good shape on Saturday."
Ferrero, seeded third, was supplanted atop the ATP Tour rankings by U.S. Open
champion Andy Roddick late last season. But Roddick will drop after losing to
Safin in the quarterfinals in Australia.
Ferrero needs to beat Federer and then either Agassi or Safin in the final to
return to No. 1. Federer will get there for the first time if he beats
Ferrero.
