Brisbane International Tennis - Australian Open Series

Henin through to Brisbane final

brisbaneinternational.com.au/Image: SMP Images Friday 8 January 2010 Comments

Justine Henin’s comeback has exceeded her own expectations after she caught Ana Ivanovic off guard to claim their semifinal 6-3 6-2 and move into Saturday’s final.

Henin was in no mood to take her time after an exhausting three-set quarterfinal win over Hungarian seventh seed Melinda Czink yesterday.

With her backhand firing, Henin raced to the final in just one hour and six minutes.

Henin will play countrywoman Kim Clijsters in Saturday night’s final after Clijsters disposed of Germany’s Andrea Petkovic 6-4 6-2.

When asked who she’d rather face, Henin said “it would be nice to have a Belgian final in Brisbane”.

“If someone told me before coming here to Australia that I would be in the final of my first tournament, I would sign [for it].”

Today’s match was in stark contrast to Henin’s quarterfinal battle with Hungary’s Melinda Czink, which Henin, 27, said she recovered from surprisingly well.

“Of course I felt much better on the court, it’s the kind of match that I love to play … and it’s the perfect situation for me – I’m in the final of my first tournament back and it’s a great feeling.”

While Henin’s loyal supporters were never in doubt that she would make it, the woman who has achieved so much so soon said the result did come as a surprise.

“It’s not as easy as it seems on the court because 18 months with no competition it’s not that easy … I didn’t know really what to expect but it’s more than what I could expect for being in the final.”

Henin, however, stressed that she will need a few months to get back to where she was before leaving the game for an 18-month hiatus.

Looking ahead to the final Henin described the possibility of a Belgian final as “a perfect situation”.

“If it’s a Belgian final, then that’s what a lot of people hope for and expect for but I don’t see it as a different match from the last few days, even if it’s always special to play against Kim [Clijsters].

“We had great fights in the past but a lot of things happen to her, a lot of things happen to me and I think that it’s going to be a different kind of situation.

“I’ll go on the court, just try to play my tennis [and], of course I want to win this tournament.”

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Tags: Ana Ivanovic, Justine Henin

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