Built up as bulletproof following her impressive comeback match, former world No.1 Justine Henin looked positively mortal at the Brisbane International on Wednesday night but still emerged a winner.
The comeback queen justifiably soaked up the limelight at Pat Rafter Arena but was initially upstaged by Kazakhstan qualifier Sesil Karatantcheva.
Trailing 0-2 in each set, Henin regained her composure to oust the world No.132 6-4 6-3 in their second-round clash.
Henin, 27, set up a quarterfinal showdown with seventh-seeded Hungarian Melinda Czink on Thursday.
In her first tournament since sensationally retiring on top of her game 20 months ago, Henin was tipped to sweep all aside on her return by her first-round victim, second-seeded Russian Nadia Petrova.
Even old rival Kim Clijsters – also appearing at Brisbane – couldn’t resist jumping on the bandwagon after watching the Belgian on TV, saying Henin looked like “she had never left” in her straight sets win over former world No.3 Petrova.
But Henin appeared oblivious of the gushing praise – and didn’t seem too concerned either by her rusty display against her 20-year-old opponent on Wednesday night.
While many are already predicting a Henin–Clijsters final on Saturday, the former world No.1 is just concentrating on baby steps.
“I feel no pressure. I just want to try my best, play as many matches as possible and build my confidence day after day,” she said.
“I am reasonable. I know it is not after one match that I am going to find my rhythm and I am going to feel very comfortable on the court.
“I have to do it step by step. It’s as though now I have won my second match everything is done.”
Asked how long it would take for her to feel like her old self on court, Henin said: “I have no idea”.
The Pat Rafter Arena faithful couldn’t quite believe Henin trailed 0-2 in the opening minutes of the game after the seven-time Grand Slam winner dropped her first service game.
Henin looked out of sorts in the humid conditions but still battled away to take the first set in 38 minutes.
Henin was again caught on the back foot in the second when she trailed 0-2.
But normal service appeared to resume when she reeled off five straight games, only to be broken again by the qualifier.
Much to the relief of the packed Brisbane venue, Henin broke again to close out the match in 77 minutes.
The Belgian’s second serve almost abandoned her during the match – and her cause was not helped by 29 unforced errors, compared to her 23 winners.
“I had to work really, really hard tonight,” Henin said.
“It was really humid out there, it was not easy for me in just my second match.
“But I can take confidence from that, I did what I had to in the right times.”
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View the full order of play and draws
Men Round 2
4-Tomas Berdych (CZE) d Marcos Baghdatis 6-0 6-1
8-Thomaz Bellucci (BRA) d Harel Levy (ISR) 6-4 4-6 6-4
3-Gael Monfils (FRA) d Florent Serra (FRA) 6-7(5) 7-6(5) 6-1
1-Andy Roddick (USA) d Carsten Ball (AUS) 7-6(0) 6-3
Richard Gasquet (FRA) d Matthew Ebden (AUS) 6-3 6-4
Wayne Odesnik (USA) d Alejandro Falla (COL) 6-7(8) 6-2 6-1
2-Radek Stepanek (CZE) d Oleksandr Dolgopolov Jr. (UKR) 5-7 7-6(4) 6-2
James Blake (USA) d Marc Gicquel (FRA) 6-3 3-6 7-6(8)
Women Round 2
WC-Justine Henin (BEL) d Sesil Karatantcheva (KAZ) 6-4 6-3
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) d Roberta Vinci (ITA) 1-6 6-4 6-1
Lucie Safarova (CZE) d 6-Aleksandra Wozniak (CAN) 6-3 6-1
4-Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) d Agnes Szavay (HUN) 6-3 6-1