Henin-Hardenne Will Face Sharapova
PARIS, May 30, 2005 — -- The Belgians are back. Back in competition from injuries and illness, it looked like Belgium's two powerhouses, sweet-stroking Justine Henin-Hardenne and hard-charging Kim Clijsters, were heading for a possible clash in the finals at the 2005 French Open.
On Sunday, Clijsters faltered. Despite a strong first set of powerful strokes and deft shot-making, she dropped a three-set struggle to top-seed Lindsay Davenport of the United States, 1-6, 7-5, 6-3.
But now, Henin-Hardenne has fought on, stamping herself in four victorious rounds as a player to beat for this year's title. Today, she swept past Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova, the U.S. Open Champion, surviving two match points and scoring a 7-6 (8), 4-6, 7-5 victory.
Despite her loss, Clijsters has signaled she is back to top form, despite a slight case of nervousness, which betrayed her in the final set against Davenport. With a few more points in the second set -- and a few less double faults -- Clijsters might have beaten Davenport.
"I was probably as surprised as anybody when it was all said and done," Davenport said, smiling at the thought.
Clijsters saw it coming.
"She started hitting the ball really well at the end of the second set. She started to, you know, hit her shots really clean."
So that leaves Henin-Hardenne as the final Belgian with a shot at the title.
"That's the story of my life," she said when asked how she managed to overcome what looked like defeat against Kuznetsova.
"I let her play a little bit on match points, because I could see she was nervous," she said. "She was afraid to win the match. That was very clear. And when you can see that in the eyes of your opponent," she said, it increased her confidence.
Now she must face second-seeded Maria Sharapova of Russia, the reigning Wimbledon Champion, in the quarterfinals. The two have met twice this year, Sharapova emerging victorious on a hard court in Miami, 6-1 6-7(6) 6-2; Henin-Hardenne won more easily on a clay court in Berlin, 6-2 6-4.
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