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| November 8, 2003 | Saturday | Ramazan 12, 1424 |
Clijsters sails into last four
LOS ANGELES, Nov 7: Defending champion Kim Clijsters earned a spot in the semifinals of the WTA Championships while Justine Henin-Hardenne overcame illness to win her opening match on Thursday.
Belgium’s world number one Clijsters beat American Chanda Rubin 6-4 6-4 in her Red Group round robin match and Henin saw off Russian Anastasia Myskina 7-5 5-7 7-5 in two hours and 32 minutes in Black Group.
“It was a fantastic battle and we both had chances to win,” said Henin, who must reach the semi-finals here to take the number one ranking from her compatriot.
“With the stress and the physical problems I had the past few days I was feeling really bad, but the trainer told me I was fine and then I felt more relaxed.”
Down 5-2 in the first set, a lethargic Henin took an injury time out and was treated by a WTA trainer for a sinus infection.
After having her blood pressure and heart rate measured, Henin quickly regained her composure and reeled off five straight games.
Henin found more power on her forehand side and intelligently mixed up her shots but showed little depth with her normally brutish backhand and often found herself retrieving in rallies.
Myskina took the second set and was two points from winning the match at 5-4 but failed to capitalise on the opportunity.
Henin then broke the Russian to 6-5 when Myskina dumped a forehand into the net. The French and U.S. Open champion won the contest with a crushing a backhand crosscourt shot.
“I came though, that’s the most important thing. I played with my heart because it wasn’t easy,” said Henin, who faces Jennifer Capriati on Friday in a rematch of their spectacular U.S. Open semifinal.
Clijsters and Rubin engaged in a fierce battle from inside the baseline but the 20-year-old Belgian stepped up her play late in both sets and won the contest when Rubin erred on a crosscourt backhand.
“When I was up 5-2 in the first set, she started to make more returns and be a lot more aggressive,” said Clijsters.
“That’s where I was playing a little bit defensive and not making my first serves enough. But the most important thing is to be the strongest at the moments where you have to be.”
French fourth seed Amelie Mauresmo evened her record in Red Group to 1-1 with a 6-3 6-2 win over Russian Elena Dementieva.
Mauresmo must defeat Clijsters to qualify for the semifinals.
Rubin also has a chance of making the semifinals if she beats Dementieva.
Result:
Round-Robin Singles:
Red Group: 1-Kim Clijsters (Belgium) beat 8-Chanda Rubin (U.S.) 6-4 6-4; 4-Amelie Mauresmo (France) beat 6-Elena Dementieva (Russia) 6-3 6-2
Black Group: 2-Justine Henin-Hardenne (Belgium) beat 5-Anastasia Myskina (Russia) 7-5 5-7 7-5—Reuters
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