En su regreso del retiro, Henin vuelve a alcanzar Semifinales en Australia
La tenista Justine Henin continuó con su retorno de fábula al tenis competitivo, al vencer por 7-6 y 7-5 a Nadia Petrova, decimonovena preclasificada, para alcanzar las semifinales del Abierto de Australia.
La ganadora de siete “grand slams”, quien disputa apenas su segundo torneo desde que regresó de un retiro de 18 meses, enfrentará en la siguiente ronda a la ganadora del partido entre la china Zheng Jie o la rusa Maria Kirilenko.
“Fue difícil encontrar la energía hoy y finalmente me recuperé en el segundo set y jugué un tenis mucho más agresivo, estoy muy feliz”, declaró Henin en una entrevista en la cancha, luego de consumar el triunfo.
“Será un partido difícil”, afirmó respecto a su encuentro en semifinales. “Ambas están jugando de manera grandiosa. Estamos en semifinales de un ‘grand slam’ y espero estar en mi mejor forma para llegar a otra final aquí en Melbourne”.
El regreso de la belga de 27 años al deporte ha sido muy similar al de su compatriota Kim Clijsters, quien ganó el año pasado el Abierto de Estados Unidos, el tercer campeonato en el que participaba luego de una ausencia de dos años.
Henin logró superar a Clijsters en la final de Brisbane antes del inicio del Abierto de Australia, y exhibió un rendimiento excepcional cuando venció a la quinta favorita, Elena Dementieva, en la segunda ronda.
En la tarde de México y mediodía de Australia, Henin-Hardenne enfrentó un duro desafió contra Petrova, quien ya había eliminado a Clijsters y a la campeona reinante de Roland Garros, Svetlana Kuznetsova, en su camino a los cuartos de final.
Henin se puso 4-2 al frente en el primer set, cuando Petrova cometió tres doble faltas en un juego, pero luego de cambiar su raqueta, la rusa regresó a la pelea y tomó la iniciativa cuando rompió el saque de la belga en el décimo juego.
A la postre, la rusa consiguió una ventaja de 6-5, pero Henin conservó la calma y envió el primer set a una muerte súbita, donde se impuso por 7-3.
Petrova se fue arriba 3-0 en el segundo set, sólo para acrecentar aún más el hambre de triunfo de Henin para que luchara golpe a golpe, con tiros ganadores y ángulos precisos, para remontar la desventaja, igualar la cuenta 3-3 y llevando al público a gritar “Allez”.
Las jugadoras defendieron su saque hasta el juego final, cuando Henin asumió la iniciativa con un tiro ganador de derecha para conseguir un punto para partido, que aprovechó cuando Petrova lanzó un revés largo.
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The 27-year-old ended the giant-killing run of Nadia Petrova 7-6 (7/3), 7-5 on Rod Laver Arena to become just the third women's wildcard entry to reach the last four of a grand slam.
The previous player to do so was Henin's countrywoman Kim Clijsters in September last year when she memorably returned from retirement, and becoming a mother, to win the US Open.
Henin is on course to replicate that performance less than four weeks after returning from her own 20-month retirement with only unseeded Chinese player Zheng Jie standing between her and the final.
After her win against Petrova, who had eliminated Clijsters and third seed Svetlana Kuznetsova in the previous two rounds, Henin admitted her run at Melbourne Park had exceeded her expectations.
"I remember my discussion with (coach) Carlos (Rodriguez) on the plane when we were flying to Australia we were talking about the goals - it's much more than what we expected," said Henin, who reached the final of her first tournament in Brisbane a fortnight ago.
"I was coming here to see a lot of things. I was curious about what I was going to feel on the court, but now I've won a lot of matches and everything is going well for us.
"I think I have improved a lot in this tournament since in Brisbane.
"I wasn't able to play well in the tough moments at first, but in the last few matches I have been able to.
"That is probably the most important thing."
Henin admitted she had been inspired by Clijsters' success at Flushing Meadows, but when asked if she was using it as motivation as she closes in on her own dream return, the Belgian said: "Not really. What she did, I did admire that a lot because it's not easy what she did in New York.
"What she did means it is possible for me. But we have very different kind of personalities, different kind of players, so it's always very hard to compare.
"But what she did was just great. That will be a dream for me to do it also."
Henin will now meet world No 35 Zheng in the semi-finals after the 26-year-old swept past Maria Kirilenko 6-1, 6-3 in one hour and 25 minutes.
It is the second time Zheng has reached the last-four of a grand slam after she made it to that stage at Wimbledon two years ago.
"I am so happy to be through," she said.
"Before the match I knew it was a big chance to get to a semi-final again so I was nervous early on but I did very well.
"I played aggressive and made a lot of winners."
Zheng revealed her last-four meeting with Henin would have added relevance after admitting the Belgian was her favourite player, but she denied she would be overawed.
"It's tough for me, but I'm so happy I can play against her because she is my favourite player," she said.
"I don't have anything to lose, I just want to play my tennis."
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