Henin-Hardenne cruises into final
Henin-Hardenne cruises into final
Thursday, 29 January, 2004
World No.1 Justine Henin-Hardenne has cruised into her first Australian Open
final with a straight sets victory over No.32 seed Fabiola Zuluaga 6-2 6-2.
Playing under a closed roof at Rod Laver Arena due to inclement weather, the
Belgian No.1 seed wrapped up the match in one hour and 16 minutes, ensuring
that she progressed to the final without dropping a set during the tournament.
The top seed in a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in her career,
Henin-Hardenne is delighted and somewhat relieved to have been able to carry
that extra pressure.
"I didn't know what to expect before coming here because the situation was
new for me," she said after her victory.
"But I had the feeling during my first matches that I had to win, I had to
prove I'm the best player in the world - which is stupid a little bit because
other players are great players and everybody can win this tournament -
or I stay at home and don't come to play."
Henin-Hardenne began the match in ominous fashion, breaking her Colombian
opponent in the first game, before doing so again two games later, and racing
to a 3-0 lead.
Zuluaga, making her first Grand Slam semi-final appearance, steadied and
broke the reigning French and US Open champion, before holding serve to bring
the score to 3-2.
But the Colombian's advances were short-lived, with Henin-Hardenne reeling off t
he next three games to clinch the first set 6-2, in 36 minutes.
With the crowd willing her to challenge the world No.1, Zuluaga began the
second set in promising fashion, matching Henin-Hardenne early and leveling
the scores at 2-2.
However, from there Henin-Hardenne, clinching the next four games to win the
set in 40 minutes and close out the match.
"I think I played a really good match, because Fabiola was playing a very good
level and she played really well," Henin-Hardenne said.
"I started the match very good, so it helped me. It gave me a lot of
confidence and I knew it could be a tough match. Even if the score is 6-2 6-2,
it was a good fight on very important points."
Zuluaga was not without her chances of fighting her way back into the set,
holding three break point opportunities, but was unable to convert any of them.
Henin-Hardenne was taken to deuce five times in the sixth game, but was able
to withstand any challenge with superior ground strokes.
Conversely, the Belgian needed only two break points and duly converted both.
Despite her defeat, Zuluaga relished the experience of her first semi-final
appearance in a major.
"I feel great," she said afterwards. "The first three games I was really
nervous, but then I was just having fun. I really enjoyed playing against
Justine in that big stadium. I really had fun out there. I didn't win, but I
had fun."
Henin-Hardenne will face compatriot and No.2 seed Kim Clijsters in the final,
after Clijsters accounted for Swiss No.22 seed Patty Schnyder in the other
semi-final, 6-2 7-6 (7-2).
It will be the third time in the past four Grand Slam tournaments the two
Belgians will contest the final, with Henin-Hardenne leading 2-0.
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