[RG]Indomitable Henin-Hardenne next up for flying Sharapova
Indomitable Henin-Hardenne next up for flying Sharapova
By Matt Cronin
Monday, May 30, 2005
Second seed Maria Sharapova finished off Nuria Llagostera Vives 6-2, 6-3,
setting up a highly anticipated quarterfinal against 2003 French Open champ
Justine Henin-Hardenne, who saved two match points before edging Svetlana
Kuznetsova 7-6, 4-6, 7-5. Serbian teen sensation Ana Ivanovic also moved into
the quarters, outlasting Italian veteran Francesca Schiavone 6-4, 6-7 (3),
6-3.
It was a remarkable recovery by Henin, who could barely run after nearly
three hours on court and looked like she would be drop-kicked back to Paris
by the more muscular Russian.
But Kuznetsova shook and strained when she held the match points at 5-3,
missing an ugly backhand down the line and pushing a weak backhand slice into
the net. She committed a slew of unforced errors in the next three games to
lose the match, as Henin merely had to bunt the ball back in the court.
Even though she was exhausted, Henin sensed the match wasn't over.
"I was seeing her very nervous," Henin said. "She was afraid to win the match;
that was very clear. And when you can see that in the eyes of your opponent,
that is very good for myself. Even if I didn't play a great match, it's very
good because I stayed really positive and I never stopped fighting. So this
kind of win makes me very, very happy."
Kuznetsova employed the right strategy to win the contest, attempting to wear
her smaller foe down in end to end rallies. But even though she won the US
Open last year, she doesn't have the mental toughness yet of the three-time
Grand Slam champion.
"She didn't win it, I lost it," Kuznetsova said. "The moment I had to so
something, I didn't do anything."
After their match was called off due to rain on Sunday night, the free-
swinging Russian and the Spanish retriever came back on court at 3-3 in the
second set and Sharapova overwhelmed her in the flash of an eye.
"I've been playing a lot better in my last two rounds than I did in my first
two. I've actually been feeling a lot better," Sharapova said.
Sharapova has never reached the semifinals of a clay court tournament, but is
in fine form here and says that she shouldn't be overlooked.
"I never thought I needed to prove anything to anyone," she said. "I think
I'm getting better and better. If people underestimate me on clay, then
they'll be surprised."
While she's not a fleet mover on clay, Sharapova owns one of the best serves
on tour and can torch the ball off both wings. Like Lindsay Davenport, who
stunned Kim Clijsters on Sunday, Sharapova feels that her go-for-the-line
style can be effective if she's on form.
"That's a great example of different things can happen on clay," Sharapova
said. "I think everyone thought that Kim was going to be the favorite. With
the way Kim moves and the power on the clay she has, I thought she was going
to win. But there are a lot of things in tennis, mentally and physically. All
of a sudden things turn around. It's not like Lindsay all of a sudden started
playing a different way. She's just playing the way she's been playing for
all her years. If she could win that match, I think a lot of girls have a
chance of playing good clay court players and still playing their game and
still winning. It's not just a physical game out there."
Even if she can appear bored at times off court, Sharapova remains a driven
competitor. When she comes on court on Tuesday, she will be fired up to
deliver a butt kicking.
"I have that mentality with every single match I play," she said. "If I go on
the court and I feel like I don't want to be out there, then there's really
no point in going out there. There are times when you're tired and you
physically feel fatigued. But I'm usually mentally always ready for every
single match I play."
Sharapova hit straight through Henin in the quarterfinals of Miami on hard
courts, but three weeks ago in Berlin, Henin turned the tables on her red
clay. Henin knows she will have to move the tall Russian around to win the
match.
While most players would be dead to rights trying to play the day after such
a harrowing affair, Henin once won a similar contest against Jennifer Capriati
in the 2003 US Open semifinals and came back the next day and scalded Kim
Clijsters for the title.
"It's gonna be another tough match," Henin said. "Kuznetsova is playing very,
very heavy. The ball is coming very, very strong. Sharapova is probably
playing faster, but not as heavy. But I will try to forget what happened in
Berlin. I played very good match. But here it's the French Open and it's
different kind of pressure. But I believe I can win."
The 17-year-old Ivanovic - who upset Amelie Mauresmo in the third round -
came back from a break down in the third set and showed a veteran's head.
Ivanovic finished with 34 winners to 30 for the Italian.
The confident hard-hitter with a fine touch will play Nadia Petrova in the
quarterfinals.
"You just practice hard. Of course, you have some goals," Ivanovic said. "And
the way the year started, I was really happy about it. I had some chances to
play against top players. So it helped me to see that it's not so far away.
That gives me more motivation and was a temptation for me to compete on such
a level."
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