Henin battles back to reach German Open semis - 網球

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Henin battles back to reach German Open semis
Associated Press

BERLIN -- Top-seeded Justine Henin rallied from 4-0 down in the final set
against Jelena Jankovic to win 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 Saturday and reach the German
Open semifinals.

After Saturday's win, Justine Henin has a perfect 5-0 record against Jelena
Jankovic.
Henin, chasing her fourth title at the French Open tuneup, completed the
comeback with an overhead smash that set up a semifinal matchup later
Saturday against third-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova.

They will be competing for a place in Sunday's final against 12th-seeded Ana
Ivanovic, who advanced in the rain-delayed tournament when Julia Vakulenko
quit with a right wrist injury while trailing 4-3 in the first set.

Down 4-0 in the final set, Henin played flawless tennis against the
fifth-seeded Jankovic.

"She played unbelievably -- she didn't make a mistake until it was 4-4 or
something," Jankovic said. "I'm very disappointed."

Henin's array of winners down the line, drop shots and pinpoint passing shots
forced a scream of frustration from Jankovic at one point.

The match was stopped Friday due to darkness -- with Jankovic ahead 6-3, 4-4
-- then halted twice by rain.

Jankovic has improved to sixth in the rankings after two recent titles, but
this was her fifth straight three-set loss to the top-ranked player.

Henin also charged back to win at the U.S. Open semifinals against the Serb
when trailing 5-3 in the second set.

"She is a champion. She is the only one I have trouble against -- I have
beaten all the other top 10 players," said Jankovic, who also was eliminated
last week in Warsaw by Henin.

Henin is chasing her fourth title at the German Open, while the 19-year-old
Ivanovic will play her second final.

"It's never nice to win this way," Ivanovic said. "I am just looking forward
to the challenge of playing the final."

Vakulenko's right wrist also forced the Ukrainian out of the quarterfinals at
Warsaw, where she beat Kim Clijsters in the Belgian's last match before
retirement.

Vakulenko, taking painkillers, upset third-ranked Amelie Mauresmo and No. 10
Dinara Safina on Friday. The weather has forced several players to play two
matches in a day.

Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press




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