MIAMI 07 - Fight Fire With Fire - 網球

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MIAMI 07 - Fight Fire With Fire
28/03/2007:

It was a night of fire, passion, flash points and high tension in the
quarterfinal on Tuesday as the stakes were raised to the limit for a berth
into semi-final. Justine defeated Nadia Petrova 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-4) in 2
hours and 16 minutes for a career first beyond the round of 8 in Miami. The
Belgian tennis queen displayed her Zen-like powers of coolness against
Petrova, the best player in the top 16 on tour without a grand slam. Justine
will play her semi-final against another Russian, Anna Chakvetadze on
Thursday.

From the brink of defeat in round 3 to Virginie Razzano down 1-5 in the final
set till the hawkeye reverse call on match point in the second set tiebreaker
to Nadia Petrova, tennis queen Justine has thrilled Miami audiences, and
driven supporters wild.

The first set started on serve with Petrova, and as the majority of their
previous meetings have shown - points were won on immaculate service holds,
and aggressive counter attack forced errors. When these two players meet
match statistics tell the story. The winners made by both player are 27, the
breakpoints saved and taken are at the widest a 4% difference, but Justine's
5 aces in the match on crucial tense games to take the lead jolted Petrova's
resilient barrier a few games later in the sets dissolved the Russian's
mettle in the tiebreakers.

The first set was fought neck and neck with Justine forced to hold serve in
the set for 6-6. Justine led 3-0 in the tiebreaker, only to have Petrova
shoot down huge serves to draw things level at 3-3. The Belgian teased the
Russian slipping her a winning point, but with utter calm won the next two
points to win the tiebreaker 7-4. The first set took 1 hour and 11 minutes.

Justine took the opening game in the second set by firing off an ace, but
solid serves from Petrova which reached up to 121 mph at it's fastest in the
match levelled things again for 2-2. The rest of the second set followed a
similar pattern as the first with server holding firm, but this time it was
Nadia that saved set point to take it into tiebreaker.

If a Henin match isn't heart busting enough, the tiebreak point for match
point was determined by hawkeye replay. Justine requested for video
inspection, and her ball was on the line. The "out" call was reversed, and
Henin took the second tiebreaker 7-4.


Game, Set, Match 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-4) in 2 hrs 16 mins 56 secs.

Bravo Justine!


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