Henin, Serena fall in Aussie quarters

Melbourne, Australia (Sports Network) - World No. 1 Justine Henin and defending champion Serena Williams both lost their quarterfinal matches Tuesday at the Australian Open.

In the marquee match of the day, fifth-seeded Maria Sharapova swatted 30 winners on her way to stunning the 2004 Melbourne titlist Henin 6-4, 6-0. Sharapova was last year's Aussie Open runner-up to the three-time champion Williams.

Sharapova dismissed Henin in 1 hour, 38 minutes. The big Russian needed 61 minutes to capture a tight first set, and then cruised in the second in eye-popping fashion.

The Russian recorded 19 more winners than her Belgian counterpart and broke Henin's serve five times, while losing her powerful serve only once throughout the bout...Full Story

Henin reaches quarterfinals at Aussie Open

Melbourne, Australia (Sports Network) - Top seed Justine Henin advanced to the quarterfinals of the Australian Open on Sunday by winning her 32nd straight match, a straight-set victory over Taiwan's Su-Wei Hsieh.

Additionally, third-seeded Jelena Jankovic, fifth seed Maria Sharapova and defending champion Serena Williams, seeded seventh, also advanced to the quarterfinals.

Henin, the 2004 Australian Open champion and reigning French and U.S. Open titlist, had a relatively easy time, winning 6-2, 6-2. Hsieh, who had never advanced beyond the first round at Melbourne before this year's tournament, fought off match point twice in the second set.

But Henin was dominant -- winning 10 straight games after being down 2-1 in the first set -- and eventually closed out the win. She will face Sharapova, who breezed through her match with 11th seed Elena Dementieva, in the quarterfinals. The match, which Sharapova won 6-2, 6-0, took all of 62 minutes....Full Story

Henin outlasts Sharapova in WTA Tour final

Madrid, Spain (Sports Network) - Justine Henin of Belgium outlasted Russia's Maria Sharapova to win her the season-ending WTA Tour Sony Ericsson Championships.
The top-seeded Henin, who disposed of Serbia's Ana Ivanovic, 6-4, 6-4 in the semifinals, dropped the first set and was down 3-4 in the second before rebounding to take a 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 victory in a battle that nearly lasted 3 1/2 hours, a record for a three-set final at this tourney.
Henin also won this title last year and secured her 10th singles crown of 2007. The last woman to win as many 10 titles in a single season was Martina Hingis, who won 12 times in 1997. The Belgian is also riding a 25-match winning streak, dating back to a semifinal loss to Marion Bartoli at Wimbledon.
Sharapova was the 2004 winner of this event and was gunning for just on her second title of 2007. Her lone victory of the year came in a U.S. Open tuneup this summer at the Acura Classic in San Diego. She also lost in the final at the Australian Open and reached the title match at the Wimbledon tuneup in Birmingham...Full Story

Henin reaches Porsche semis; Kuznetsova drives out Serena

Stuttgart, Germany (Sports Network) - World No. 1 star Justine Henin was among Friday's quarterfinal winners, as was U.S. Open runner-up Svetlana Kuznetsova, who drove out Australian Open titlist Serena Williams at the $650,000 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.
The top-seeded Henin held off unseeded two-time major runner-up Elena Dementieva of Russia 6-4, 6-4 at Porsche Arena. The reigning French Open and U.S. Open titlist Henin was the Porsche runner-up in 2001 and 2003.
Henin has now won her last 14 WTA Tour matches, including titles in Toronto and at the U.S. Open. The gritty Belgian has only lost once in her last 31 outings, and that came against France's Marion Bartoli in the Wimbledon semifinals.
The high-flying Henin's semifinal opponent on Saturday will be third-seeded Serbian Jelena Jankovic, who knocked out seventh-seeded and defending Stuttgart titlist Nadia Petrova 6-7 (5-7), 5-1, as the Russian retired due to a nagging hip injury. Petrova defeated France's Tatiana Golovin in last year's finale here...Full Story

Henin, Kuznetsova will play for U.S. Open title

Flushing Meadows, NY (Sports Network) - In a rematch of last year's French Open final, Justine Henin and Svetlana Kuznetsova will square off in Saturday's title match at the 2007 U.S. Open.
The top-seeded/world No. 1 Henin held off 12th-seeded American Venus Williams 7-6 (7-2), 6-4 in the second of Friday's semifinals at Ashe Stadium. The steady Henin has yet to drop a set at this '07 fortnight.
The first set was extremely tight before Henin was able to dominate in the tiebreak. The Belgian then ran out to a 3-0, 40-15 lead in the second set, only to see Williams fight back to level things at 3-3.
Henin fought off three break points in the seventh game of the second stanza, went on to win the game and ultimately advanced three games later by breaking Williams, who sent one final backhand wide after two hours of hard-hitting tennis.
Williams wound up with 35 unforced errors and had her serve broken four times en route to defeat. The American broke Henin on three occasions.
Henin improved to 2-7 lifetime against Williams, who had won their previous seven matchups, dating back to 2001, a year in which the American topped the Belgian in the Wimbledon finale. Williams was a perfect 3-0 in their Grand Slam meetings before Friday, but the two had never met in New York...Full Story

Henin, Venus reach third round at the Open

Flushing Meadows, NY (Sports Network) - World No. 1 Justine Henin and two- time champion Venus Williams were among Wednesday's second-round winners at the U.S. Open.
The reigning three-time French Open champ and 2006 U.S. Open runner-up Henin easily got past Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova 6-4, 6-0 in 68 minutes.
The six-time major champion Henin lost to Russian superstar Maria Sharapova in last year's finale in Flushing and captured her lone U.S. Open title back in 2003.
Henin's third-round opponent will be little-known Russian Ekaterina Makarova.
A 12th-seeded Williams waltzed past Romanian Ioana Raluca Olaru 6-4, 6-2 in 69 minutes on the grounds at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. The reigning Wimbledon champion Williams captured the U.S. Open back-to-back in 2000 and 2001 and was the runner-up here in 1997 and 2002...Full Story

Henin tops Jankovic in Toronto final

Toronto, ON (Sports Network) - Justine Henin captured her second career Rogers Masters title on Sunday with a hard-fought victory over Serbia's Jelena Jankovic.
The top-seeded Belgian needed 2 hours, 18 minutes to earn a 7-6 (7-3), 7-5 triumph on the hardcourts of the Rexall Centre on the campus of York University. She previously won this event in 2003 before capturing her only U.S. Open crown.
Jankovic, the second seed, rallied to beat France's Tatiana Golovin 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 in Saturday night's second semifinal, well after Henin cruised her way in Saturday afternoon with a straight-set victory against Chinese qualifier Yan Zi.
Henin, the world's top-ranked player, tuned up for the U.S. Open with her first event since losing in the semifinals at Wimbledon last month. With the win in Toronto she has also claimed her sixth title of 2007, having already won in Dubai, Doha, Warsaw, Roland Garros and Eastbourne, and the 35th of her brilliant career...Full Story

Henin, Serena reach QFs; Venus survives third-rounder at Wimbledon

Wimbledon, England (Sports Network) - Top-seeded and 2006 runner-up Justine Henin and two-time winner Serena Williams will square off in the quarterfinals, while three-time champion Venus Williams survived her third- round match Monday to setup a fourth-round showdown with Maria Sharapova at a rain-plagued Wimbledon.
The world No. 1 and two-time Wimbledon runner-up Henin cruised past 15th- seeded Swiss Patty Schnyder 6-2, 6-2 on yet another rain-interrupted day at the All England Club. Henin will now meet Serena in a quarterfinal showdown here.
Henin erased the lefthanded Schnyder in 56 minutes to reach her fifth Wimbledon quarterfinal.
The 25-year-old Henin is a six-time major titlist, including a third straight and fourth overall French Open title last month. The Belgian stalwart lost to Amelie Mauresmo in last year's Wimbledon final and gave way to Venus in the 2001 title bout here.
Henin still needs Wimbledon to complete a career Golden Slam. She already owns Australian, French, U.S. Open and Olympic titles, not to mention a Fed Cup championship. She's trying to reach her sixth Grand Slam final in as many tries, as she appeared in all four major finals last year, skipped this year's Aussie Open and returned to the French Open final last month.
The diminutive Henin has won her last 15 matches on tour, including a grass- court title in Eastbourne the week before Wimbledon 2007 commenced.

Henin cruises into Wimbledon quarterfinal

Wimbledon, England (Sports Network) - Top-seeded Justine Henin marched on at Wimbledon Monday with an easy straight-set victory over Patty Schnyder.
Henin, a six-time major titlist and runner-up here last year, disposed of the 15th-seeded Swiss, 6-2, 6-2, in just 56 minutes to reach the quarterfinals.
The world No. 1 will now face either two-time former Wimbledon champion Serena Williams or Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova in the quarters.
In third round action on Monday, fifth-seeded Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova upended Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska 6-2, 6-3 and No. 6 Ana Ivanovic of Serbia downed France's Aravane Rezai 6-3, 6-2.
Other third-round winners included 11th-seeded Russian Nadia Petrova, who dismissed Spain's Virginia Ruano Pascual 6-3, 7-6 (7-3), and No. 14 Nicole Vaidisova of the Czech Republic, who got the best of Belarus' Victoria Azarenka 6-4, 6-2.

Henin, Jankovic, Serena win third-rounders at Wimbledon

Wimbledon, England (Sports Network) - Top-seeded Belgian Justine Henin, Serbian Jelena Jankovic and two-time champion and former world No. 1 Serena Williams were a trio of third-round winners Friday at Wimbledon 2007.
Henin, who captured a third straight and fourth overall French Open title earlier this month, giving her six career Grand Slam titles, easily defeated Russian Elena Vesnina 6-1, 6-3 after the match was delayed about an hour in the second set due to rain.
Henin, the two-time Wimbledon runner-up, still needs a title here to complete a career Grand Slam.
Henin, now 25-6 at the All England Club, having won nine of her last 10 matches here, will meet 15th seed Patty Schnyder of Switzerland in the fourth round. Schnyder outlasted 24th seed Alona Bondarenko of Ukraine 6-4, 3-6, 8-6 in their third-round bout.
A third-seeded Jankovic came from behind to down Czech Lucie Safarova 5-7, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 to advance to round four. The rising star Jankovic reached the French Open semis three weeks ago, then captured a grass- court title in Birmingham by beating Maria Sharapova in the final and was a runner-up last week in The Netherlands.
In the fourth round, Jankovic will meet Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli, the 18th seed, who easily defeated No. 16 Shahar Peer of Israel 6-3, 6-2.
The seventh-seeded Williams improved to an impressive career record of 36-5 at Wimbledon after whipping Venezuelan Milagros Sequera 6-1, 6-0 in just 43 minutes.
The eight-time Grand Slam event champion Williams captured Wimbledon back-to- back in 2002 and 2003 and was the 2004 runner-up here to Sharapova. The American star captured this year's Australian Open by pasting Sharapova in the finale in Melbourne.
Up next for Williams will be No. 10 Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova, who rebounded from an opening set loss to defeat No. 19 Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.
In an upset, five-time major titlist Martina Hingis was sent packing, as the ninth-seeded veteran lost to American Laura Granville 6-4, 6-2. Hingis captured Wimbledon as a 16-year-old 10 years ago, as she corralled three of the four Grand Slam titles back in 1997. The "Swiss Miss" hasn't secured a major championship since the 1999 Aussie Open.
There was another upset on Day 5 as No. 31 Michaella Krajicek of the Netherlands outlasted eight seed Anna Chakvetadze of Russia 7-6 (10-8), 6-7 (5-7), 6-2.
On Saturday, the second-seeded Sharapova battles Ai Sugiyama as third-round action continues while No. 4 Amelie Mauresmo will play 26th seed Mara Santangelo. Svetlana Kuznetsova, the fifth seed, squares off against Agnieszka Radwanska and No. 6 Ana Ivanovic will play Aravane Rezai. Venus Williams will also be in action as she will take on Akiko Morigami.

Henin, Jankovic, Serena win second-rounders at Wimbledon

Wimbledon, England (Sports Network) - Top-seeded Justine Henin, surging Serbian Jelena Jankovic and two-time champion and former world No. 1 Serena Williams were a trio of second-round winners Wednesday at Wimbledon.
The reigning world No. 1 Henin got past Russian Vera Dushevina 6-0, 6-4 on Day 3 at the All England Club. The gritty Belgian only needed 60 minutes to advance, as she broke Dushevina's serve five times and notched 25 winners, compared to only 12 winners for her Russian counterpart.
Henin is a six-time major titlist and two-time Wimbledon runner-up. The Belgian star lost to France's Amelie Mauresmo in last year's finale here and gave way to Venus Williams in the 2001 title bout.
The diminutive Henin captured her third straight and fourth overall French Open title earlier this month and has appeared in the final in her last five Grand Slam tournaments. She skipped the Australian Open back in January after appearing in all four major finals in 2006.
Henin, now 24-6 at the All England Club, having won eight of her last nine matches here, will meet another Russian, Elena Vesnina, in the third round.
The seventh-seeded Williams improved to a career 35-5 at Wimbledon by dousing Aussie Alicia Molik 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 following a brief rain delay on Court 1.
Williams advanced in 91 minutes, as she swatted 10 aces among her 35 winners and broke Molik's big serve on four occasions.The eight-time Grand Slam event champion Williams captured Wimbledon back-to- back in 2002 and 2003 and was the 2004 runner-up to Russian Maria Sharapova. The American star captured this year's Australian Open by pasting Sharapova in the finale in Melbourne.