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Memorable run continues Henin becomes first Belgian to reach Grand Slam semis
Updated: Tuesday June 05, 2001 12:45 PM
PARIS (Reuters) -- Justine Henin lists her most memorable tennis experience as a second-round loss to American Lindsay Davenport at the 1999 French Open. But the 14th seed is now unlikely look further than her 6-1 6-2 quarterfinal demolition of Russian Lina Krasnoroutskaya on Tuesday, when she became the first Belgian to reach a Grand Slam semifinal. "When I played Davenport, these were great moments for me because I was still young," said Henin, who has cruised into the last four at Roland Garros without dropping a set. "But these are good experiences. "Today I did what I wanted to do. It is a fifth consecutive win in two sets, that's of major importance and now I want to go even further." In a ruthless display, the Belgian provided her 17-year-old opponent with a tennis lesson, pounding pinpoint forehands and punishing backhands past a stunned Krasnoroutskaya. Henin, who celebrated her 19th birthday last week, needed just 50 minutes on a sunny Court Suzanne Lenglen to complete an emotional victory in front of an audience that included Belgian crown prince Philippe. "It's a great honor for me, I really appreciate it," said Henin, who began the year with back-to-back tournament wins on Australia's Gold Coast and in Canberra. "I'm sure a lot of Belgian people have been watching me. I'm playing for the Belgian population. "I prepared a lot for this match both physically and mentally, my coach and I worked on the problem of pressure. "Today I felt much more relaxed and I was much more daring. I could control the match." Henin began the contest by breaking Krasnoroutskaya and storming into a 5-0 lead before the beleaguered Russian finally held serve. It did little to halt Henin, though, as she stepped up the pressure to race through the next seven games, taking the first set and establishing a 5-0 lead in the second. The Belgian stuttered slightly as she tried to close out the match, a momentary lapse allowing Krasnoroutskaya, a former junior world number one, to hold serve again and break to cut the deficit to 2-5. But Henin quickly reasserted her authority, breaking the Russian and closing out the lopsided contest with a forehand winner. Henin will next face 12th-seeded compatriot Kim Clijsters or Hungarian Petra Mandula, who meet later on Tuesday. "Kim and I are close friends," Henin said. "Kim is a great girl and at tournaments we are always together. "It is good for a small country like Belgium to have two players like us but a match is a match and if I have to play against her I will do my best to win. "When we are on court I have to beat everybody."
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. |
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