Warrior Women Limp Into Last Four
Sydney Morning Herald
Friday January 16, 2004
After her match yesterday, Lindsay Davenport slipped on a white T-shirt emblazoned with the slogan ``Goddess of Victory". Justine Henin-Hardenne should have been wearing one as well.
Both players all class, big serves and hard hits yesterday shrugged off opponents as well as injuries to keep their semi-final appointment at the adidas International tonight .
Davenport's pectoral muscles stretched, Henin-Hardenne's ankle strained and she was hassled by blisters on the left foot; both needed medical time-outs. Nevertheless, Davenport won 6-3, 6-4 over Elena Dementieva, and Henin-Hardenne defeated a persistent Chanda Rubin 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.
Henin-Hardenne valued the fight Rubin put up and said it would put her game in tune before next week's Australian Open. She said she needed this kind of match to find her rhythm and experience some tension.
The Belgian admitted she lost her aggression and became nervous in the second set but said that was normal at the start of a new season and expressed satisfaction with her game.
``I'm very happy because I could see that I improved my game a lot in these last few weeks, especially on my serve and my forehand," Henin-Hardenne said.
``That gives me a lot of confidence because Chanda played a great match today, you know, [with a] very, very good forehand, and she was putting a lot of pressure on me. She was coming to the net a lot."
Henin-Hardenne has spent time in Florida during the past few weeks, working particularly on her prowess at the net.
``I'm doing a good job at the net for sure . . . I worked on attacking a lot, being at the net, trying to cover the court as much as I can."
She said it was clear that as a result she had improved her volleying and her court coverage.
The world No.1 said she had discovered in Florida that when she went to the net she was a ``very, very good player".
And on the baseline? ``I'm not so good," she said. ``Like I said, I need to take my responsibilities, being brave and going on every shot and not thinking about the issues of the match but just giving my best."
Meanwhile, Davenport valued the presence of the sun yesterday's conditions would suit the world No.5 well for Melbourne next week.
``I was happy that the conditions were a little bit hotter today. I got, hopefully, used to the sun a little bit. I still feel like I've been hitting the ball well," she said.
Davenport was up 6-3, 4-1 in the second set when she hit a serve and it felt like she had strained a pectoral muscle. She later pulled out of her doubles semi-final during the second set as a precaution.
``Just with [playing] a lot of tennis yesterday, with singles and doubles, my arm was pretty tight and kind of sore this morning in warm-up," Davenport said.
``I got treatment before the match and was doing pretty good until I think I tried to hit a serve just a little too hard.
``I'm hoping it's just like a mild strain . . . I've had this injury before, [and] my body typically recovers well from muscle strains. I just hope it will."
Davenport and Henin-Hardenne will meet on centre court. The last time they met was at the Australian Open last year, which was a tight match, a thriller which Davenport lost 7-5, 5-7, 9-7. It was her earliest exit from the open in five years.
``It seems like I've played every player a million times, but I never got a chance to play her [Henin-Hardenne] again, so I'm excited about that," the American said.
``It will be a little bit of a role reversal now that she's won and I'm I don't know what.
``She is kind of the expected one to win."
Henin-Hardenne noted Davenport's form as good, after her opponent had treatment on her left foot last October.
``You know, she came back after surgery at a very good level; she proved in the Hopman Cup and here that she's feeling good on the court," she said.
The fourth-ranked Amelie Mauresmo battled a swirling wind on court No.1 to eliminate Anastasia Myskina 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) and progress to the other semi-final.
Mauresmo and Italy's Francesca Schiavone, 20th in the world rankings, will play each other for a spot in tomorrow's final. ``[Schiavone] has the type of game that she stays in the back, she's trying to put a lot of spin also on her shots. She's playing a little different from what we're used to seeing in the tour," the Frenchwoman said.
ORDER OF PLAY
Centre court, 11am:
2-T Woodbridge (Aus) and J Bjorkman (Swe) v A Calleri (Arg) and F Volandri (Ita); 3-C Moya (Esp) v W Ferreira (RSA); 7-L Hewitt (Aus) v 4-M Philippoussis (Aus) or 8-M Verkerk (Ned); 3-A Mauresmo (Fra) v F Schiavone (Ita).
Not before 7.30pm: 1-J Henin-Hardenne (Bel) v 4-L Davenport (US)
© 2004 Sydney Morning Herald
