MELBOURNE, Australia — Former No. 1-ranked Justine Henin reached the semifinals in her Grand Slam comeback, beating Nadia Petrova 7-6 (3), 7-5 today to take out the last seeded player in her half of the Australian Open draw.
Henin, unranked and playing on a wild-card entry at Melbourne Park, next will play Wimbledon semifinalist Zheng Jie, who beat Russia’s Maria Kirilenko 6-1, 6-3 to equal her Chinese record for the best run at a major.
“I just went for it with my heart. Finally I could make it, and I’m very happy,” Henin said. “At the end I played much more aggressive tennis.
“I didn’t want to go to the tiebreaker. I wanted to close out the match.”
The 27-year-old Belgian beat Petrova on Jan. 4 at the Brisbane International in her first match back after almost 20 months in retirement.
Henin reached the Brisbane final, where she lost in three sets to fellow Belgian Kim Clijsters.
It was Clijsters’ win at the U.S. Open in September, in the third tournament of a comeback from two years in retirement, which inspired seven-time Grand Slam winner Henin to return to the tour.
Now she’s two wins from emulating Clijsters’ triumphant Grand Slam comeback.
Roger Federer and Serena Williams ended local hopes of breaking a three-decade drought at the Australian Open on Monday, the eve of a national holiday.
Federer beat former No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 — his 15th consecutive win over the Australian — and defending champion Williams defeated No. 13 Samantha Stosur 6-4, 6-2 in back-to-back fourth-round matches at Rod Laver Arena.
“It’s important when you’re playing a local girl to not let the crowd get too involved or else they’ll kill you,” said Williams, who conceded only seven points on her serve in the 65-minute match.
