It was the match everyone was waiting for and it sure lived up to the expectations. In front of a packed crowd on Wednesday night, Justine Henin put the stamp on her comeback to the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, edging Elena Dementieva in a near-three hour thriller, 75 76(6).The encounter was high quality right from the beginning, with most games going to multiple deuces - even though it was straight sets, it lasted hours. Henin, unranked but a completely known quantity, had two set points against her at 4-5 in the first set but silenced them both, one with a volley winner and one with a huge forehand winner.
After taking the first set, Henin held match point up 5-4 in the second set but squandered it with a forehand into the net; No.5 seed Dementieva hit back-to-back backhand winners to break back and the two battled into a tie-break, where Dementieva was the first to draw blood, eventually holding her own set point at 6-5. Henin erased the threat with a swinging forehand winner.
Henin converted on her second match point at 7-6 with a serve-and-volley play, putting the No.5-ranked star away with a backhand volley winner.
"I'm exhausted. It was so intense. In the end it was only about nerves," Henin told Pam Shriver after the match. "I had match point in Brisbane and didn't take it; this time I had the opportunity and took it. I'm so happy to be playing at this level after just one tournament. It was a great experience to come back here after two years. I've learnt a lot and feel ready to start my second career.
"The crowd gave me so much... It was a special night tonight. This is probably why I came back, for these kinds of moments."
Other winners of the day included No. 2 seed Dinara Safina, No. 3 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, No. 4 seed Caroline Wozniacki, No. 8 seed Jelena Jankovic, and qualifier Yanina Wickmayer.
Scores are posted on next article because of long length.
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