Serena wins Australian Open to Justine in three sets

It had been over 10 years since two players with as many Grand Slam titles did battle for another one and this time it was nothing short of a war; in the end only one of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour's legends could grow their legacy, and this time it was Serena Williams who did, beating Justine Henin in an electric three-setter Saturday night, 64 36 62.

Williams and Henin were on their game from the very beginning, with nine deuces in the first three games alone. They traded breaks once early in the first set, Williams at love to go up 3-1 and Henin breaking back to close to 4-3; but Henin was shaky on serve in the 10th game and Williams pounced, drilling her groundstrokes deep until Henin sailed a backhand wide on set point.

There were two halves to the second set. The two players were back on serve with Williams up 3-2 but that's when Henin went on absolute overdrive, winning five games in a row to steal the second set away, 6-3, and lead 1-0 in the third. Henin actually won 15 points in a row at one point, 10 straight to end the second set and five more to start the third. There were half a dozen winners in there, too, coming from all wings - serves, volleys, forehands, backhands.

She seemed in trouble, but Williams got the momentum back. After a few more breaks of serve Williams got herself a holding pattern, regaining control of her delivery and breaking Henin in the fifth and seventh games, then she served it out at 15, blasting two aces en route to match point and finishing it off with a huge backhand winner into the corner.

"I'd like to thank God for letting me be able to play today," Williams said during the trophy presentation. "I'd like to congratulate Justine for having such a fabulous tournament and giving me a run today - it was a great final and could have gone either way. I'm also really happy Justine came back."

Williams becomes the first woman in the Open Era to win five Australian Open singles titles. Coming into the tournament she was in a five-way tie alongside Margaret Court, Evonne Goolagong, Steffi Graf and Monica Seles.

Williams' 12th overall major ties her at No.6 on the all-time list with Billie Jean King; Court, Graf, Helen Wills Moody, Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert are the only players with more major singles titles in their careers.

"I'm so honored Billie, we're tied!" Williams added in her speech.

Henin was trying to follow in the footsteps of fellow Belgian Kim Clijsters, who - also as an unranked wildcard, at last year's US Open - went all the way to a Grand Slam title. This was just the second event of Henin's comeback to tennis; in her first, she reached the final of Brisbane, falling to Clijsters.

"It has been a very emotional two weeks for me. I thought it would never happen again," Henin said to the crowd. "Finally I could come back on the courts and enjoy the tournament. Australia was the best place to come back - you all know the sport so well and it was amazing playing in front of you all. Thank you for all of your support. I'd really like to congratulate Serena - she's a real champion."

"I'll see you next year," the seven-time Grand Slam champion added.


Saturday, January 30, 2010

Singles - Final
(1) Serena Williams (USA) d. (WC) Justine Henin (BEL) 64 36 62

Williams sisters defend doubles crown in Melbourne with easy straight sets win over No. 1 seeds

Serena and Venus Williams have successfully defended their Australian Open 2009 women’s doubles title by defeating No. 1 seeds Cara Black and Liezel Huber in straight sets on Friday.

The Zimbabwean/American duo battled hard throughout the match, but the aggression from the American sisters proved too much as they prevailed 6-4 6-3 to claim their fourth Australian Open championship.

It was a fruit-fusion of colours at Rod Laver Arena for Friday’s final; the Williams sisters were in lemon and lime outfits, while the Black/Huber uniform resembled a lychee.

The crowd witnessed the first three games go to the serving team. A remarkable fourth game of the match saw Serena forced to serve for almost 15 minutes, with skills from all players on show that mirrored the brightness of the outfits.

Huber was returning with perfect cross-court placement, while Venus’ response was to shoot off winners in the hope this would win the marathon game, but Black had other ideas. On break point she sent a deep return at Serena’s feet, surged into the net and released a drop volley that Serena failed to retrieve, giving Black/Huber an early 3-1 lead.

It seemed Serena did not like her serve being broken one bit. She took her on-court aggression to another level and single-handedly broke back in the next game. With Serena’s aggression clearly beginning to dominate the match, Huber tried to avoid her, but Venus realised that Black was not going to be intimidated by Serena and subsequently tried to avoid her.

The cat-and-mouse battle continued throughout the latter stages of the set, but the No.1 seeds failed to gain the break they needed. When Black sent a forehand into the net, she handed the set to the sisters 6-4.

The aggression continued in the second set, but this time Venus came out with guns blazing as the sisters clearly aimed to catch their opponents off-guard and get the early break of serve in the second set.

The break came as Venus completely dominated play, this time with aggressive volleys, and was even seen ‘guarding’ the net for a few more seconds after a point had finished as if to demonstrate that she had everything under control.

“I was really focused and my serve was really working today and I got away with a few second serves,” Venus said.

“They played really well, they played really well as a team. They were coming in to the net and did everything right. They really did play like the number one team.”

Although Black and Huber never conceded, the result was never in question after that, and the Williams sisters won the second set and the match 6-3.

The sisters laughed after the match back at their seats as Venus did not realise they had already won the title.

“I actually didn’t know the score; I thought it was 5-2. I really don’t know how I lost track - I was a little confused – I guess I was just focused,” she said.

“I thought [Serena] was real happy with that break; I thought I had never seen her this happy, but I’ll run with it.”

Friday, January 30, 2010

Doubles - Final

(2) Serena Williams/Venus Williams (USA/USA) d. (1) Cara Black/Liezel Huber (ZIM/USA) 64 63

Serena and Justine will fight for the Australian Open crown after straight set wins in semis

Two Sony Ericsson WTA Tour legends will square off for the Australian Open title this Saturday night in prime time, after both won their semifinal matches on Thursday, albeit in far, far different fashion.

Serena Williams, an 11-time Grand Slam champion, gave herself a shot at her 12th with a tense 76(4) 76(1) victory over China's Li Na. Li could have folded earlier in both sets but pushed Williams each time, saving two set points in the first set before surrendering the first set and four match points in the second.

"What qualities doesn't she have? She has everything from a really good serve to a great backhand and forehand," Williams said of Li. "She's a fighter."

"I was a little bit sad to be stopped in the semifinals, but it was a good day for my tennis. I played well today," said Li, who was playing in her first Grand Slam semifinal. "It was the first time two Chinese players played in the semifinals of a Grand Slam. It was good for both of us, and also good for Chinese tennis.

"If the children saw this, they would be more confident, and think that maybe someday they can do it too. It was an exciting day."

Justine Henin, a seven-time Grand Slam champion, followed the two-hour, two-minute first semifinal with a 51-minute blowout, routing the second Chinese player in the final four, Zheng Jie, 61 60. Henin had negative winners-to-errors differentials in her first five rounds; against the scrappy Zheng she hit 23 winners to just 14 unforced errors.

"I knew it could be a dangerous match. Grand Slam semifinals are always special. I knew I had to be very focused, very concentrated. I did my job perfectly," Henin said. "Sometimes you have big surprises, like at Wimbledon in 2007. I knew there was an opportunity for me. It's more than a dream. I'm so happy to play against Serena because if I want to win another Grand Slam, I'll have to beat the best in the world. And that's the biggest challenge I can get."

"I think she played really well today. It was a surprise for me. It didn't look like she was playing in just her second tournament," Zheng said. "It was very exciting for me to be in the semifinals here though. It gives me a lot of belief, a lot of confidence. And it's good news I will be back in the Top 20."

Williams ranks No.1 and will stay in that spot no matter what happens in the final; Henin, who came out of retirement and returned to the Tour at the start of the year, is and will still be unranked after the tournament (this is the second of her comeback - a player needs points from three events to get a ranking).

Williams and Henin have played 13 times before, with Williams leading, 7-6. They are 2-2 in finals; Henin is 4-2 in Grand Slams. They have never played in a Grand Slam final.

"I definitely think of her as a rival. We bring out the best in each other. We just play our hearts out. That's what creates a good rivalry," Williams said. "Justine is a little more calm than me, but she's quietly intense. You have to be at the match to see how intense she is. She says 'Allez' a lot, it's kind of fun."


Thursday, January 28, 2010

Singles - Semifinals
(1) Serena Williams (USA) d. (16) Li Na (CHN) 76(4) 76(1)
(WC) Justine Henin (BEL) d. Zheng Jie (CHN) 61 60

Zheng, Henin first into Aussie Open semis after straight set wins

Justine Henin took one step closer to winning the first major of her Sony Ericsson WTA Tour comeback on Tuesday, defeating Nadia Petrova in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, 76(3) 75.

Although Henin had a tough time with Petrova's trademark all-court attack, she always came up with the goods when it mattered, finishing the first set in a tie-break with some glorious winners (including an angled crosscourt backhand winner on set point) and rallying from two breaks down to take the second set and her 13th win in their 15 meetings.

"It's a great feeling to be in the semis of the first Grand Slam I've played since I came back," Henin said. "I was curious about what was going to happen here. When I saw the draw, I took each match as a goal. I never thought about being in the semis, I thought every match would be difficult and important. I just went step by step. That's what I'm going to keep doing from now on too.

"Now I can dream of being in the final of this Grand Slam."

"Today was really the worst day for me here. Justine really put some pressure on me," Petrova said. "She's definitely playing very well. She's playing more aggressively than before, closer to the lines and going after second serves. I think she improved her first serve too. I was fighting. I was fighting hard."

Henin is playing her first major since falling to Maria Sharapova here two years ago - a few months later, she walked away from the game.

"When I beat Sharapova in the Sony Ericsson Championships final in Madrid in 2007, I felt something at that point. There was a little voice telling me I needed something else at that time. Sharapova here, Serena in Miami... those were difficult losses. But in another way they helped me understand I had to go away.

"Now the little voice is very positive."

Zheng Jie followed Henin into the semifinals with a 61 63 win over Maria Kirilenko. Two years ago at Wimbledon, Zheng became the first Chinese player ever to reach the semifinals of a Grand Slam; now she matches it.

"For me it's amazing," Zheng said. "Every match has been tough. The first three rounds I went to three sets. Today I won in two sets, so it's good news."

The 5'5" Henin won her only previous encounter with the 5'4" Zheng, in the early rounds of Toronto in 2006.

Kirilenko was playing her first career Grand Slam quarterfinal.

"It's the best I've done at a Grand Slam, so it was a nice tournament for me," the Russian, who turned 23 on Monday, said. "I'm looking forward to getting some rest time now, to recover for my next tournament in Pattaya City, Thailand. I'll keep working hard from here though. I'll just keep going."


Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Singles - Quarterfinals
(WC) Justine Henin (BEL) d. (19) Nadia Petrova (RUS) 76(3) 75
Zheng Jie (CHN) d. Maria Kirilenko (RUS) 61 63