Justine Henin Beginning To Find Old Form At Australian Open

Sports News - January 20th, 2010 - Written By Bryan

Justine Henin silenced any doubters and answered any questions about her ability to return to her old form, that allowed her to dominate women's Tennis just a few years ago. The former No. 1 player in the world knocked out fifth seed Elena Dementieva in the second round of the Australian Open yesterday, winning in straight sets 7-5, 7-6(6).

"Its been a great fight and it was difficult to close the match but finally I made it and I am really happy about that" Henin said in an interview immediately following the match.

Henin left the game and retired back in May of 2008 as the top-ranked woman in the world. She announced her comeback to the sport in September of last year. She played very well at Brisbane to open the 2010 season, but lost to Kim Clijsters in a hard-fought three-set final.

Henin came to Australia as an unseeded wild card.

“It was a tough draw but I came here with a good attitude trying to build my confidence but the tournament is not over" Henin said in a post-match interview.

On the other side of the court, Dementieva is the the fifth ranked payer in the world, and the highest seed to be knocked out of the championship so far.

“I feel like I was not aggressive enough. I was not playing deep enough. You know, if you look at the statistic, I was not able to make winners, which I usually do. I mean, she was playing well. But I feel like I gave her the opportunity to play that well. I think she was playing very well. You know, she was moving well, hitting hard. You know, just doesn't feel like she had the break" Dementieva said after the match.

Despite winning in straight sets, the match was highly competitive, as well as a tough battle for both players.

Henin was serving for the match, up 5-4 in the second set, but Dementieva was able to break with back-to-back winners to square the second set at 5-5. Both players then held serve, which forced a second set tie-break. Henin was able to win the tie-break and claim the match. The win sends a message to the remaining field that Henin is back.

"She's a great player," remarked Dementiava. "Playing against her, you really can learn a lot and improve your game."

Despite being unseeded against Dementieva, Henin was a slight favorite entering the match at -125.

Henin is set to face Alisa Kleybanova in the third round. She is a heavy favorite to continue on, currently a -900 favorite to win, according to Tennis Betting Lines. Kleybanova is in a big underdog role, at +500.