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Henin to face Kuznetsova in Dubai final
Dubai, Feb 28: Justin Henin-Hardenne beat Meghann Shaughnessy of the United States 6-4, 6-2 in the semifinals of the Dubai Women`s Open on Friday and extended her perfect winning record this year to 13-0.
Dubai, Feb 28: Justin Henin-Hardenne beat Meghann Shaughnessy of the United States 6-4, 6-2 in the semifinals of the Dubai Women's Open on Friday and extended her perfect winning record this year to 13-0.
Henin-Hardenne, the world No 1 and defending titleholder, will face Svetlana Kuznetsova in Saturday's final after the Russian teenager upset fifth-seeded Ai Sugiyama of Japan 6-0, 7-5.
It will be a busy day for 18-year-old Kuznetsova, who will also play the doubles final with compatriot Elena Likhovtseva.
Henin-Hardenne, who came to Dubai on the back of her third grand slam triumph at the Australian Open, had to work hard to overcome Shaughnessy, who'd knocked out No 4 seed Anastasia Myskina.
The Belgian broke for 2-1 thanks to a double fault, but Shaughnessy rallied from the back of the court and tested Henin-Hardenne with accurate groundstrokes.
The American saved two set points at 5-3 down to break, and saved another set point in the next game before Henin-Hardenne closed the set on a superbly angled drop volley after 53 minutes.
With 92 percent success at the net, Henin-Hardenne broke in the third and seventh games of the second set for the match.
"I'm feeling good at the net," Henin-Hardenne said. "I know I have to go there more if I want to win Wimbledon this year. I have to push myself all the time to do that because sometimes I'm afraid of making a mistake or the passing shot. I need to believe in my game there."
Bureau Report
It will be a busy day for 18-year-old Kuznetsova, who will also play the doubles final with compatriot Elena Likhovtseva.
Henin-Hardenne, who came to Dubai on the back of her third grand slam triumph at the Australian Open, had to work hard to overcome Shaughnessy, who'd knocked out No 4 seed Anastasia Myskina.
The Belgian broke for 2-1 thanks to a double fault, but Shaughnessy rallied from the back of the court and tested Henin-Hardenne with accurate groundstrokes.
The American saved two set points at 5-3 down to break, and saved another set point in the next game before Henin-Hardenne closed the set on a superbly angled drop volley after 53 minutes.
With 92 percent success at the net, Henin-Hardenne broke in the third and seventh games of the second set for the match.
"I'm feeling good at the net," Henin-Hardenne said. "I know I have to go there more if I want to win Wimbledon this year. I have to push myself all the time to do that because sometimes I'm afraid of making a mistake or the passing shot. I need to believe in my game there."
Bureau Report