|
Henin battles way into Toronto final eight
2007-08-17
Justine Henin may have lost some fitness during a month's layoff but none of her trademark tenacity as she battled into the quarter-finals of the Toronto Cup with a 7-5 6-2 win over China's Peng Shuai on Thursday. Playing her first event since a semi-final loss at Wimbledon, the feisty Belgian world number one lacked her usual precision but there was no shortage of determination as she needed two bruising sets and nearly two hours in gusty, difficult conditions to tame her 58th-ranked opponent. "It was tough I can tell you," Henin, told reporters. "For players it was terrible conditions, it's tough especially when you don't have a lot of matches. "I was feeling better in the second set, I was a bit more relaxed and could deal a bit better with the conditions." PLENTY OF GRIT Coached by former French Open champion Michael Chang, Peng displayed plenty of grit of her own, making Henin work for every point, particularly in a seesaw opening set that did not head the Belgian's way until she broke to nose in front 6-5. Back on centre court just 12 hours after a routine second round win over Slovenian qualifier Andreja Klepac, Henin finally began to hit her mark with more regularity in the second set, breaking Peng three times. Henin, who has reached the final on her last two visits to Canada, winning the title in 2003, will take on Nadia Petrova for a place in the semi-finals. The sixth-seeded Russian advanced with 6-4 6-1 win over 10th seed Patty Schnyder of Switzerland. "I don't want to look too far ahead, I'm still in preparation for the U.S. Open and I don't want to forget that," said Henin. "I go match after match, a little mistake can be expensive. "My next goal is my next quarter-final against Petrova. That is going to be tough enough." China will still be represented in the final eight as 169th-ranked Yan Zi, who upset fourth seed and defending champion Ana Ivanovic in second round, continued her unlikely march with a 6-3 5-7 7-6 win over Greece's Eleni Daniilidou. Twelfth seeded Frenchwoman Tatiana Golovin was the first into the quarter-finals, speeding past Italy's Francesca Schiavone 6-2 6-0 in 61 minutes.
Jankovic halts Davenport comeback in the China tennis Open (2007-09-22)Hingis races into China Open second round (2007-09-18)Henin battles way into Toronto final eight (2007-08-17)China's Peng advances to third round at WTA event (2007-08-15)Mauresmo beats Davenport at China Open (2006-09-23)
| 
