Justine Henin Sets Up Final Clash With Serena
28 January 2010
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Justine Henin's dream return continues as she has set up an Australian Open final showdown with defending champion Serena Williams.
This is Henin's first Grand Slam since returning to the WTA at the beginning of the season and hopes to follow in the footsteps of her compatriot Kim Clijsters who won the U.S. Open on her return in September.
The former world number one has had a tough road through to the final with some close matches but she breezed through her semi against China's Zheng Jie.
Jie was one of two Chinese players to make it to the semi-final for the very first time but she was totally outclassed by Henin.
She needed just fifty one minutes to dispatch Jie in an impressive 6-1 6-0 performance.
Speaking after he match the seven time Grand Slam champion said:"The dream continues. I am going to play the number one and defending champion.
"I wasn't sure about what I would feel on the court and how things would go. I have just enjoyed my tennis and taken it step by step.
"I can't wait for the final now, it is an amazing feeling."
However Serena had a much tougher match up again Li Na, who put out her sister Venus, as she was pushed into tie breaks in both sets.
Williams had had a comfortable route through the rounds until she came up against Victoria Azarenka yesterday, a match that impacted on her play today.
However it looked ominous for Li as she was broken in the opening game to immediately give Serena the advantage.
But Li saved a set point in the ninth game before going on to break Serena in the next game which pushed the opening set into a tie break.
Errors began to creep into Li's game in the tie break which handed Williams the opening set as she won the breaker 7-4.
But into the second and Li refused to give up fighting and the set was incredibly close. Williams missed her chances to wrap up the match in games ten and twelve as she let match points go begging.
And she was made to pay for those missed opportunities as Li pushed her into the second tie break of the afternoon.
But Serena was in no mood to hang around as she dominated the tie break t wrap up the match 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-1).
Serena now has the chance to equal Billy Jean King's twelve Grand Slam titles record if she beats Henin on Saturday's final.
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