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The comeback woman: Remarkable Henin again saved by rainIvanovic waits for winner of Justine-Kuznetsova; Nadal nearly falls
That's certainly what has afflicted the German Open this week, whose Qatari organisers are tearing their hair out, especially with the sun shining back home in the United Arab Emirates. They had two wonderful matches Saturday, but a sixth successive day of rain, followed by the agonizing spectacle of an hour when the sun beat down on an empty Steffi Graf Stadium, has left them with a final day in which the final's line-up is still not known. And yet, amid the scheduling carnage, Henin emerges with her reputation as a player enhanced. In fact if she comes through her incomplete semi against Svetlana Kuznetsova, one can talk about the diminutive Belgian beginning to put clear water between herself and the rest of the women's game. At the moment, she is world No 1 on the 52-week rankings, but having missed the Australian Open as her marriage to Pierre-Yves Hardenne broke up, she is just third on this year's results. Topping that particular list is Jelena Jankovic, which is why her match against Henin was eagerly awaited. The pair came off-court in fading light on Friday evening with Jankovic leading 6-3, 4-4, which little foreshadowed the drama of Saturday. Henin won the first two games to take the match into a final set, but Jankovic then claimed the next four. She even had a point to go 5-0 up, as Henin proved singularly incapable of winning a game point. It looked as if Jankovic's position at the top of the women's race was a genuine reflection of the emerging Serbian dominance of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. But Henin is a fighter, and in her last tournament before Roland Garros, she wasn't going to volunteer for an extra couple of days at home in Monaco. Scrambling for a short ball, the Belgian played a winning lob off the frame, and the set began to turn. Jankovic had chances at 4-2, but once Henin was back at 3-4, the dye was cast, and six games on the run saw Henin to a remarkable victory.
The tournament organizers seemed to be blessed when the first semi-final lasted just 27 minutes, Julia Vakulenko retiring for the second week running with an injury. Last week she beat Kim Clijsters, but then retired from the Warsaw quarterfinals with a foot inflammation. This week she beat Amélie Mauresmo and Dinara Safina, but after a mere seven games of her semi against Ana Ivanovic, she decided a forearm problem was just too bad, and again threw in the towel. One semifinal was complete by 3:30 p.m. and the sun was shining. Henin was entitled to "suitable rest" after her heroics against Jankovic, but what constitutes suitable rest? The Belgian had finished at 2:20 p.m. Once Vakulenko retired at 3:30 p.m., the Henin-Kuznetsova semi was announced for 4:30 p.m. The intervening hour was dry, indeed the rare Berlin sunshine began to bake the courts of the Rot-Weiss club, which has had an extra 10 tones of top dressing thrown on its clay this week. Yet no sooner did the players arrive than the heavens opened again. They eventually did get started and, when Kuznetsova served for a place in the final at 5-3 in the second set, the organizers seemed set to be back on schedule for the first time this week. But they had reckoned without Henin's fighting qualities. Four games she reeled off, and as she prepared to serve at 2-3 in the final set, the rains returned, and play was called off for the night. Henin will no doubt be as irritated as the rest of Berlin's tennis community at the on-off nature of this past week, but it has had one bonus for her. Never enthusiastic about meeting the media, the No. 1 hasn't had to for three days. Her match on Thursday was rained off, and on Friday and Saturday she left the site with unfinished matches, a situation which exonerates her from the usual media obligations. Who knows whether she will be hoping she wins her fourth Berlin title on Monday morning when most of the media will have left town! NADAL SURVIVES DAVYDENKO,
TO MEET GONZO Nadal lost a set for the first time in 14 matches on clay this year but was finally able to run down one more ball than the Russian in 3 hours, 38 minutes. "He tried for every ball - it's amazing," Davydenko said. "It was my body. My shoulder was tired. I'm not like Nadal physically. I need to improve physically. My tennis is not so bad." Nadal will meet Fernando Gonzalez, who blitzed Filippo Volandri 6-1, 6-2. Nadal beat Gonzalez in the '06 Rome quarters but Gonzalez took him down in the '07 Australian Open quarters. "It's always very difficult against Gonzalez," Nadal said. "I'm a little bit tired after today. The important thing for me is to play my best tennis. I can lose, but I'll have my chances." © TennisReporters.net 2007 |
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