BELGIANS WIN TIGHT MATCHES

Spellbound: Henin-Hardenne dazzles in the witching hour
Clijsters beats Rubin – seven times and counting

By Matthew Cronin
tennisreporters.net

FROM THE WTA CHAMPIONSHIPS IN LA – If it's near midnight, it must be Justine Henin-Hardenne's witching hour.

Once it gets dark and she's looking dreary, it's almost certain that the little Belgian with an oversized heart will boil up some chicken claws, mix it some black widows, a few wickedly side spinning drop shots and poof: Another charged-up opponent melts on an oozing blue court.

Thursday's victim just before the clock struck 12 at the Bank of American WTA Championships was Anastasia Myskina, whose jet black hair, fathomless eyes and hatchet-like backhand make her a more obvious candidate for the European version of Sabrina the Teenage Witch than Justine's elfish appearance does.

But no matter, after two hours and 32 minutes, it was the serial fist-pumper whose stood on top with a 7-5, 5-7, 7-5 victory.

Henin-Hardenne had complained mightily of a fever Monday night, discovered it was a sinus infection, began taking antibiotics, but was positively sickly looking when she took the court Thursday.

She quickly got down 0-5 in the first set and at 2-5, called the trainer who in a first (in many reporters eyes) brought out a stethoscope to hear Henin-Hardenne's wheezing chest, strapped on some Velcro to test her blood pressure, gave her some Advil and sprayed some Vicks throat medication down her pipes.

Justine was actually in relatively decent health, but said she was so stressed out from the illness and her lack of preparation that she was bundle of nerves.

"With the stress and the physical problems I had the past few days I was feeling really bad on court, but the trainer told me I was fine and then I felt more relaxed," she said. "My heart rate was so high and it made me nervous. But I'm not the kind of player to go on court and stop. I take my responsibilities and do my best."

Henin-Hardenne then regained a bit of power and quickness and reeled off five games and the set.
However, even though Henin's forehand was fierce, her backhand had none of its normal penetration, her net game was virtually nowhere, she wasn't serving very hard and her choice of drop shots was questionable.

MYSKINA FOREHAND, SECOND SERVE GO SOUTH
For her part, Myskina was nailing her patented two-handed backhand to all angles of the court, but her forehand was sporadic, her second serve had very little on it and mentally, she consistently got down on herself.

Just two points from winning the match at 5-4, Myskina couldn't capitalize. Henin-Hardenne rose to challenge, ripping a backhand winner down the line, nailing an overhead, watching Myskina err on a forehand and then driving a backhand volley home.

Justine won the contest when she smashed a backhand cross court winner.

Just like she did in New York to Jennifer Capriati, Henin-Hardenne came back from the dead again.

"It was a fantastic battle and we both had chances to win," said Henin-Hardenne, who must reach the semifinals here to earn the No. 1 ranking. "I came though, that's the most important thing. I played with my heart because it wasn't easy."

Justine also said that she has "goals" in this tournament, which is essentially why she bothered to play at all. She knows all about history and now is likely just one win away from the top spot.

Myskina blamed the defeat on herself and said she was going clubbing afterward. Pour her a stiff one of Stoli's, bartender.

Recall that Capriati is battling a strained right hip flexor so when she and Henin-Hardenne face off on Friday night, it may not match their US Open match for quality, but the winner may very well have to put in a similar effort.

Clijsters beats Rubin – seven times and counting
Kim Clijsters knocked off American Chanda Rubin 6-4, 6-4, earning herself a spot in the semis. Chanda simply can't play with her deep in sets, a lot of which has to do with Clijsters' ability to read Rubin. That's explains the Belgian's 7-0 record against the American.

Clijsters can only sit back and hope that Henin-Hardenne falls to Capriati and Ai Sugiyama because, if she doesn't, No. 1 is gone. However, there is something to be said for defending one's crown.

More on this later, but Clijsters went off on a substantial riff about how she abhors bandwagon jumpers and two-faced people. Although she's been by far the best player in Californian this year and enjoys the environs here, she'd have a hard time living in Tinsel Town with that enlightened way of thinking.

FYI: She has a Gameboy and likes playing Super Mario Bros. (she's on level 7). With that revelation, she scored big points with the Gameboy-crazed Cronin kids, but not with their dad, who on more than one occasion (probably 700 or so) has told his young threesome to "turn that horrible, droning sound off."

WTA

Clijsters, who also defeated Elena Dementieva Wednesday, will face Amelie Mauresmo, who evened her record at 1-1 in the Red Group by blasting the wayward Elena Dementieva 6-3, 6-2.

Sixth-seeded Dementieva dropped to 0-2 and can't qualify for the semifinals. No surprise there, she looked like someone who was just here to pick up a paycheck.

"I was taking it in a looser way, I was feeling no pressure,'' said Mauresmo, who lost to Rubin on Wednesday. "I have to just play my game and go forward. The pressure is here and I just have to play. That's what I did, just try to forget about it but it's not easy.

Rubin has a great chance at the semifinals should she beat Dementieva. However, if she falls and
Mauresmo defeats Clijsters, the Frenchwoman is in. However, Mauresmo doesn't seem very confident and even though she has a lot more to play for against the Belgian, Kim won't give in easily.

"She's consistent and she's played a great season,'' Mauresmo said. "She is in great confidence. I will have to play my game again and make sure I do my best."