Legendary... Henin's back!
There are few instances in Women's tennis these days that bring out that word. Decent, mediocre, interesting, nice, these have been the words synonymous with Women's tennis for the last 2 years. At least until a mom named Kim Clijsters made a remarkable comeback in the latter months of 2009, had a fairytale run which culminated in her lil one making proud mama run circles around her after the Final of the US open in the Arthur Ashe Stadium. Great to see one of the eternal fighters back. Women's tennis had just become interesting.
Until the return of Justine Henin that is... That just took it to a whole new level of interesting. Sure, people had doubts. Would she be able to match up to herself as she was before she retired? She dispelled a few of those doubts in her very first tournament on the WTA tour, reaching the finals of the Brisbane international. Yes, she did lose and extremely close fought final to Clijsters (in 3 sets - losing the final set in a tie-break) even after holding 2 match points.
Okay... So Henin's game was back. But could she play out the tough points? I think yesterday's Australian Open Second Round match pretty much answered that question. Well, Henin vs Dementieva. Just the sound of that match up and you would think, "Well, tough draw. Looks like Henin's not gonna go far."
The match itself was nothing short of legendary. It was a 2 hour 50 minute duel between 2 of the toughest fighters in Women's tennis. It had everything. Breaks of serve were traded faster than stock and almost each and every game was taken to deuce. The first set was a see-saw and had an interesting pattern. Both held serve, then both broke, held serve again and broke again. This continued until Henin got the decisive break and went 6-5 up serving for the set and held serve.
What about the second! Another epic battle, more breaks of serve, more deuces and then a match point saved by Dementieva and the score was 6-6. Tie-Break! A set point saved by Henin until the perfect Serve and Volley on match point by Henin which took her to the 3rd round (2 hrs 50 mins for a 7-5 7-6 scoreline - Whew!). Wait-a-minute, 3rd Round???? Whoa! We had just witnessed an amazing match played by 2 amazing players and it was just the 2nd Round. As much a fan of Henin as I was (as far as I'm concerned she has the best Backhand in World Tennis), I couldn't help but feel sorry for Dementieva who fought back and almost got through.
Legendary... But I still wish it was the Grand Slam Final.
P.S. Ominous signs for the Williams Sisters. The resurgence of players like Dementieva and the return of the Belgian duo does imply they wont be enjoying their top billing for long.
Until the return of Justine Henin that is... That just took it to a whole new level of interesting. Sure, people had doubts. Would she be able to match up to herself as she was before she retired? She dispelled a few of those doubts in her very first tournament on the WTA tour, reaching the finals of the Brisbane international. Yes, she did lose and extremely close fought final to Clijsters (in 3 sets - losing the final set in a tie-break) even after holding 2 match points.
Okay... So Henin's game was back. But could she play out the tough points? I think yesterday's Australian Open Second Round match pretty much answered that question. Well, Henin vs Dementieva. Just the sound of that match up and you would think, "Well, tough draw. Looks like Henin's not gonna go far."
The match itself was nothing short of legendary. It was a 2 hour 50 minute duel between 2 of the toughest fighters in Women's tennis. It had everything. Breaks of serve were traded faster than stock and almost each and every game was taken to deuce. The first set was a see-saw and had an interesting pattern. Both held serve, then both broke, held serve again and broke again. This continued until Henin got the decisive break and went 6-5 up serving for the set and held serve.
What about the second! Another epic battle, more breaks of serve, more deuces and then a match point saved by Dementieva and the score was 6-6. Tie-Break! A set point saved by Henin until the perfect Serve and Volley on match point by Henin which took her to the 3rd round (2 hrs 50 mins for a 7-5 7-6 scoreline - Whew!). Wait-a-minute, 3rd Round???? Whoa! We had just witnessed an amazing match played by 2 amazing players and it was just the 2nd Round. As much a fan of Henin as I was (as far as I'm concerned she has the best Backhand in World Tennis), I couldn't help but feel sorry for Dementieva who fought back and almost got through.
Legendary... But I still wish it was the Grand Slam Final.
P.S. Ominous signs for the Williams Sisters. The resurgence of players like Dementieva and the return of the Belgian duo does imply they wont be enjoying their top billing for long.
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