Justine Henin Cruises into Third Straight French Open Final
Posted by Aaress Lawless on Jun 7, 2007 | Print
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World number one Justine Henin’s dominance at the French Open continued today as she won her 33rd consecutive set at Roland Garros and a spot in the Grand Slam final on Saturday.
Henin, who has not dropped a set in over two years, was pushed at times by fourth seed Jelena Jankovic, but still chalked up a win in straight sets 6-2, 6-2.
I was hoping to see another three-set thriller between Justine and Jelena, but double J came out flat today. You can get away with inconsistency against players like Nicole Vaidisova or Marion Bartoli, but that simply will not work against the world number one and two-time defending champion.
I love watching these two compete because instead of watching two hours of bam-bam power shots, I normally get to see classic tennis at its finest. Both women have beautiful backhands, aggressive forehands, and Justine Henin’s drop shot still remains a textbook example of how to end a point at the net.
Jelena did have her moments of brilliance when she was able to nail winners behind Justine, but they were few and far between, especially in the second set. Justine grabbed control from the beginning and did not have any trouble staying aggressive to close out the win on her first match point.
Even though this was a relatively easy win for Justine, her own performance was far from flawless. Her first serve percentage was a dismal 39% for the match, something that Ana Ivanovic will try to exploit in the final.
Serbian fans were thrilled with the possibility of seeing a historic all-Serb Grand Slam final, but it was not to be at this tournmaent. Still, they will gain a fantastic consolation price of seeing Serbia’s No. 2 Ana Ivanovic attempt to deny Justine Henin her third consecutive title in Paris.
Be sure to check back tomorrow for On the Baseline’s preview of the ladies final.
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Nick | Jun 7, 2007 | Reply
You know what, Justine FS percentage has been horrible since what, 2003, and absolutely no player, including Serena could do anything about her second serves…why? They are great Second Serves.
And then when she gets those first serves in, she’s winning over 70%.
I give Ana a little chance against Justine, I gave Jelena a lot of chance against Justine, but she got knocked out like Serena.
Justine is probably going to crush Ana on Saturday like Serena and Jelena.
Aaress | Jun 7, 2007 | Reply
Like you said, she gives it all on her second serves - kind of like Elena Dementieva.
I doubt if it will be much of a contest on Saturday. Ana Ivanovic’s defeat of Svetlana Kuznetsova and Maria Sharapova played straight into the hands of Justine’s hopes for a fourth title.