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Men's Tennis
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Women's Tennis
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| Wednesday, May 30 |
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| Henin, Clijsters defeat Argentine foes ESPN.com news services | |||
PARIS – Kim Clijsters and
Justine Henin of Belgium booked their third-round places with
victories over Argentine opponents at the French Open on Wednesday.
Clijsters and Henin are being tipped as potential
finalists after upsets in their half of the draw eliminated
second seed Venus Williams and No. 5 Amelie Mauresmo, who
had been France's best hope of winning the title.
"Everybody was thinking that we had to play the semifinals
against them," said Henin, who lost in the second round to
Lindsay Davenport in her only other appearance at Roland
Garros two years ago.
"It's true that this might be a very good opportunity for
me," she added.
Clijsters, who lost to Diaz-Oliva earlier this year in their
only previous encounter, failed to make it beyond the first
round at Roland Garros 12 months ago.
"I feel a lot better than last year. I'm playing better
claycourt tennis," she said. "I've got no pressure. I've already
done better than I did last year."
Seeded sixth in the singles draw, she defeated France's Sarah
Pitkowski in three sets in her opener. It was her first
tournament match since March.
Henin, seeded No. 14, lit up the Roland Garros Center Court with some
sparkling, if inconsistent, tennis as she beat Paola Suarez 6-3,
6-4, while Clijsters defeated Mariana Diaz-Oliva 7-5, 6-1.
No. 15 Jelena Dokic also had another impressive win, defeating
American Marissa Irvin 6-1, 6-2. No. 7 Elena Dementieva was the only seeded player to lose, falling
7-5, 7-5 to Slovakia's 33rd-ranked Henrieta Nagyova.
Henin's full repertoire of strokes was on show as she
overcame a stuttering start to entertain the day three crowd in
the French capital.
With her blonde ponytail hanging from the back of a
pristine white cap, Henin, 18, danced tirelessly across the
Philippe Chatrier court to oust the 28th-ranked Argentine.
After dropping her opening service game and trailing 2-0,
Henin, who won her first 13 matches of the year to claim two
titles, rattled off the next five games to take control of the
second-round match.
Suarez finally held serve again for 5-3 but Henin wrapped up
the set in the next game after 37 minutes.
The Argentine claycourter does not have Henin's touch or
finesse, but what she lacks in natural ability she compensates
for with spirit and determination.
She held the opening game of the second set and having been
broken for 2-1 down immediately hit back by scurrying around the
arena and pumping double-handed backhands deep into the
Belgian's side of the court.
But Henin's quality told. One more break was all she needed
to reach the third round at Roland Garros for the first time as
she served out for victory after 76 minutes.
No. 12 seed Clijsters, 17, followed her compatriot into the third round with
a comfortable victory, though she struggled initially on
a sun-scorched Court One before overcoming her gutsy opponent.
Diaz-Oliva, 25, had won the pair's only previous
clash earlier this year in the Croatian Open, and she looked in
good shape in the early rallies.
Once Clijsters clinched the first set, however, she turned
up the pressure and the Argentine folded. Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories | |
ALSO SEE Williams sisters pull out of doubles French Open favorites Kuerten, Ferrero dominate Serena Williams, Hingis, Capriati all advance Goodbye Paris: Venus defeated in French opener | |
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