Clijsters advances to final against Henin
BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — Kim Clijsters will meet Justine Henin in a highly anticipated all-Belgian final of the Brisbane International after both won their semi-finals yesterday.
Top-seeded Clijsters beat Germany’s Andrea Petkovic 6-4, 6-2, hours after seven-time Grand Slam title winner Henin swept past Ana Ivanovic 6-3, 6-2 to secure a spot in the final of her first tournament since returning from retirement.
Henin leads Clijsters 12-10 in head-to-head matches after winning their past three meetings — all in 2006.
“I don’t think anybody, anywhere around the world, especially Belgium, even our own groups and teams … ever expected to see this again,” Clijsters said. “It’s real exciting. It’s going to be an interesting one again. It’s, you know, back to the old days.”
Henin quit in May 2008 when she held the Number One ranking. She announced her comeback last September, soon after the 26-year-old Clijsters won the US Open in her third tournament back after more than two years in retirement.
“It’s always special when I play Kim. It’s a day I like a lot,” Henin said. “That’s what a lot of people hoped for and expected.
“We’ve had a lot of great fights over the years. But a lot of things happened to her, a lot of things happen to me. It’s going to be a different situation.”
Men’s top seed Andy Roddick fired 16 aces in a 6-3, 7-6 (5) win over Frenchman Richard Gasquet yesterday to move into a semi-final against fourth-seeded Tomas Berdych, who beat eighth-seeded Thomas Bellucci of Brazil 7-6 (4), 2-6, 7-6 (3).
This is Roddick’s first tournament since injuring his knee in October and he faces singles and doubles — he is partnering James Blake — today.
Defending champion Radek Stepanek will take on Frenchman Gael Monfils in the other semi-final today, before the women’s final in the night session on Pat Rafter Arena.
During her time off the tour, Clijsters got married and had a child. Unranked and unseeded at New York in September, she became the first mother to win a major since Evonne Goolagong Cawley at Wimbledon in 1980.
She had played only one tournament between the US Open and Brisbane and was expecting a “big challenge” against Henin today.
The Belgian pair grew up playing tennis together, Clijsters saying they shared rooms while travelling for under 12s tournaments before eventually going down differing paths.
