Sports / Tennis |
Henin, Mauresmo reach Dubai final(AP)Updated: 2007-02-24 08:35 DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - Top-seeded Justine Henin beat Svetlana Kuznetsova 1-6, 6-4, 6-0 on Friday, setting up a Dubai Open final against Amelie Mauresmo. Mauresmo, seeded second, won her semifinal when fifth-seeded Jelena Jankovic of Serbia retired with an ankle injury after losing the first set 6-2. The match was briefly interrupted when a cat got onto the court and Jankovic stopped playing. "Strange match, really," Mauresmo said. "Though I didn't see the cat." Henin is bidding for her fourth Dubai title, having won in 2003, 2004 and 2006. Mauresmo is in her second consecutive final, having won in Antwerp, Belgium, last week. "I will have to play a little bit as I did tonight," the Frenchwoman said. "I have to be aggressive and try to take control of the game, which is never easy against Justine." Henin appeared cautious in the first set and lost her serve to go 2-0 down. The Belgian later double-faulted twice and lost the set 6-1. Kuznetsova trailed 4-1 in the second set before the Russian broke back to make it 4-4. Henin won the set 6-4 on her fourth set point. She then captured a one-sided third set in 28 minutes. "I was just waiting, not moving forward at all," Henin said. "And she was hitting the ball really hard. But at the end of the match, it was another player on the court." Kuznetsova said she had trouble with her concentration. "(Henin) played unbelievable shots towards the end. I think I got a little tired mentally because I did not have much attention on the ball," Kuznetsova said. Mauresmo initially refused to continue playing after the umpire got the score wrong in the seventh game. After referee Alan Mills intervened, the score was changed from 30-30 to 40-15 for Mauresmo. In the next game and trailing 5-2, Jankovic attempted to return a backhand and sprained her ankle. Jankovic played one more game before retiring. |
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