Henin beats Jankovic to reach German Open semis
World number one Justine Henin battled into the final four of the German Open, a hard fought 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory over Jelena Jankovic leaving the Serb bitterly disappointed.
World number one Justine Henin battled into the final four of the German Open, a hard fought 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory over Jelena Jankovic leaving the Serb bitterly disappointed.
The 24-year-old Henin was 3-6, 6-4, 4-0 down in the third set overnight but she produced a superb display of tennis to win the next six games to book her place in yesterday's semi-final and keep alive her bid for a fourth German Open title.
Having never beaten Henin in four attempts, Jankovic was visibly upset to have let the number one seed off the hook and was powerless against Henin's copy-book tennis that produced a run of six straight games for the match.
"I don't know how that could happen," said Jankovic.
"I thought I had everything under control and I am really upset, I was so close to beating her.
"It was slippery out there and I didn't feel safe on the court.
"But it was all my own mistake that I lost, I wasted all my chances to win."
Henin said, "It's always difficult to explain how that happens but I fought all the way. I think she was a little nervous at the end."
Henin, who has won here three times since 2002 and was a finalist last year, meets Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova in the semi-final later Saturday with the winner meeting Serb Ana Ivanovic.
Ivanovic went through to the final after Ukrainian Julia Vakulenko, who accounted for number two seed Amelie Mauresmo and Dinara Safina on Friday, was forced to withdraw with a hand injury with the score at 4-3 in the first set.