Justine Henin scored her 28th consecutive victory after defeating Svetlana Kuznetsova in Sydney, remaining unbeaten since Wimbledon, where she was defeated by Marion Bartoli. Henin had an easy draw in the early rounds but then she had to play her best, beating WTA #4 Ana Ivanovic in the semifinal and WTA #2 Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final. Both matches were decided in the third set. The most important warm-up tournament before Australian Open had a great level of participation and semifinals featured 3 of the 4 top ranked players, completed with WTA #12 Nicole Vaidisova who defeated WTA #3 Jelena Jankovic in quarters.
Meanwhile in Hobart Eleni Daniilidou enjoyed a great week taking the singles title and reaching the doubles final. Daniilidou defeated Parmentier, Alona Bondarenko, Dellacqua and Pennetta on her way to the final. Unfortunately her opponent, russian Vera Zvonareva, got injured training before the final, so the title was awarded to Daniilidou by walkover. Remarkable performances also by Ashley Harkleroad, who won 6 matches in a row to reach the semifinals as a qualifier, and by Jelena Dokic, who also got through the qualifying and scored her first WTA victory in more than two years.
Sydney (AUS), Tier II, $600,000
Final: Justine Henin (BEL) def. Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) 4/6 6/2 6/4
Hobart (AUS), Tier IV, $170,000
Final: Eleni Daniilidou (GRE) def. Vera Zvonareva (RUS) wo.
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ReplyDeleteThe progress in Kuznetsova's game and concentration seem evident.She has shown in Sydney a completely different face of the one we saw in Madrid by the end of last year or even at Us Opem,where she even reached the final.Now she needs to step it up mentally also.She suffers from mental block when she faces the belgian,when it's obvious the game to defeat her is there.
ReplyDeleteAbout Justine,she showed in this match why she is the best player in the world since some time now.Even when her game is not at its best, she finds herself behind in the score,she has the ability,belief and intelligence enough to turn things around.
I expect more good matchs to come between those 2 in 2008 ;)