Sharapova routs Henin
MELBOURNE, Australia – Venus Williams followed her sister Serena out of the Australian Open in the quarterfinals, both in losses to Serbian players.
Venus went down 7-6 (3), 6-4 to fourth-seeded Ana Ivanovic today, one day after defending champion Serena lost to No. 3 Jelena Jankovic.
Ivanovic, who had never taken a set off Williams in four previous contests, is into the semifinals for the third time at a Grand Slam and next faces first-timer Daniela Hantuchova, who beat Agnieszka Radwanska 6-2, 6-2.
In the other women’s semifinal, Jankovic will meet No. 5 Maria Sharapova, who ended top-ranked Justine Henin’s 32-match winning streak 6-4, 6-0.
Novak Djokovic beat No. 5 David Ferrer 6-0, 6-3, 7-5 on his fifth match point today, becoming the third Serb into the semifinals. Also today, defending champion Roger Federer competed against No. 12 James Blake.
Sharapova, who was routed by Serena Williams in last year’s finals, wanted to make amends this year.
“Even though I beat Justine, it’s definitely not over,” she said. “I still have a lot of business to take care of.”
Sharapova, who struggled with a shoulder problem for most of last season, started returning to her best at the WTA championships in November before losing in three sets to Henin in 3 hours, 24 minutes – among the dozen longest women’s tour matches in the Open era.
She turned the tables in only 1:38 on Tuesday, inflicting the first 6-0 set on Henin since 2002.
“I really felt like I was in a bubble,” No. 5 Sharapova said. “I think it was one of the most consistent matches where I did all the things I wanted to do, and I did them correctly from the beginning to the end.”
Henin, who struggled with her serve and was broken five times by Sharapova, said she had a minor concern over a lingering knee injury but put the end of her winning streak down as an inevitability.
“It’s very hard to be at your best level all the time,” she said.
Sharapova will be looking back for lessons to take into the semis against Jankovic, her old tennis academy pal.
“Ever since the juniors we’ve always played really tough and we’ve always battled it out, and it’s great to see her in the semis,” Sharapova said.