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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Henin makes Aussie semis

Grand Slam comeback rolls on

Justine Henin of Belgium returns the ball to Nadia Petrova of Russia during their women’s quarterfinal match at the Australian Open. (Associated Press)
John Pye Associated Press

MELBOURNE, Australia – Former No. 1-ranked Justine Henin reached the semifinals in her Grand Slam comeback, beating 19th-seeded Nadia Petrova 7-6 (3), 7-5 today, taking out the last seeded player in her half of the Australian Open draw.

Henin, unranked and playing on a wild-card entry at Melbourne Park, next will play Wimbledon semifinalist Zheng Jie, who beat Russia’s Maria Kirilenko 6-1, 6-3 to equal her Chinese record for the best run at a major.

Henin went down a break in the second set before finding the range with her powerful groundstrokes and winning seven of the next nine games.

“I just went for it with my heart. Finally I could make it, and I’m very happy,” Henin said. “At the end I played much more aggressive tennis.”

The 27-year-old Belgian beat Petrova on Jan. 4 at the Brisbane International in her first match back on tour after almost 20 months in retirement.

Henin reached the Brisbane final, where she lost in three sets to fellow Belgian Kim Clijsters. It was Clijsters’ win at the U.S. Open last September, in the third tournament of a comeback from two years in retirement, that inspired seven-time Grand Slam winner Henin to return.

Now she’s two wins from emulating Clijsters’ triumphant Grand Slam comeback.

Henin ended a highly successful run here for Petrova, who ousted two reigning major champions on her way to the quarters: Clijsters in the third round; and French Open champ Svetlana Kuznetsova in the fourth.

Kirilenko had taken out big names in her section, too, starting with her 3-hour, 21-minute first-round win over 2008 champion Maria Sharapova and her fourth-round victory against last year’s finalist Dinara Safina, who retired with a back problem.

The 23-year-old Russian was making her debut in the quarterfinals of a major and struggled with what appeared to be a hip or thigh problem. She was no match for Zheng, who was a wild-card entry when she reached the last four at Wimbledon in 2008 to become the first Chinese Grand Slam semifinalist.

Henin retired suddenly in May 2008 while holding the No. 1 ranking and has not played at a major since losing in the quarterfinals to Sharapova at the 2008 Australian Open. Henin won here in 2004 and reached the final in 2006, when she retired due to stomach problems against Amelie Mauresmo of France.

The loss to Sharapova confirmed to Henin that she needed a break.

“There was my little voice that was saying to me that I should go away because I needed something else at that time, to breathe differently again without tennis,” she said. Since her comeback, her inner feelings have changed, she added: “Little voice that is very positive. Thank you.”

Henin’s ability to lift her intensity on key points showed against Petrova, who has never gone past the semifinals at a major.

Roger Federer ended local hopes of breaking a three-decade Aussie drought on Monday, the eve of the national holiday.

Federer beat former No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 – his 15th straight win over the Australian.

Federer will play Nikolay Davydenko and 2008 champion Novak Djokovic will meet 2008 runner-up Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarterfinals.