Henin, Serena to Meet: After Bitterness of 2003 Semifinal, Foes Have Matured

Jun 04, 08:43 AM

Current Headlines: By Charles Bricker, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Jun. 4--PARIS -- Encore, Justine Henin and Serena Williams.

That means a reprise of their fascinating final at Key Biscayne this past April, not the rancorous Henin victory in the semifinals of the 2003 French Open. All made possible by their fourth-round victories Sunday at Roland Garros.

No. 8-seeded Williams beat No. 10 Dinara Safina 6-2, 6-3, while No. 1 Henin defeated No. 20 Sybille Bammer 6-2, 6-4.

Henin and Williams might have buried the memory of that '03 meeting, but the nastiness of that match probably will be revisited every time they play. A pro-Henin crowd cheered Williams' mistakes, then booed her off the court. After the loss, a teary Williams accused Henin of "lying and fabricating" about whether she'd held up a hand to stop play.

That episode, Williams said Sunday, is ancient history. "I don't want to reflect on that anymore. I let it go and, obviously, she did. This is a new year. It was what it was, but we're both different people now."

Henin said 2003 "seems very far away. A lot of things happened in our careers, in our personal lives. And we probably grew up a lot."

Henin admitted it took her a while to banish the memory of the 0-6, 7-5, 6-3 loss to Williams in South Florida. "I don't want to see a rematch of Key Biscayne," she said. "Maybe I was a little bit scared to win that one, and she just kept fighting. That's why she's a champion. It's never over."

But she said this next match will be different. "Different surface," she said. "Everyone asks me, 'Is [Williams] back in her best level?' That's not the question. The thing is, I'm going to play Serena on Tuesday and I will be focused on my goal, tactically on the court and also mentally to be very strong."

Day 8 of the tournament produced, finally, some competitive matches between premium players. Like No. 2 Maria Sharapova fighting off two match points to reach the quarters with a 3-6, 6-4, 9-7 win over left-handed Patty Schnyder. Like No. 4 Nikolay Davydenko taking three hours and 34 minutes to subdue David Nalbandian in a tense battle of long rallies, 6-3, 7-6 (1), 3-6, 7-6 (2). And No. 7 Ana Ivanovic smacking 11 aces to overcome tournament surprise Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.

Despite the tough matches, the women's tournament remained virtually right on form. Eight of the top nine seeds reached the quarters with Henin, Sharapova, No. 3 Svetlana Kuznetsova, No. 4 Jelena Jankovic, No. 6 Nicole Vaidisova, Ivanovic, Williams and No. 9 Anna Chakvetadze reaching the final eight. The women will take today off, then play Tuesday.

It was another day without the loss of a set for No. 1 Roger Federer, although he had 42 unforced errors against Mikhail Youzhny, against whom he now has a 10-0 record.

Federer reached the quarters with Davydenko, No. 9 Tommy Robredo and No. 19 Guillermo Canas. The bottom half of the men's draw will produce the other four quarterfinalists today.

Two of the three men's favorites -- Federer and Canas -- are now in the final eight and Rafael Nadal is expected to be next. Federer has had a fortuitous draw here and now gets Robredo, who defeated Filippo Volandri 6-2, 7-5, 6-1. Volandri had beaten Federer at Rome.

The 10-time Grand Slam champion, trying to win his first French Open, expected a more competitive match from Youzhny. "I expected tougher. I go in there, got enough shirts for a five-set match, but I only used one today," he said.

And he wasn't delighted with his serve. "I wasn't hitting my spots so well, like the last few days. But I've got such a reliable second serve that it's OK."

Information from wire services supplemented this report.

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