Sports / Tennis
Henin and Mauresmo enjoy fine Eastbourne start
(Reuters)
Updated: 2007-06-21 08:19
Justine Henin began the defence of her Eastbourne International title in
fine style on Wednesday, beating Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska 6-4 6-1.
Eleven days after winning her fourth French Open title on clay, the world
number one sailed through her first grasscourt match of the season,
impressing the Devonshire Park crowd with her volleying skills.
The Belgian top seed now plays Czech teenager Nicole Vaidisova, who
swatted aside British qualifier Elena Baltacha 6-3 6-2 on a calm day at
the normally windy seaside resort.
Wimbledon champion Amelie Mauresmo joined Henin in the third round,
looking equally at home on her favourite surface after just a few days'
practice in the British Embassy grounds in Paris.
The world number four, who last year lost in her first match here before
going on to win Wimbledon, beat Italian Mara Santangelo 6-2 6-3 in 61
minutes.
Henin, who next week will set out to succeed Mauresmo at Wimbledon -- the
one grand slam title to elude her -- needed just one break, in the third
game, to take the first set against 18-year-old Eastbourne debutante
Radwanska.
After getting a break at the start of the second set, Henin raced to a
5-1 lead and went 15-40 up. She wasted one match point by putting a
backhand long but hit a winning backhand volley on the second.
"The first match on grass is not easy," said Henin, adding that her aim
was to get to the net even more.
"When I am at the net I am okay, it is just (I need) to go to the net and
make the effort and be brave enough. But it starts to get much more
natural."
CONFIDENT MAURESMO
Mauresmo, who served superbly and finished her match with the flourish of
an ace in a love game, was visibly delighted to be back on grass after
losing in the third round at the French Open at the start of the month.
"I feel confident in this kind of match," the French second seed told a
news conference. "I think it is the fact that really I know perfectly how
to play on grass and it gives you a lot of confidence."
Mauresmo will now face Israeli sixth seed Shahar Peer, who beat Japanese
qualifier Aiko Nakamura 6-3 6-2.
Fifth seed Vaidisova is one of the grunt-and-bash brigade, staying firmly
at the baseline throughout the match and hitting the ball with tremendous
force and accuracy.
The tactic served her well against Baltacha, ranked 412 in the world and
only recently returned from back surgery, who was rarely able to collect
a point on the Czech's serve.
Austrian ninth seed Sybille Bammer had a much tougher time, needing three
sets to beat Czech left-hander Lucie Safarova 7-6 5-7 6-3. She will now
play Russian third seed Nadia Petrova, who beat France's Nathalie Dechy
7-5 7-5.
After Baltacha's exit, local hopes ended with Katie O'Brien losing 6-3
6-4 to fourth-seeded Russian Elena Dementieva in a baseline slugging
match and wild card Melanie South being knocked out by French number
eight seed Marion Bartoli 6-1 6-3.
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