Henin and Clijsters one win from Wimbledon clash
Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters are now each just one win from a fourth-round clash at Wimbledon, but in their way stand two Russians more than capable of causing an upset against more favoured opponents. Their matches are previewed here.
Justine Henin v Nadia Petrova
Petrova has already defeated one of the Belgian comeback queens at a Grand Slam this year and now has her chance to make it two. At the Australian Open, Clijsters managed to win a not-so-grand total of one game against the Russian in the third round, registering her most dismal result since she launched her comeback last summer.
While Petrova’s aggressive and hard-hitting game was instrumental in securing that win, she did catch Clijsters on an off day. The question now is whether Petrova can pound home enough winners on the lawns at Wimbledon to achieve a win against Henin.
While the 12th seed can be inconsistent, if she can find her range against Henin here, Petrova has be a genuine chance of victory here, although it should also be noted that it was the 28-year-old who eventually brought Petrova’s run to an end in the quarter-finals at Melbourne Park.
Petrova should have noted by now that Henin is currently struggling to close out her matches as well as she once did – with her second round match at Wimbledon providing a prime example. Leading 5-1 in the second set, the 17th seed dropped served twice to leave the door ajar for Kristina Barrois before she finally wrapped up the match 6-3, 7-5.
Add that loss of concentration at the end of that match to her fourth-round loss to Sam Stosur at the French Open and it’s hard not to draw the conclusion that there’s a certain vulnerability about Henin these days.
It’s just a matter of whether Petrova is able to exploit it.
Kim Clijsters v Maria Kirilenko
There’s been little to criticize about Clijsters’ opening two matches at Wimbledon this year, and it’s not good news for Kirilenko that the eighth seed said after defeating Karolina Sprem in the second round that, “I feel that I'm definitely playing probably my best tennis that I've played on grass, you know, compared to even a few years ago.”
Indeed, while Henin remains a work in progress six months into her return to tennis, few would disagree that Clijsters has returned as an improved player after her sabbatical from the game as she almost instantly hit top gear to win the US Open crown last year.
Kirilenko, however, will be the first big test for Clijsters at the grass-court Grand Slam and the 27th seed will enter the match with some confidence that she can handle herself against the big-name players after knocking defending champion Svetlana Kuznetsova out of the French Open in the third round.
Kuznetsova, however, returned to Roland Garros struggling with her form and that’s not the case with Clijsters, who should find herself among the final 16 when this match reaches its conclusion.
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