Henin vs Sharapova in French Open third round
Former world No. 1’s Justine Henin and Maria Sharapova will face off in a third round clash that surely warrants match of the round status.
While it might be wishful thinking to believe this match will equal the match between Henin and Elena Dementieva in the second round of the Australian Open in the quality of tennis that is delivered from either side of the net, it will go a long way to determining the state of each player’s game at this moment in time.
Henin, playing in her first French Open since she won her third successive title at the tournament in 2007, won through to the third round with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Klara Zakopalova. Despite the scoreline again, the Belgian again showed some vulnerability when it came to closing the match out, squandering triple match points as she served for the match before clinching it with a forehand winner.
We’re yet to see Grand Slam title-winning form from Henin at Roland Garros in 2010 as she returns to her favourite major in part two of her career, and Sharapova might just provide the first test in Paris of whether the four-time French Open champion can hold her nerve and maintain her footwork when it counts.
Sharapova, in the early stages of her return after a couple of months on the sidelines nursing an elbow injury, recorded the same second round scoreline as Henin against another Belgian, Kirsten Flipkens, the Russian serving five aces for the match.
In Henin, the 23-year-old will meet the biggest challenge so far of her latest return to tennis (shoulder surgery in 2008 also resulted in an extended break from competitive tennis), with her run to the title at the Internationaux de Strasbourg only bringing her into contact with one player inside the top 50, the 49th ranked Anabel Medina Garrigues.
While the Russian seems to be on the right track to rediscovering the consistency and powerful hitting that at the tender age of 17 saw her lift the Venus Rosewater Dish at Wimbledon in 2004, Henin will provide a truer measure of how far Sharapova has to go to recapture the form of old.
Even with the inconsistencies in Henin’s game at present, however, it’s tough to imagine her return to Roland Garros ending before the second week of the tournament, and not against a player who is herself still on the comeback trail.
Tags: