Tennis
Henin beats Jankovic; Bondarenko upsets Kuznetsova WARSAW, Poland (AP) – Top-ranked Justine Henin beat fourth-seeded Jelena Jankovic 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 Saturday to reach the final of the clay-court J&S Cup.Henin jumped to a 4-0 lead in the first set before Jankovic tied it at 4-4.
The Belgian then regrouped, and at 6-5 hit a forehand winner before Jankovic hit a backhand wide to give Henin the service break and the first set.
“I started the match pretty well,” Henin said. “Technically, it was pretty perfect what I was doing at that time, and then I lost my intensity a lot.”
Jankovic, who won the Family Circle Cup last month to move up to No. 7 in the WTA rankings, stole an early break to lead 2-1 on her way to winning the second set. Henin had two service breaks in the final set.
“I don’t know how many times I’ve lost against her and it’s always been in the third set … a few points deciding the winner,” Jankovic said. “She’s a lot more experienced than me and I think that’s the difference.”
Henin, the 2005 J&S Cup champion, has beaten Jankovic in three sets in all four of their meetings.
Bondarenko had two early service breaks against Kuznetsova. She then broke Kuznetsova to open the second set as the Russian continued to struggle to find the range on her ground strokes.
“I surprised myself,” Bondarenko said.
“It was not my day,” said Kuznetsova, who had 46 unforced errors.
“I think I was fighting against myself, and it’s pretty hard to win matches like that.”
Djokovic, Gasquet reach Estoril Open final
OEIRAS, Portugal – Novak Djokovic defeated second-seeded Tommy Robredo of Spain 7-5, 6-1 to reach the men’s final at the Estoril Open, where he will play Richard Gasquet.
In the women’s final, Victoria Azarenka of Belarus will play Greta Arn of Germany.
Gasquet won his semifinal match at the clay-court event when Paul-Henri Mathieu withdrew while trailing 3-1. Mathieu, who won a title last week in Casablanca, withdrew after 18 minutes with a right hip injury.
Robredo led 4-3 after breaking the serve of Djokovic, but the 20-year-old Serb broke back in the 10th game to make it 5-5 and then held serve before winning the first set with another service break.
The third-seeded Djokovic broke Robredo’s serve twice more in the second set and won the final five games.
“I didn’t feel very good for the start with Robredo,” Djokovic said. “But after winning the first set I felt myself come back into the right place, and then it was just a question of staying patient.”
Djokovic is looking to add to his titles won at Adelaide and Key Biscayne this year.
Gasquet is looking for his first title since winning in Lyon in October, though Djokovic holds the edge over the Frenchman, beating him at the Madrid Masters last October.
Azarenka reached her first career final by beating third-seeded Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-0. The 18-year-old Azarenka converted all five of her break chances and hit 57 winners.
Arn beat Nuria Llagostera Vives 7-6 (0), 6-2. The 176th-ranked German, who hasn’t played a full schedule since 2003, broke the Spaniard’s serve twice in the second set.
Kohlschreiber advances to BMW Open final
MUNICH, Germany – Philipp Kohlschreiber reached the final of the BMW Open by beating fourth-seeded Marcos Baghdatis 6-2, 6-3.
The German will face his doubles partner, third-seeded Mikhail Youzhny, in today’s final. Youzhny beat second-seeded Tomas Berdych 6-4, 6-3.
The 23-year-old Kohlschreiber beat Baghdatis on his fourth match point to advance to his first final. Baghdatis, a 2006 Australian Open finalist, has been battling an ankle injury.
“That it’s working so well in Munich is a dream,” Kohlschreiber said. “I didn’t have a doubt or fear I would ever lose.”