Vintage Serena humbles passive Henin

Justine: “I was too defensive, but had no courage to do something else”

FROM THE SONY ERICSSON OPEN IN MIAMI – Just when Serena Williams was slowly getting written off again after three consecutive losses to Justine Henin in Grand Slam quarterfinals last year, she proved her doubters wrong once more by thrashing the Belgian 6-2, 6-0 in the quarterfinals in Miami on Tuesday. “It’s kind of a letdown,” Serena said. “I wish this was a Grand Slam more than anything.”

The first four games of the match offered some outstanding tennis from both players, but it was telling that Serena came very close to winning them all. She went up 3-0 and faced a second serve from Henin on break point, but her aggressive backhand return sailed just inches long, or it would have been a clear winner.

After losing the game at 3-0, Serena double faulted twice and produced some bad misses to lose her break of serve, but after Henin double faulted three times in her next service game to fall behind 2-4, Serena showed the kind of form that won her the Australian Open in 2007 for the remainder of the match. She now leads her rivalry with Henin by 7-6.

“I didn’t make as many unforced errors as I usually do,” Serena said. “And you know, I’ve been practicing like a champ. Today I finally started playing a little bit the way I’ve been practicing.”

Henin was constantly threatened on her serve, as Serena was slamming one return after another past the No. 1. When the ball was in play, Henin was extremely erratic, but she never changed her gameplan to try and force the issue around the net. In fact, it was Serena who was coming in quite a lot and finished off points when she did.

“My game has a lot of variety now,” Serena said. “I hit a mean slice. I’ve always had a great lob. I’ve been playing a lot of doubles, which really kind of helps me, as well, develop my lob, my volleys again.”

Henin admitted that she was playing too defensively against her surging opponent, partly because she was lacking in confidence due to her disappointing form in the season so far.

“I missed some confidence from the beginning of the season, and that is for sure,” she said. “Against this kind of player you don’t have any chance if you play [defensively], and I didn’t really have any courage to do something else.”

That’s a remarkable statement coming from a great champion such as Henin, who happens to be known for her determination to fight back into matches and often comes back from the brink to win.

“Well it’s, you know, these kind of things happen sometimes,” she explained. “I need to really keep working and fight a lot, and that’s what I’m going to do.”

VENUS DOESN'T ADVANCE

Serena faces the in-form Svetlana Kuznetsova in the semifinals. The Russian, who reached the final in Indian Wells last week, bested Venus Williams 6-4, 6-4. Venus threw in five double faults in the decisive service break in the second set.

"It was a pretty up and down sort of match for me and for her," Kuznetsova said. "I guess I was more consistent and I played better overall though. I think I served more consistently than she did and while I didn't have so many aces I was more steady and placed it really well. It's going to be tough match in the semis against Serena. She's definitely going to have the crowd on her side, as Venus did today, but I'm looking forward to playing her."