Unseeded Henin Faces Dementieva in WTA Charleston Final

Posted on April 17, 2005

In only her second tournament back after a knee injury and energy-sapping illness, unseeded Justine Henin-Hardenne reached the final of the WTA stop in Charleston with a 7-6(4), 7-5 win over 17-year-old Tatiana Golovin.

"It's a bonus for me, but now I am in the final I want to win," said Henin-Hardenne who fought through the gusty conditions to advance. "It's great to feel this way again but it's only one step. Another step, but a very important step...I didn't play my best in the two sets but at the end when I had to play well on the important points I was very aggressive and I did a good job."

Henin-Hardenne failed to serve out the first set at 6-5 before securing the tiebreak, and was a point from an 0-3 deficit in the second set. The final is the first for the Belgian since the 2004 Olympics.

In the final Henin-Hardenne will face No. 2 seed Elena Dementieva, who defeated No. 8 seed Swiss Patty Schnyder 3-6, 6-4, 6-0.

Henin-Hardenne has beaten Dementieva in six of their seven meetings.

"Physically she seems to be stronger," Dementieva said of Henin-Hardenne. "She's a little bit bigger than she was and I think she's a bit more powerful. All she needs is...to get her confidence back."

The doubles final will be Iveta Benesova/Kveta Peschke (d. Raymond/Stubbs after getting bageled in the first set in the semis) vs. Conchita Martinez/Virginia Ruano Pascual (d. Dominguez Lino/Medina Garrigues).