Pierce Shocks Henin for Place in US Open Quarters
Posted on September 6, 2005No. 12 seed Mary Pierce, fit and ready for revenge after getting bread-sticked 6-1, 6-1 in their last meeting, provided the upset of the day Monday at the US Open with a 6-3, 6-4 win over an out-of-sorts and injured No. 7 seed Justine Henin-Hardenne to advance into the quarterfinals.
Serving at 4-5, 15-40 in the final game, the usually-stoic Henin-Hardenne appeared near tears after two sets of poor footwork, and uncharacteristic unforced errors and shaky serving.
Pierce on the other hand was at her battering-ram best, from the first game rarely giving the Belgian a chance to find her rhythm, and slapping winners at the first opportunity. Pierce hit four winners in the opening game en route to her first win in five meetings with the former No. 1.
"I just played unbelievably well at the beginning, even my shanks were going in," Pierce said. "I know Justine has been struggling. She's probably not feeling too well, a little tired and a little bit injured."
Henin-Hardenne's movement, especially in the second set, appeared to be hampered by her ongoing hamstring injury. The Belgian says she will take off for an unspecified amount of time until it is completely healed.
"It's now a few months I have to play with it," Henin-Hardenne said. "I'll have to take some decisions in the next few days. I'm not going to walk back on the court until my injury doesn't bother me at all. I'll see how long it's going to take."
Other easy straight-set winners were (2) Lindsay Davenport (d. (15) Dechy, bagel in the first), (3) Amelie Mauresmo (d. (19) Likhovtseva), and (6) Elena Dementieva (d. (11) Schnyder).
"This is one of the best matches I've played for sure here so far, and I felt like I was really aggressive and yet I could move well," said Davenport with an ominous message for her opponents. "My back wasn't a problem. You know, I was consistent, hitting the ball hard, very excited about that."
Mauresmo, still looking for her first career slam title, says it's all about staying relaxed.
"I'm doing better and better, even though it hasn't come yet to go to the last to the end, I mean," Mauresmo said. "So, you know, I'm just taking it very in a very relaxed way this year here at the US, just the way I think I was at Wimbledon. I'm trying to, you know, keep that momentum going."
Dementieva said her main difficulty was waiting for the Guillermo Coria-Nicolas Massu match to end so she could go on court.
"That was one of the more difficult matches I have ever played in my life after waiting like 4-1/2 hours, thanks to Coria," Dementieva said after beating Schnyder. "I did my warm-up, had my lunch, then fell asleep. Then I start it all over again. I was completely out of focus and it was very difficult to get into the match and just to play good."
On tap for Tuesday at the US Open are (1) Sharapova vs. (9) Petrova in an all-Russian, and (4) Clijsters vs. (10) Venus.
Venus says she and Clijsters play similar styles, with the Belgian winning their last encounter, but that she is the favorite with her ability to raise her level.
"We play similar games," Venus said. "We're good at covering the court and hitting hard. What's different is I'm able to play that game a little better, serve and return better, run a few more balls down. Usually when we play, I'm able to play that same game, but I step up more."
Serving at 4-5, 15-40 in the final game, the usually-stoic Henin-Hardenne appeared near tears after two sets of poor footwork, and uncharacteristic unforced errors and shaky serving.
Pierce on the other hand was at her battering-ram best, from the first game rarely giving the Belgian a chance to find her rhythm, and slapping winners at the first opportunity. Pierce hit four winners in the opening game en route to her first win in five meetings with the former No. 1.
"I just played unbelievably well at the beginning, even my shanks were going in," Pierce said. "I know Justine has been struggling. She's probably not feeling too well, a little tired and a little bit injured."
Henin-Hardenne's movement, especially in the second set, appeared to be hampered by her ongoing hamstring injury. The Belgian says she will take off for an unspecified amount of time until it is completely healed.
"It's now a few months I have to play with it," Henin-Hardenne said. "I'll have to take some decisions in the next few days. I'm not going to walk back on the court until my injury doesn't bother me at all. I'll see how long it's going to take."
Other easy straight-set winners were (2) Lindsay Davenport (d. (15) Dechy, bagel in the first), (3) Amelie Mauresmo (d. (19) Likhovtseva), and (6) Elena Dementieva (d. (11) Schnyder).
"This is one of the best matches I've played for sure here so far, and I felt like I was really aggressive and yet I could move well," said Davenport with an ominous message for her opponents. "My back wasn't a problem. You know, I was consistent, hitting the ball hard, very excited about that."
Mauresmo, still looking for her first career slam title, says it's all about staying relaxed.
"I'm doing better and better, even though it hasn't come yet to go to the last to the end, I mean," Mauresmo said. "So, you know, I'm just taking it very in a very relaxed way this year here at the US, just the way I think I was at Wimbledon. I'm trying to, you know, keep that momentum going."
Dementieva said her main difficulty was waiting for the Guillermo Coria-Nicolas Massu match to end so she could go on court.
"That was one of the more difficult matches I have ever played in my life after waiting like 4-1/2 hours, thanks to Coria," Dementieva said after beating Schnyder. "I did my warm-up, had my lunch, then fell asleep. Then I start it all over again. I was completely out of focus and it was very difficult to get into the match and just to play good."
On tap for Tuesday at the US Open are (1) Sharapova vs. (9) Petrova in an all-Russian, and (4) Clijsters vs. (10) Venus.
Venus says she and Clijsters play similar styles, with the Belgian winning their last encounter, but that she is the favorite with her ability to raise her level.
"We play similar games," Venus said. "We're good at covering the court and hitting hard. What's different is I'm able to play that game a little better, serve and return better, run a few more balls down. Usually when we play, I'm able to play that same game, but I step up more."