Henin Wins, Nalbandian Chokes v Baghdatis at Australian Open

The diminutive Belgian mixed things up after dropping the first set, at times making the lanky Russian look unbalanced and gawky with a combination of slice and short angles.

"I was dominating the first set and then on my serve I lost a little bit of aggression," Henin-Hardenne said. "I was too far from my baseline, and she could take the first set. Then I tried to change that in the second set, so it made the big difference that I was just staying on my baseline, instead of being three meters behind my baseline. It was tough, very intense, even in the third set."

Sharapova was happy to raise her level after an ugly quarterfinal win over Russian countrywoman Nadia Petrova.

"For me to be able to go out there and to play the quality of tennis that I did today, I think it was great," Sharapova said. "And I know that probably tomorrow I'm gonna be seeing headlines, 'Maria can't get past the semis, Maria can't finish it off in the third.' But take all that away and just look at the tennis that we both played today. I think that shows a lot."

Henin-Hardenne will take a 4-3 career advantage against Mauresmo into the final, winning in three sets in their most recent encounter last year at Toronto.

The Friday doubles final will see top seeds Lisa Raymond and Samantha Stosur against the No. 12-seeded Chinese pair of Yan Zi and Zheng Jie, with the American-Aussie combo going for their second consecutive slam win after the 2005 US Open.

Baghdatis Bags Australian Open Final

Unseeded 20-year-old Marcos Baghdatis capped a remarkable comeback from two sets down late Thursday at the Australian Open, defeating a throat-clutching Davis Nalbandian 3-6, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 to gain the final against either Roger Federer or Nicolas Kiefer.

Nalbandian led a set and 5-1 before the Cypriot stormed back, only to lose 7-5 and find himself weary and up against a two-set deficit. In the third set Baghdatis, looking spent, nonetheless converted an early break and served out the set at 6-3, backed by his cheering contingent of blue-clad Greeks as the Argentine started to falter.

In the fourth set Nalbandian's tight play continued, and Baghdatis evened the match at two sets all. In the fifth the exhausted Cypriot went down an early break 2-4 but broke back twice, and was serving at 5-4 when rain caused a halt in play. When play resumed after 25 minutes, Baghdatis closed out the match on his second match point.

Baghdatis has never won an ATP title, and reached his only career final late last year at Basel.

Advancing into the doubles final Thursday were (1) the Bryan brothers (d. (4) Hanley/Ullyett), and (7) Damm/Paes (d. Fyrstenberg/Matkowski).

On tap for Friday is the second singles semifinal in (1) Federer vs. (21) Kiefer (Swiss leads career meetings 7-3, including the last six).

"I know I have to play much better, much better than the other days," said the racquet-tossing fine-magnet Kiefer. "I'm winning my matches here because I'm fighting unbelievable -- not by playing good tennis, but by fighting."

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TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Is there a bigger slam choker in tennis than David Nalbandian? Is there even a debate on this topic after Thursday's display? Ouch...Marcos Baghdatis has won 18 of 19 matches in his career at Melbourne, only losing to Roger Federer last year. The only Top 10 player to even beat Baghdatis is Federer...Think Andy Roddick and coach Dean Goldfine are sleeping better now?...Maria Sharapova has lost her lost four Slam semifinals while Justin Henin-Hardenne has won four straight...The seven-year span for Amelie Mauresmo between Slam finals is the longest for a woman in the Open Era...The Australian Open has a roof, but incredibly for the second time during the event it rained on Laver during play, forcing stoppage. First during the Serena Williams-Daniela Hantuchova match early in the first set, then again Thursday night with Marcos Baghdatis serving 5-4, 15-15 in the fifth set. Nice timing. Both delays lasted roughly 25 minutes as the ballkids used towels to dry the court. 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Kiefer's racket sailed right in front of Grosjean' sight path. But was Kiefer a sportsman and conceded the point to his "friend?" No. Did he even offer to play two? No. He just walked back toward the baseline while the job-challenged umpire Carlos Bernades missed the call entirely, as did the supervisor Mike Morrissey, who sided with the umpire." And on ESPN's coverage of the Australian Open: "What's going on at ESPN during the AO? Why aren't the producers telling the talent to actually get out there and cast some strong opinions, or let the viewers in on some inside knowledge that they have. Saying that everyone is a "great player" or "played great," or is a great guy or gal isn't going to pull in more viewers. Part of the problem is that some of the talent is too close personally to the players and doesn't want to risk offending them. But, constructive criticism is never offensive and is far more interesting than some droll comment about player "X" having an off-day. I'm not going to take potshots at individual talent, but suffice to say that the only props I'm giving are to Luke Jensen (better bald than with hair and some interesting web blogs), Mary Carillo (interesting on any topic) and to Brad Gilbert, who still has a long way to go, but is improving with each broadcast."...Lleyton Hewitt says he will not play Davis Cup for Australia against Switzerland, citing an ankle turn in his second-round loss in Melbourne.