Henin, Sharapova Survive Frustrating Friday at US Open

It was Frustrating Friday at the US Open women's semifinals, where the top-two ranked women on the WTA Tour Rankings had to have their hands pried away from their throats in two choke-laden matches.

In the first semifinal, a nervous world No. 2 Justine Henin-Hardenne was a set and a break down before she caught a break as opponent Jelena Jankovic imploded, losing the last 10 games of the match 4-6, 6-4, 6-0.

"I was pretty nervous the beginning of the match," Henin-Hardenne said. "I wasn't in the good rhythm. She was playing terrific at that time. She was just on fire. She played an unbelievable tournament. I knew it was going to be a tough match, but I was too far from my baseline...In the third set I served much better, not as many double-faults as I did in the first two sets. So it's great to win a match when you know that you're not at your best level."

Jankovic said the outcome of the match was up to her alone.

"I had the match," Jankovic said. "I thought that in the first set I was the better player -- way better. I was controlling all the points, was on the top of my game. She didn't know what to do. That's how I felt. I was dominating. But then in the second set, it was 4-2 for me. I kind of had a little bit -- my concentration went down because of the umpire. He didn't know if the ball was in or not. Then I make the double-fault on the game point. I think that was a huge point for me. I could have been up 5-2 and would have been a different story."

Jankovic also accused Henin-Hardenne of gamesmanship, saying the Belgian acted as if she was suffering back pain when losing, but looking 100 percent when winning.

"I think from my point of view, I think you should play fair," Jankovic said. "And if you have pain, you have pain. But then when you -- if you have really pain, then you gonna have pain when you're winning, as well. But then how come when she's winning, she serves like 120-mile serve, and then when she's losing, she barely pushes it back? Just to kind of say, 'Oh, that's why I'm losing' or something. For me, that's not quite fair play. I'm a quite fair player. I give the credit to all the players, it's okay, I lost this match, but...(smiling). I don't know."

In the second semifinal, world No. 1 Amelie Mauresmo lost the first set 6-0 to No. 3 seed Maria Sharapova in a nervous start, recovered to win the second set 6-4, then folded in the third set for another 6-0 loss.

For Mauresmo, a winner of two Slams this year, the trouble was -- everything.

"It's a little bit of everything," Mauresmo said. "The focus. Maybe have a little bit of good thinking and the right thinking tactically on the court today. Yeah, maybe a little bit of fatigue also. But, you know, all the credit to her. She played a good match. I didn't play the way I wanted to today. Even when I win the second set, I don't really feel like things are going the way I want to. But that's the way it is. Conditions were not so good today, as well. She handled them much better than I did. That's about it."

Henin-Hardenne has won four of her five career meetings against Sharapova, and is seeking her second Slam title this year after the French Open.