MIAMI, FL, USA - Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters kicked off their 2007 Sony Ericsson Open campaigns in winning style on Friday, the first step in what could eventually be a semifinal clash between the two Belgians at the $3.45-million, Tier I tournament. It was a solid day for seeds as the bottom half of the draw contested the second round.
Henin, who has never made it beyond the quarters in Miami, got off to a slow start but was still able to get by Vania King in straight sets, 64 61. The No.2-seeded Belgian found herself trailing 3-1 in the opening set but regrouped, winning 11 of the last 13 games to extend her 2007 win streak to nine matches, having picked up eight straight match victories in winning her last two tournaments at Dubai and Doha.
"At the beginning I was nervous; it's not my favorite event," said Henin, who is now 8-5 here, her best results being the quarterfinals in 2003 and 2005. "I wasn't at my best, far from that. Vania was taking her chances at the time, but at the end of the first set and in the second I started to be a little bit more aggressive, trying to play more with my forehand and come into the net."
It hasn't been easy for Henin in the past here; in three of her five prior trips she has fallen before the quarterfinals, including opening round losses in 2002 and 2005. But she hopes to turn things around here this year.
"I've never played very well here in the past, but the past is the past," Henin said. "It's hard to explain. I've played Dubai four times and won four times and here I've never played well. I hope I can have a better tournament this year."
Joining her No.2-seeded countrywoman in the next round was the No.4-seeded Clijsters, who also began slowly but then steamrolled for a 46 60 60 win over Akiko Morigami of Japan. She dropped four of five games right off the bat, but after eventually losing the opener took command, winning each of the last two sets in less than half an hour.
"The first set was definitely not going the way I wanted it to; I really felt like I was looking for my movement the whole time," said Clijsters, the 2005 Miami champion. "When you sit down after that first set, you try to think and get things going again, just try to keep the unforced errors down and at the same time be aggressive. It was a good time to wake up after that first set."
A year ago, both Henin and Clijsters dropped their opening rounds at the event, to a pair of Americans; Henin fell in straight sets to Meghann Shaughnessy, while Clijsters lost a tense three-setter to Jill Craybas.
The Belgians' projected quarterfinal opponents survived tough opening matches too. A No.6-seeded Nadia Petrova, in Henin's part of the draw, overcame Nathalie Dechy in a third set tie-break, 64 36 76(2), while No.7-seeded Jelena Jankovic survived China's Peng Shuai, 62 64. Jankovic is slotted to meet Clijsters.
Fellow Top 16 seeds Anna Chakvetadze (No.9), Dinara Safina (No.10) and Li Na (No.15) were all easy winners, dropping a combined total of five games against unseeded foes. No.16 seed Daniela Hantuchova played the feature night match against phenom Michelle Larcher de Brito, winning in straight sets, 75 60. The Portuguese 14-year-old was playing her first Tour event here.
Six of the eight lower tier seeds won their first matches, namely No.17 Tatiana Golovin, No.18 Vera Zvonareva, No.20 Katarina Srebotnik, No.22 Ai Sugiyama, No.25 Samantha Stosur and No.32 Mara Santangelo. Golovin had the toughest test of them all, overcoming a 5-0 deficit and two set points in the second set tie-break for a 61 76(8) win over Belarussian qualifier Tatiana Poutchek.
No.30 seed Severine Brémond and No.31 seed Martina Müller were not so lucky. Brémond was ousted by Ekaterina Bychkova and Müller lost to Virginie Razzano.
The top half of the draw plays the second round Saturday. Top-seeded Maria Sharapova, No.3 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, No.5 seed Martina Hingis and the Williams sisters are all featured in an exciting Day 5 line-up. (WTA)
