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Henin Takes to Court This Week at WTA Berlin
Posted on May 5, 2008
BERLIN, Germany -- The Tier I European clay court fortnight kicks off this week with the $1.34-million Qatar Telecom German Open. World No.1 Justine Henin will go for her fourth trophy here on the red clay of Berlin, but a daunting draw could potentially get in the way of that milestone.
Although she is nowhere near Steffi Graf's all-time record of nine titles, Henin has the second-most titles in the 28-year history of this event, in 2002 (beating Serena Williams in the final), 2003 (beating Kim Clijsters) and in 2005 (beating Nadia Petrova). Winning the same title four times is nothing new to her either, as she has done so at two other notable events, at Dubai and Roland Garros.
Henin will be playing her first clay court tournament of the year, having pulled out of Charleston with a right knee injury. In her last appearance, she suffered a shock 62 60 defeat to Serena Williams in the quarterfinals of Miami, which served as the most lopsided loss for a No.1 since June of 1999 (when Martina Hingis was stunned by Jelena Dokic at Wimbledon by the same score). By luck of the draw, a top-seeded Henin could face No.5 seed Williams in the quarterfinals in Berlin. Also in her half of the draw are Svetlana Kuznetsova and Anna Chakvetadze, the No.3 and No.6 seeds and the Belgian's potential semifinal opponents.
There is also a wealth of talent on the bottom half, most notably Serbian stars Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic, the No.2 and No.4 seeds here. Ivanovic is the defending champion in the German capital, having defeated Kuznetsova in the title match last year. Jankovic was a quarterfinalist a year ago but has been to the semifinals before, in 2005 (falling to Nadia Petrova). Among those standing in the way of an all-Serbian semifinal are Elena Dementieva, the No.7 seed, and Marion Bartoli, seeded No.8.
Seeds aren't the only players to watch this week. One potential threat to the title is former world No.1 and two-time Berlin winner Amelie Mauresmo, who, should she beat compatriot Aravane Rezai in the opening round, would face Ivanovic in the second round. French youngster Alize Cornet lurks in Williams' section of the draw, and reached back-to-back semifinals in the two green clay events a few weeks ago in Amelia Island and Charleston.
This is Berlin's 28th straight year as a Sony Ericsson WTA Tour event. It boasts a fantastic list of former champs, including all-time leaders Graf and Henin, as well as two-time winners Chris Evert, Conchita Martinez and Mauresmo. Henin, Ivanovic, Mauresmo and Petrova are the returning champs.
-- Sony Ericsson WTA Tour
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