Henin to meet Venus in Antwerp final

KATIE NGUYEN

ANTWERP (BELGIUM), FEBRUARY 17: Second seed Justine Henin fought back from a set down to reach the Antwerp Open final with a 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Switzerland’s Patty Schnyder on Saturday. In a repeat of last year’s Wimbledon final, Henin will face world No.2 Venus Williams, who overpowered third-seeded Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo 7-6, 6-0 on Sunday. Henin initially struggled to find her rhythm as she dropped her serve twice in the first set and hit several unforced errors to lose six games in a row.

The local favourite, backed by cheering fans, fought hard to hold her opening service game but then came unstuck as Schnyder took advantage of Henin’s numerous backhand errors to easily wrap up the set. “It’s not always easy to find my rhythm,” said Henin, who lost last year’s Wimbledon final to Williams. “I wasn’t aggressive enough.”

However, the turning point for Henin came at breakpoint in the fourth game of the second set when the 23-year-old Swiss lost her temper and slammed her racket to the ground after an apparently wide shot by the Belgian was judged in.