Henin toughs out win over Dementieva in Australia
MELBOURNE, Australia - Justine Henin knows how it feels to waste match points and then lose to a fellow Grand Slam champion.
She wasn't about to make the same mistakes Wednesday.
Only seven matches into her comeback, Henin held off fifth-ranked Elena Dementieva 7-5, 7-6 (6), winning the last three points of the tiebreaker for a second-round victory at the Australian Open. She ended it on her second match point - 24 minutes after she missed her first chance.
Henin, who retired in May 2008 while she was ranked No. 1, knows she's capable of reproducing the form that took her to seven Grand Slam singles titles. "I lived so much emotion on the court this evening. It was magical," she said. "I was afraid I wouldn't be able to do it, but it was the kind of situation I needed to re-find my confidence."
On the men's side, Juan Martin del Potro, who upset Roger Federer to win last year's U.S. Open, needed 4 hours, 17 minutes to hold off James Blake 6-4, 6-7 (3), 5-7, 6-3, 10-8.
Following her victory, Henin recalled her loss to fellow Belgian Clijsters in the Brisbane International final less than two weeks ago - in her first tournament in 20 months. With a quarterfinal against Clijsters on the radar here, Henin put some lessons into play.
"When I missed that [match point], when [Dementieva] came back to 5-all, I thought about Brisbane and the opportunities I got," Henin said. "Already playing well, and got the opportunity to finish the match and I couldn't, because my nerves wasn't probably solid enough."
After recovering from a set and a break down against Clijsters, Henin got two match points. But she'd failed to convert them, and finally lost the three-set final.
"I really thought in the tiebreak I wouldn't be strong enough," said Henin. "And when I got the opportunities, and the way I finished on serve and volley, I mean, it was the best I could dream of."
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