First match in 20 months and Belgian routs Petrova at Brisbane International
SYDNEY: Belgium’s Justine Henin made a triumphant return to professional tennis on Monday with a 7-5 7-5 win over Russia’s Nadia Petrova in the first round of the Brisbane International.Playing her first official match in 20 months, the 27-year-old Henin showed she had lost none of her fighting qualities as she ground out a hard-fought victory against Petrova.
“Henin is playing better tennis than before she retired,” said Petrova, who was seeded second for the tournament but unluckily drew Henin after the seven-time grand slam winner was granted a wild card.
“It is good news that she is back.”
Henin walked away from tennis at the top of her game in May 2008 when she was ranked number one in the world but announced last year she was making a comeback.
She has been training for almost five months in preparation for the Australian Open, starting Jan 18, and could not have made a better start.
“I have been waiting for this moment for so long. I am so happy about what I did on the court,” she said.
Another former world number one, Serbia’s Ana Ivanovic, registered her first win in almost five months by beating Australia’s Jelena Dokic 7-5, 1-6, 6-3 in an earlier match.
Ivanovic, who has slipped to 21st in the world rankings after failing to win a tournament in 2009, overcame a lapse of concentration in the second set to see off Dokic, who contributed to her own downfall with 11 double-faults.
Dokic has become the new darling of Australian tennis after she rode a wave of public support and national sympathy to reach the quarter-finals of last year’s Australian Open.
The 26-year-old was unhappy with her loss to Ivanovic but still buoyed by the fact she was at least able to challenge.
“To come out and play three sets and still not to be satisfied with my game is a good sign,” Dokic said.
“A match like this will make me tougher and hopefully I can get a better draw in the next couple of weeks.”
Frenchman Richard Gasquet buried some of his own demons by beating Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.
Gasquet was cleared late last year over a positive cocaine test he said was the result of kissing a woman in a nightclub and was just relieved to be playing again without any external worries.
“It is just good for me to play with nothing in the head,” he said. — Reuters