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Sharapova ends Henin's 32-match winning streak
Published on Tue, Jan 22, 2008 at 17:21 in Sports section
Tags: Tennis, Australian Open , Melbourne
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Melbourne: Maria Sharapova ended top-ranked Justine Henin's 32-match winning streak with a 6-4, 6-0 victory on Tuesday to advance to the Australian Open semi-finals for the fourth straight year.
Sharapova won't have to face Serena Williams, who beat her in last year's final, after the eight-time Grand Slam winner was ousted 6-3, 6-4 by Jelena Jankovic.
Fifth-ranked Sharapova was beaten by Henin at the season-ending championships in Madrid two months ago in one of the longest-ever women's tour matches - three hours and 24 minutes - and had a 2-6 record against the Belgian.
But she came out hot on a cool night, constantly putting pressure on Henin and refusing to wilt when things got tight.
"It's just incredible," Sharapova said. "I really felt like I was in a bubble today."
She was looking forward to taking on Jankovic.
"We kind of grew up together, practicing at the same academy," Sharapova said.
"It's a bit strange. We were always doing the same thing, playing the same groups. It was both of our dreams playing in a Grand Slam, especially playing each other."
On the men's side, second-ranked Rafael had a 7-5, 6-3, 6-1 win over No. 24 Jarkko Nieminen of Finland, making the semi-finals for the first time in four trips to the Australian Open.
"Maybe I wasn't playing my best match, my best tennis today, but it was enough," Nadal said. "It's a good moment for me, first semi-finals on hardcourt, Grand Slam."
The only player to beat Roger Federer in the last 10 Grand Slam tournaments, Nadal will face the winner of the late match between No. 14 Mikhail Youzhny and unseeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
Sharapova, going for winners and keeping Henin on the run with deep, stinging groundstrokes, rushed to a 3-0 lead in the first set.
Henin, the crowd favorite in packed Rod Laver Arena, kicked a ball after a fault in a rare show of anger.
She broke Sharapova as she served for the first set at 5-3, only to be broken on a pair of backhand winners in the next game by the Russian, who let out a primal scream of joy and relief.
With little going right for Henin, who won the French Open and US Open titles after missing the Australian Open last year, Sharapova rushed through the second set, ripping 15 winners to only five unforced errors.
It was the first time that Henin had lost a set 6-0 since she was beaten in the first round at the 2002 French Open 4-6, 6-1, 6-0 by Aniko Kapros, a qualifier from Hungary.
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