Sharapova ends Henin's unbeaten run

Russian tennis player Maria Sharapova plays a backhand return during her women's singles match against Belgian opponent Justine Henin at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, yesterday. Sharapova won 6-4, 6-0. PHOTO: AFP

Maria Sharapova ended top-ranked Justine Henin's 32-match winning streak with a 6-4, 6-0 victory yesterday to advance to the Australian Open semi-finals for the fourth-straight year.

Sharapova 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 -- 3 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."

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France looks up during a changeover while playing against Mikhail Youzhny of Russia in their men's singles quarter-final match at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne yesterday. PHOTO: AFP

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 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 a 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.

Jankovic seeded third and Williams seventh, so on paper, her victory wasn't an upset. But as good as Jankovic has been in rising through the rankings, she has never reached the final of a Grand Slam, while Williams seemed to be close to the form that she once used to dominate women's tennis.

Suddenly, stunningly, gone were Williams' chances of defending her title. Gone were images of her spryly sprinting on the court in her first four matches, clearly leaner and fitter than last year, raising questions whether anyone could beat her.

Instead, the last memories will be of Williams struggling against some internal quicksand, of smashing her racket -- bashing it twice when, like on so many points this day, she just didn't put enough power into the spike to finish it off the first time.

"My shots just weren't right," Williams said. "I didn't move the way I traditionally want to move, and I wasn't feeling 100 percent. But as an athlete, you know not every day you're going to feel 100 percent, and some days you have to win feeling 30 percent."

"I'm not going to sit here and make excuses," she added, refusing to specify what was wrong with her physically. "I lost because Jelena played better than me and I made too many errors. I think regardless, the match was on my racket, and I gave it away."

Williams Jankovic in the fourth round here last year, and there was little cause to think this would be any different, especially with the Serbian woman still not completely recovered from a thigh injury suffered shortly before the tournament began.

"Getting revenge, it feels so good," Jankovic said. "I'm like a wounded animal. I still keep going."

"It was an unbelievable match. I am still shaking. I came out very strong and I was going for my shots. Especially my backhand down the line was working unbelievably and that's how I hurt my opponent. I just kept hitting it and luckily it was all going in," she said.