May 6, 2005
Henin-Hardenne Stops Sharapova Streak
BERLIN, Germany - At the Qatar Total German Open, former world No.1 Justine Henin-Hardenne dashed Maria Sharapova's hopes of rising to the top of the rankings, beating the 18-year-old Russian, 62 64, in Friday's quarterfinals.
In doing so, the 22-year-old Belgian handed the No.2-ranked Sharapova her first loss before a semifinal round this year. Had Sharapova won the Qatar Total German Open title, she would have taken over the No.1 ranking from Lindsay Davenport.
Using an array of winning groundstrokes, the No.12 seed avenged her quarterfinal loss to Sharapova at Miami's NASDAQ-100 Open in March.
In the ninth game of the second set, Henin-Hardenne broke Sharapova to go up 5-4 and serve for the match. She needed just one match point to seal the win.
After claiming the Family Circle Cup and the J & S Cup in the past three weeks, Henin-Hardenne is now riding a 15-match win streak and eyeing a third straight title in four events this year. She made her season debut at Miami after injury and illness sidelined her since last year's US Open.
The determined Belgian still has two hurdles before claiming the coveted Qatar Total German Open title.
Her first is No.7 seed Patty Schnyder, the crafty left-hander who beat No.4 seed and defending US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, 62 62, for her semifinal spot.
Schnyder needed just 25 minutes to take the first set and continued her charge into the second set with a 4-1 lead. Kuznetsova was able to get one more game on the board before Schnyder closed it out.
Friday was a bad day for the remaining top four seeds as all were eliminated, including No.2 seed and defending champion Amelie Mauresmo, who was taken out by No.6 seed Nadia Petrova, 62 63, in the first match of the day, which started late due to rain.
Mauresmo couldn't seem to find her rhythm against the powerful Petrova, who benefited from several unforced errors from the Frenchwoman, especially from her backhand, usually Mauresmo's strongest shot.
Petrova is now through to her third career Tier I semifinal and first at Berlin. She now faces the winner of the Elena Bovina-Jelena Jankovic match, which was postponed to Saturday due to darkness. The match is tied at one set each, 3-6, 6-3.
