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French Open - Wilander backs Henin
Eurosport - Mon, 04 Jun 16:37:00 2007
French Open - Three-time French Open champion Mats Wilander casts his expert
eye over Tuesday's women's quarter-finals at Roland Garros.
Top seed and title-holder Justine Henin meets Serena Williams in a repeat of
the 2003 semi-final which saw the Belgian win a controversial three-setter.
And Wilander is backing Henin, who has now won 29 consecutive sets on the
clay in Paris, to march on through to the final from the top-half of the draw.
He said: "29 sets in a row is amazing. What makes her so dominant is that she
moves better than the other women, she's a little lighter on her feet and
she's also really strong.
"She hits her backhand with lots of top spin but she can also slice it and of
course her forehand is the big weapon which she can roll, hit it high or
flatten it out.
"And she has the heart of a champion, she plays very smart, she gets very
emotional on the court, she's definitely the player to beat."
But the Swede is not ruling out a Russian challenge from the bottom half of
the draw.
Second seed Maria Sharapova produced a battling performance to defeat Patty
Schnyder 9-7 in the third but Wilander believes it's compatriot Svetlana
Kuznetsova who has a better chance of reaching the final for the second year
in succession.
"Sharapova plays with a lot of heart and the more emotional she gets, the
smarter I think she plays," Wilander commented.
"She's showing a more mature Maria Sharapova than I've seen in the past but
the clay courts are still a bit slippery for her I think and she needs to
raise her level a little more.
"Kuznetsova's chances are great. She's won the US Open once and she really
has grown up on clay and played a lot of claycourt tennis in Spain under the
eyes of Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario and Emilio Sanchez-Vicario.
"Quarter-final opponent Ana Ivanovic is maybe a bit young. She hits the ball
really hard and is maybe more of a hardcourt player. Kuznetsova is a danger
to anyone on any given day."
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