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Rediff.com  » Sports » Henin breezes past Schnyder

Henin breezes past Schnyder

By Alexandra Hudson
May 07, 2005 21:27 IST
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Former world number one Justine Henin-Hardenne was in ominous form as she demolished seventh seed Patty Schnyder 6-0 6-1 to reach the German Open final on Saturday.

Henin-Hardenne easily outclassed her Swiss opponent to extend her winning streak to 16 matches and will face either Jelena Jankovic or Russian sixth seed Nadia Petrova in Sunday's title match as she bids to win her third German Open.

The Belgian 22-year-old broke Schnyder's opening service game with forehand winners and she made the most of the wet conditions which slowed down play on the red clay.

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"She
is like a great champion. If this is the way she is playing she is going to win all matches," said Schnyder.

In a contest lasting 51 minutes, Henin-Hardenne's serve was barely tested in the opening set. An inconsistent Schnyder failed in her attempt to register on the scoreboard by missing a break point in the fourth game.

The Belgian saved four break points in the second set as Schnyder struggled to salvage her form.

"If you have no bounce because of the heavy rain it wasn't good for me. She was everywhere on the court and I didn't have an answer," said Schnyder.

"She has a lot more force than me so it was almost impossible to beat her under those conditions," she added.

Ranked 15th in the world after a long spell out through illness last year and an injury at the start of this season, the resurgent Belgian has won two of the three previous events she has played since returning to the circuit in March.

Having triumphed at Roland Garros in 2003, Henin-Hardenne's current run of form has made her one of the front-runners for the claycourt grand slam, which begins in Paris on May 23rd.

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Alexandra Hudson
Source: REUTERS
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