Australian Open 2011 - Justine Henin Shows Sania Mirza Her Place in Tight Encounter

Former No. 1 Justine Henin has had her share of tight matches in the past, but by no means expected to have to go two hours and 12 minutes to subdue an in-form Sania Mirza of India 5-7, 6-3, 6-1 in the first round. But the qualifier Mirza often showed the lethal form that brought her into the top 30 in 2007, bullying Henin with laser forehands and vicious returns and fighting the Belgian hard for two sets before her legs gave out in the third. Henin scraped and clawed during the entire match, trying to figure a way to push the Indian around, but as it was their first contest, it took the savvy Belgian a good hour and half to find a way to keep the ball out of Mirza’s strike zone.

But Henin finally found a way into Mirza’s weaker backhand side, served bigger and with more consistency, and cut loose on short balls when she was presented with them. While Mirza looked more powerful at times, Henin kept pushing herself forward and showed why it is she who has won seven Grand Slams titles, including the 2004 Australian Open, while Mirza has yet to reach a quarterfinal. “She was playing high rhythm, not a lot of mistakes at the beginning, and it was tough for me because I was running a lot,” Henin said. “To get into the match, that wasn’t the perfect situation for me to come into the tournament. But, of course, there are many things we can talk about wasn’t that good in my game. But I think my attitude has been very positive. So I really kept fighting in the second set when I was feeling a bit down at that time. Every point started to count a lot, and I think after that I could act on the match at that time. So I’m glad, because it wasn’t an easy draw for me.”

Mirza looked like she could pull off the upset in the second set, but Henin has never been one to go down quietly. While the finest woman’s player in India’s history owns a substantial amount of firepower off the ground, she’s not as resourceful as Henin is and doesn’t have as many tools in her bag. “It was about taking chances that you have and when you don’t again people like that they are going to be able to win,” Mirza said. “At 2-2 serving at 40-15 I should have taken the game and to be up 3-2 with her serving and feeling pressure of my return is completely different. She was starting to double fault because I was returning so well. With players of lesser caliber you can get away with it, but she’s great athlete and you have to hit four winners to win a point against her. There were so many shots when I thought I had won the point and she comes up with a winner down the line and that’s why she is who she is.”

Henin has been consciously trying to lower expectations on her chances in the tournament as she just returned from a six-month layoff due to an elbow injury she sustained at Wimbledon at the start of this season. However, the small yet super athletic Belgian is clearly capable of winning the event, as last year she came into the tournament after a year and half layoff and reached the final. The perfectionist has always expected a lot of out of herself in any situation and there’s no doubt that she’s capable of playing herself into the tournament.

“I think I need this kind of match exactly to really be into the tournament like I want to be and be at my best level. I know it can go very quickly at this level,” she said. “Of course, I have the experience, but I need matches, I need rhythm, and I need fight, like tonight. And I remain confident, not only about the tournament but for the future. I was feeling very nervous before walking on the court. Even if you have the experience, a first round of a Grand Slam, especially after a long injury, you never know really what to expect. Now I want to keep going. Even if I know I’ve been in a lot of trouble the last few months, I still have a lot of ambition, and this kind of match I think is going to help.”