World number one Justine Henin is into the final of Stuttgart's WTA tournament after a marathon tussle with third seed Jelena Jankovic.
STUTTGART: World number one Justine Henin is into the final of Stuttgart's WTA tournament after a marathon tussle with third seed Jelena Jankovic in the best game of the tournament so far.
This was the sixth consecutive time this season - and the fourth semi-final - where the Belgian has beaten Jankovic.
Once again, it was a hard battle between two of the best power-hitters in the game with both players taking risks in an attempt to steal an advantage.
The pair matched each other shot for shot in the first set until Henin pulled ahead in the tie-break and held on for a 7-6 (7/2) win after 58 minutes of high-class tennis at Stuttgart's Porsche Arena.
Jankovic was visibly tired in the second and Henin established herself to secure a 7-5 win in 56 minutes to stay on course to pick up her eighth WTA title this year after Grand Slam wins at the US Open and Roland Garros.
But it was hard not to feel some sympathy for the Serb who has played a high-standard of tennis all week and has never beaten Henin in eight meetings.
"I don't know what I have to do to beat her, this is the eighth time she has beaten me," said Jankovic.
"The first set was really tough, we were both playing well."
"I didn't play that well in the tie-breaker that was a crucial part of the game."
This is the first tournament Henin has played since last month's US Open and Jankovic said the difference was clear to see.
"Justine is fairly fresh here, where as I am tired and the body isn't feeling like it should," said the 22-year-old Serb.
"I had tough matches this week, but I am pleased I matched her for most of the game."
"She always seems to play her best tennis against me, perhaps she will have a bad day soon, so I can finally beat her, I just have to keep working hard."
Henin will now play the winner of Saturday's other semi-final between second seed Svetlana Kuznetsova and last year's beaten finalist Tatiana Golovin.
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