Justine Henin has advanced to the semifinals of her first Grand Slam tournament in two years, beating Nadia Petrova of Russia 7-6 (3), 7-5 at the Australian Open.
Henin, who is in her second tournament since returning from a 20-month retirement, won the first set on Tuesday with one of her trademark backhands soon after taking a 6-1 lead in the tiebreaker. Petrova broke Henin's service in the opening game of the second set and led 3-0 before Henin, unranked and playing on a wild card entry, won seven of the next nine games.
{{^htLoading}} {{/htLoading}}
Petrova had beaten US Open champion Kim Clijsters and French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova on her way to the quarterfinals.
Advertisement
{{/htLoading}}{{#usCountry}}