PARIS, 6 June 2003 — Fourth seed Justine Henin-Hardenne shocked US defending champion and top seed Serena Williams 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 in an epic 2 hour 20 minute semifinal yesterday to book a meeting with fellow Belgian and second seed Kim Clijsters in the French Open women’s singles final.
Clijsters earlier beat unseeded Russian Nadia Petrova 7-5, 6-1. Henin threw up her arms in the air in triumph as she won an enthralling contest by holding to love after a see-saw decider when Williams drove wide.
The American then drew a hail of booing from a crowd which had been against her throughout as she gave her conqueror the briefest of handshakes at the end.
“The level of the match was very, very high — though I briefly panicked at the idea of winning. But I believed in myself and took it point by point as I kept my focus,” said Henin-Hardenne, scoring her third career win over the outgoing champion.
“Serena can be very intimidating — it was tough to serve out — at 4-2 down in the third I had some doubts — but it’s so good to be into my first final here. I am very happy, It’s an emotional moment — I’ll have to get my energy back for Saturday! It was a wonderful atmosphere — there were so many Belgians here and the French fans were behind me too.”
Henin broke in the opening game with a brilliant trademark backhand down the line after a weak second serve from Serena, who had already staved off two break points. The Belgian was immediately into her rhythm and raced 3-0 clear with a break to love to huge cheers from the Philippe Chatrier center court crowd, overwhelmingly behind the blonde from Liege.
Serena, who went into the match with four wins in previous six meetings against her rival, began to find her bearings in the fourth game and broke back with a smash. Henin-Hardenne, who put a stop to Serena’s 21-match winning record in 2003 when she beat the world No. 1 in the final at Charleston, held for 4-2 and broke to 5-2 when her opponent hit long.
Henin-Hardenne, who bowed to Clijsters in the 2001 semifinal, shrugged off two missed chances by accelerating into a forehand and then acing her way to the opening set in just half an hour. Serena had coughed up 20 unforced errors to just 10 for her rival across the opening set but in the second she dug deep and broke for 3-3 after saving a break point in the third game.
The burly American broke for 5-3 when Henin-Hardenne drove long and then saved a break point created out of a superb low Belgian passing shot. But the challenger stretched to smash home her second opportunity for a rebreak in the ninth game as the match moved to the boil.
Serena again raised the tempo and leveled the contest on her first set point with a clubbed backhand down the line which Henin-Hardenne was unable to get back, a 27th winner for the titleholder to just five for her opponent in the second set.
The decider saw both women’s nerves begin to fray, Serena’s serve in particular losing power. Henin looked to be staring defeat in the face as Serena broke for a 3-1 lead to head seemingly into the victory strait, only to concede her own serve with a netted backhand. However, more errors flowed from the Belgian in the next game as Serena broke again for 4-2.
But the crowd continued to cheer every Serena error as they rooted for the underdog and Henin-Hardenne drew inspiration to move break back. Serena’s first serve percentage slid down to the 50 percent mark as, having led 40-15, she staved off a break point in the ninth game — but a top spin return brought Henin-Hardenne another chance.
Clijsters, beaten finalist two years ago, advanced in 1 hour 10 minutes, but the 19-year-old had a little luck along the way after making a nervous start. She survived a set point against her after Petrova had snatched a break for 5-4, the Belgian benefiting from a slice of good fortune as a netcord plopped just over to frustrate the Russian. A Petrova backhand into the net gave Clijsters an immediate rebreak and she pounced to move clear after 43min on her second set point, clubbing away a forehand to secure the crucial break for 7-5. Petrova had two break points in the opening game of the second set — but missed them both as Clijsters began inexorably to impose her game.
The Russian held with difficulty for 1-1 but Clijsters was by now giving nothing away and forcing her rival to work hard for every point. The end was in sight for Petrova as she fired into the tramlines, allowing Clijsters to open up a 3-1 lead with a break for love. She then held to love and broke once more to streak to the brink of victory.
A classy drop shot completed the job.
