 |
 |
 |
|
BERLIN (AP) -Top-ranked Justine Henin's setbacks continued Thursday when she lost to Dinara Safina 5-7, 6-3, 6-1 in the third round of the German Open.
Henin's loss to the 17th-ranked Russian followed a 6-2, 6-0 drubbing by Serena Williams at the Sony Ericsson Open last month, the worst for a No. 1 player in nine years. Maria Sharapova also beat her in straight sets at the Australian Open.
Henin returned from a month off with a knee injury hoping to restore her confidence in time to win a fifth French Open title in June.
"Not only for the French, I really wanted to use this tournament to get my confidence back," Henin said. "But it was not enough today - now we'll see the next few weeks."
Henin reached the last six German Open finals, winning three times. The 2003 and 2005 titles set the stage for the first two of her four French Open wins.
Williams breezed to her 17th straight win, ousting 11th-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska 6-3, 6-1 to reach the quarterfinals. Second-seeded Ana Ivanovic joined her with a 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 win against Sybille Bammer.
"I tell myself if I play well, I make it easier on myself," said Williams, who is chasing her fourth straight title. "I'm not tired, I've had a lot of time off and I am in top shape."
Williams thought she would face Henin in the quarterfinals Friday in an event where 17 of the world's top 20 are in the field.
"Obviously, yes, I was ready to play her," Williams said. "But a lot of seeded players went out today, I'm just happy I wasn't one."
Four seeds were beaten, with No. 3 Svetlana Kuznetsova upset by Alona Bondarenko 1-6, 6-2, 6-2 and No. 10 Agnes Szavay getting past No. 8 Marion Bartoli, 7-5, 7-5. Jelena Jankovic, the fourth seed, did advance 6-2, 6-4 against Maria Kirilenko, along with No. 7 Elena Dementieva, who beat Vera Dushevina 7-5, 6-3.
Safina never had taken a set off Henin in five previous meetings.
"Going into the match, I had a feeling today I could win - she hasn't played well since the Australian Open," said Safina.
The Russian led 4-2 in the first set before Henin recovered to break back, winning five games in a row. But Safina took the initiative again in the second, and Henin's chances faded in the decider when Safina lobbed over her to take a 3-0 lead.
"The whole match I didn't have the intensity, I didn't have the consistency," Henin said. "She hit my backhand heavy, I didn't like this so much."
Henin saved five match points while trailing 5-0 and 5-1 in the final set but then missed wide with a forehand to end the match.
