TENNIS:WOMEN'S SINGLES: Justin Henin proved she is a genuine contender for this year's title after she defeated fifth seed Elena Dementieva in straight sets yesterday.
The seven-time major winner has been touted as a possible winner after returning from 20 months on the sidelines to reach the final in Brisbane a fortnight ago, and strengthened her claims after winning 7-5 7-6 (8-6) in the second-round match.
Henin’s fellow recently-returned Belgian, Kim Clijsters, also booked her passage to the third round along with top seeds Dinara Safina, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Carolin Wozniacki and Jelena Jankovic.
But for Henin it was an emotional night as the Belgian proved to herself she could yet claim her second title at Melbourne Park.
Clijsters prevailed in a tricky second-round match with veteran Tamarine Tanasugarn, winning 6-3 6-3. The 26-year-old Belgian, however, was far from comfortable against the heavy hitting of her 32-year-old Thai opponent, the world number 99, who reached the quarter-finals of Wimbledon in 2008.
Russia’s Safina beat Barbora Zahlavova Strycova of the Czech Republic 6-3 6-4 and will now meet Britain’s Elena Baltacha.
Kuznetsova beat fellow Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-2 6-2, while eighth seed Jankovic beat Britain’s Katie O’Brien 6-2 6-2.
MEN’S SINGLES: Reigning US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro survived an epic five-set match against American James Blake to move into the third round in Melbourne.
The 21-year-old fourth seed had to rally from behind to overcome his older rival 6-4 6-7 (3/7) 5-7 6-3 10-8 in a match that lasted four hours and 17 minutes under the Hisense Arena lights.
Del Potro’s fellow top seeds enjoyed far easier paths through yesterday, with defending champion Rafael Nadal, fifth seed Andy Murray and seventh seed Andy Roddick winning in straight sets.
Del Potro’s bid was nearly derailed early by the 30-year-old Blake.
Both players finished an energy-sapping encounter suffering with cramp before Del Potro sealed the match in the 18th game of the fifth set with a forehand down the line.
It was tough on Blake, who was forced to back up less than 24 hours after playing his rain-delayed first-round match yesterday.
Nadal needed only one hour and 53 minutes to brush aside Slovakia’s Lukas Lacko 6-2 6-2 6-2 in the Rod Laver Arena during the day session.
Murray was also hardly troubled as he breezed past France’s Marc Gicquel 6-1 6-4 6-3.
Roddick also side-stepped Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci 6-3 6-4 6-4 without much fuss.
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/YVIRIOZQ35EWRPZXR27KGMO6YU.png)