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Henin Extends Streak

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The Associated Press

Published: January 18, 2008

MELBOURNE, Australia - Justine Henin ran her winning streak to 31 matches today, overcoming serving troubles to hold off 25th-seeded Francesca Schiavone 7-5, 6-4 in the third round of the Australian Open.

The top-ranked Belgian star will face Aravene Rezai or Hsieh Su-wei in the fourth round, and a quarterfinal against Maria Sharapova looms.

"I hate to look too far," Henin said. "I just want to get ready, improve my game and be in my best shape. I know the draw, but I like to stay concentrated on myself."

After retiring from the 2006 Australian final against Amelie Mauresmo because of a stomach illness, Henin skipped the event last year because she was going through a divorce.

She has dominated the women's tour since returning, finishing 63-4, including two majors and the season-ending championship in 2007, and adding the Sydney International title last week to build up for Melbourne Park.

She got only 48 percent of her first serves into play and was lucky it didn't cost her more against Schiavone, who has a similar style.

"It was really exciting. I'm glad to win in two," Henin said. "She's always given me trouble in the past, so it was a tough third round for me."

Henin controlled the crucial points better than Schiavone, who frequently screamed or covered her face after mistakes.

After the two players exchanged four service breaks in the first set, Schiavone served at 5-5. The Italian double-faulted on the first point, then came a foot fault as she served at break point.

In the second, Henin was down 0-1 and 15-30 before winning 15 of 16 points in four straight games. Schiavone hit back, and had the ideal chance to get back on serve with double break point as Henin served for the match, but over-hit a forehand when she returned a second serve. Henin won the last three points to close.

Nikolay Davydenko, seeded fourth, advanced to the fourth round of the men's draw, beating France's Marc Gicquel 6-3, 6-2, 6-3.
Marcos Baghdatis downed 2005 champion Marat Safin 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 3-6, 6-2 in a momentum-swinging match that stretched into this morning and completed the second round.

Fernando Gonzalez, who lost last year's championship match, beat South Korean Lee Hyung-taik 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.

Defending champion Serena Williams beat No. 26 Victoria Azarenka 6-3, 6-4.

The win sends Williams into a fourth-round match against No. 12 Nicole Vaidisova, who beat Japan's Ai Sugiyama 6-3, 6-4.

Second-ranked Svetlana Kuznetsova, a former U.S. Open champion, rallied from 5-2 down in the first set to win in straight sets against Tsvetana Pironkova. Other women's seeded players advancing were No. 3 Jelena Jankovic, No. 4 Ana Ivanovic, No. 6 Anna Chakvetadze, No. 9 Daniela Hantuchova and No. 14 Nadia Petrova.

Men advancing to the third round were No. 3 Novak Djokovic, No. 5 David Ferrer, No. 7 Fernando Gonzalez, No. 10 David Nalbandian, No. 12 James Blake of Tampa, No. 13 Tomas Berdych, No. 19 Lleyton Hewitt and former No. 1-ranked Juan Carlos Ferrero.

Blake beat American Michael Russell 6-3, 6-2, 6-2.

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