Henin eases through
Henin eases through 
From correspondents in New York, United States
Former Australian Captain September 01, 2007
TOP seed Justine Henin powered into the last 16 at the US Open on Friday with her third straight-sets victory in three matches. The Belgian ousted Ekaterina Makarova of Russia 6-0, 6-2 in just 50 minutes to set up a fourth tie with Russia’s Dinara Safina, who brushed past American wildcard Ahsha Rolle 6-4, 6-3.
Henin and Safina have met three times with the Belgian winning in straight sets on each occasion.
“I am healthy almost 100 percent, apart from my shoulder. I am very happy with the way I played today,” she said.
“If this girl was in the third round it meant she was playing well, so I had to remain focussed.”
The six-time grand slam event winner barely broke a sweat against 19-year-old Makarova, who was playing in her first grand slam tournament.
She raced through the first set and it was only when she eased off toward the end of the second that Makarova managed to open her account.
The Russian saved three match points on her own serve at 2-5, but a net-cord against her and a double fault sent Henin into the fourth round.
She has lost just nine games in three rounds, but the task before her gets considerably tougher starting with 15th-seeded Safina.
If she gets through that, Henin could face Serena Williams in the quarter-finals with her sister Venus and two tough Serbs, Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic also looming in her half of the draw.
Agence France-Presse