Henin breathes easy after heated Miami win
Miami - Stifling spring heat made life on the court a challenge for Justine Henin as she overcame the elements to reach the fourth round of the Miami Masters on Sunday.
The Belgian top seed defeated Italy’s Sara Errani 6-2, 6-1. Svetlana Kuznetsova, the 2006 champion, had to mount a huge fightback to escape against Viktoria Azarenka. After trailing badly in the second set, the Russian found her form just in time for a 1-6, 7-5, 6-0 third-round win. Venus Williams, seeded sixth, had no trouble as she ended the run of New Zealand’s
number 101 Marina Erakovic with a 6-2, 6-1 result. Henin said the searing sub-tropical sun provided a new set of challenges as she plays in her first event in a month. ‘It’s very hot out there, it’s humid and not that easy conditions,’ said the world number one. ‘But it was good. After my first match, I have good confidence.’ The winner said that a high overhead sun was not as much of a worry as the muggy conditions which made her breathing difficult. ‘It was really good enough to win pretty easily, so I’m happy. Maybe a few weeks ago it would have been another story in this kind of match. ‘So that means I’ve really improved in the last few weeks,’ said a player who has been treating a right knee injury all season. Dmitry Tursunov got the first men’s result on the day, beating Spain’s Feliciano Lopez, the Dubai finalist against Andy Murray last month, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.