Henin suffers shock Berlin defeat
Henin’s French Open preparations suffered a blow in Berlin
The Belgian, playing only her second match following a month off with a knee injury, went down 5-7 6-3 6-1.
It was Henin’s first defeat on clay since losing to Svetlana Kuznetsova in the Berlin semi-finals last year.
There was another shock as third seed Kuznetsova lost 1-6 6-2 6-2 to Alona Bondarenko, but Serena Williams beat Agnieszka Radwanska 6-3 6-1.
Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic
are also in action later on Thursday.
Henin’s defeat means she misses out on a clash with Williams in the last eight.
Justine Henin
A three-times winner in Berlin and four-times French Open champion, Henin had been looking to kick-start her season on her favourite surface ahead of defending her Roland Garros title later this month.
But despite having won all five previous meetings against Safina, the top seed struggled desperately on serve and was broken eight times.
“It was pretty difficult out there and very frustrating, I am very disappointed,” said Henin.
606: DEBATE Who will take the title in Berlin? “I struggled during the whole match, I didn’t have the intensity, she just played better then me.”
She added: “This week was important, not only in terms of the French Open, but also in terms of getting some confidence back.
“I will take a few days off, focus on Rome and we will see what happens now in the next few weeks.”