Thu Jun 21 17:53:50 2007

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Henin, Mauresmo ease into Eastbourne semis

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Eastbourne, England (Sports Network) - Top seeds Justine Henin of Belgium and Amelie Mauresmo of France were a pair of easy quarterfinal winners Thursday at the $600,000 International Women's Open, a final Wimbledon tune-up.

The top-ranked and reigning Eastbourne titlist Henin whipped fifth- seeded Czech Nicole Vaidisova 6-2, 6-2, while the 2006 Wimbledon champion, two-time major titlist and former world No. 1 Mauresmo handled sixth-seeded Israeli Shahar Peer 6-3, 6-4 on the grass courts at Devonshire Park International Tennis Centre.

The '06 Wimbledon runner-up and reigning three-time French Open champion Henin beat Russian Anastasia Myskina in last year's Eastbourne finale. The six-time Grand Slam titlist was last year's Wimbledon runner-up to Mauresmo and just captured her fourth overall French Open title less than two weeks ago.

Henin's semifinal opponent on Friday will be eighth-seeded Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli, while Mauresmo will encounter third-seeded Nadia Petrova. The Russian Petrova snuck past ninth-seeded Austrian Sybille Bammer 6-7 (6-8), 7-5, 6-4, while Bartoli blew past two-time Grand Slam runner-up and fourth-seeded Elena Dementieva of Russia 6-1, 6-0.