Sun Jan 20 00:22:33 2008

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Henin reaches quarterfinals at Aussie Open

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Melbourne, Australia (Sports Network) - Top seed Justine Henin advanced to the quarterfinals of the Australian Open on Sunday by winning her 32nd straight match, a two-set victory over Taiwan's Su-Wei Hsieh.

Henin, the 2004 Australian Open champion and reigning French and U.S. Open titlist, had a relatively easy time, winning 6-2, 6-2. Hsieh, who had never advanced beyond the first round at Melbourne before this year's tournament, fought off match point twice in the second set.

But Henin was dominant -- winning 10 straight games after being down 2-1 in the first set -- and eventually closed out the win. She will face either 11th seed Elena Dementieva, or fifth seed Maria Sharapova, in the quarterfinals.

Henin, a seven-time Grand Slam champion, is also on a Grand Slam tear. Henin, who missed last year's Australian Open due to a breakdown in her marriage hasn't lost since the semifinals at Wimbledon last season.

Also on Sunday, in third round play, ninth seed Daniela Hantuchova beat Virginia Ruano Pascual, 6-2, 6-3. Nadia Petrova, the 14th seed, won the second-set tiebreak, 10-8, to take a 6-1, 7-6 win over Ekaterina Makarova.

Marta Domachowska upset 24th seed Na Li, 2-6, 6-2, 6-4; and Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark needed three sets to oust Germany's Sabine Lisicki, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.