Tennis-Wimbledon-Henin up and running in hunt for second slam
( 2003-06-25 09:27) (Agencies)
French Open champion Justine Henin-Hardenne began her Wimbledon title bid
with an impressive 7-5 6-1 win over Ukrainian Julia Vakulenko in the first round
on Tuesday.
Third seed Henin-Hardenne stepped on a sun-baked court one with her left hand
and fingers heavily strapped, following her fall in the Ordina Open final three
days ago, but she did not appear to be hindered by the injury.
Despite being ranked 97 places below the Belgian world number three,
Vakulenko kept pace with Henin-Hardenne until the 11th game of a high-quality
contest.
The 19-year-old's resolve finally crumbled when, looking to stay in the set,
she hit three backhand errors in a row to hand Henin-Hardenne two set points.
The Belgian needed only one and let out a huge sigh of relief when
Vakulenko's forehand sailed long after 48 minutes to end the first-set tussle.
Henin-Hardenne stepped up a gear in the second and steamrollered the
Ukrainian with her devastating all-court game to wrap up the win a minute past
the hour mark when Vakulenko miscued a forehand long.
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