I’m loving the way the Brisbane draw is shaking out, with Kim Clijsters in one semi (playing German Andrea Petkovic) and Justine Henin and Ana Ivanovic in the other.
I’m really looking forward to Justine vs. Ana. I’m not holding out for a great match, but I do think it will be an interesting one!
Justine owns the head-to-head 4-0, with her last win coming two years ago in Sydney, when she was No. 1 and Ana was in the top 5. Justine retired that spring, and Ana went on to win the French Open – accepting the trophy from 2007 champ Henin - and take the No. 1 ranking. Fast forward to the present and Justine is an unranked wildcard and Ana is just shy of the top twenty. So a lot has changed, and changed again, since they last faced each other across the net – but will it change the match-up?
Neither player has waltzed through the draw this week. Justine was pushed to a third set tiebreaker against Melinda Czink yesterday and may not be resilient enough (yet) to recover fully. Ana’s played a couple three-setters on her way to the semis and has been angry with her racquet all week.
Ivanovic and Henin are first up Friday morning in Brisbane. They’re playing at 11:00 am local time, which I reckon is 8:00 pm east coast time on Thursday night in the States. Clijsters and Petkovic are the third match on court.
In the States, Tennis Channel isn’t showing the women’s semifinals until Saturday afternoon (click here for the TV schedule) but there should be a live stream available – click here for live streaming options.
Video of Justine after her quarterfinal match:
Enjoy the match, everyone!






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