Justine Henin produced a stunning comeback against Jelena Jankovic to close in on her first title since making her return to tennis.
Belgian star overcomes fourth seed in Germany
Justine Henin produced a stunning comeback against Jelena Jankovic in Stuttgart to close in on her first WTA title since making her return to tennis.
Belgian Henin, who made her comeback from an 18-month retirement earlier this year, rallied from the brink of defeat to see off fourth-seeded Jankovic in a blistering 3-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 battle at the Porsche Grand Prix.
Unseeded Henin looked destined for a loss when she fell one set behind, but fought to win the second-set tie-break before storming on from there to wrap up the decider and bring her personal record against Serbian Jankovic to 10-0.
Intense
"I still don't know how I did it," said former world number one Henin. "It was really intense."
"She played very consistently in the first set and I was under a lot of pressure. I kept fighting and I am really happy to get through."
Jankovic, another former world number one, says Henin is just as strong as she was before her retirement in 2008.
"She is playing the same, she is still one of the best on clay," said Jankovic.
"You have to hold your ground, as soon as you lose concentration she takes advantage, she has so much experience.
"We both played a good match and maybe I was a little unlucky at the crucial times. I had a break point at 5-5 in the second and I was hoping to pounce on her serve but she hit one of her best serves of the match with her second serve."
Henin will next take on in-form Israeli Shahar Peer, who advanced to the last four after dumping out second seed Dinara Safina.
Unseeded Peer needed just over an hour to record a 6-3 6-2 victory over the Russian world number three, who continued to suffer with the back problem that had kept her out of tennis since January.
"I was playing pretty solidly today and I am glad I didn't have to go to three sets," said Peer.
Convincing
Earlier, Australian seventh seed Samantha Stosur also booked a spot in the semis with a 6-3 6-3 triumph over Li Na of China, marking her 10th consecutive victory.
"It was quite a tough match and hard to get a rhythm," said Stosur, who made just seven unforced errors.
"I didn't realise I had made so few errors, so that is a good result. Any match where you go through and don't drop serve is a good day."
Stosur will next face Russian qualifier Anna Lapushchenkova, ranked 138th in the world, who will play her first career semi-final after defeating Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic 7-6 (7-1) 1-6 6-1.
