Justine Henin and Ana Ivanovic have set up a semi-final clash at Sydney's WTA Medibank International.
World number one gears up for Australian Open with straight-sets win
Justine Henin and Ana Ivanovic have set up a semi-final clash at the WTA Medibank International after both players came through their last eight matches in Sydney on Wednesday.
World number one Henin came through her contest against Estonia's Kaia Kanepi in prompt fashion, the Belgian taking just 52 minutes to win 6-2 6-0.
Ivanovic also kept her part of the bargain, although she found the going rather tougher against Slovenia's Katarina Srebotnik - pair spending almost two hours on court before the big-hitting Serbian triumphed 6-3 3-6 6-2.
The manner of Henin's victory perhaps explains why she is favourite to win the Australian Open, which gets underway in Melbourne on Monday.
Commenting on her preparations for the season's first Grand Slam, Henin said: "I'm number one in the world and I can understand everyone seeing me as the favourite, but I can tell you that every time I wake up I know that anything can happen and I try to do the best I can.
"I'm really focused and I just try to be well prepared. A Grand Slam is long, there are seven matches and you need to be strong, mentally, physically; you need a little bit of luck."
But the seven-time Grand Slam winner also acknowledged that her opponents will likely up their game when they play her.
"I can feel it, they always have a better level which is interesting and very exciting for me because it's always a good challenge to keep my ranking and to improve," she added.
Well prepared
Ivanovic is certainly well prepared to do battle Down Under, the world number four having been practising in Sydney for almost a month.
"I've definitely had a good preparation and I'm really happy that I've won the last couple of matches and had a chance to slowly get into it," she said after beating Srebotnik.
"Winning a couple of matches has definitely given me some confidence and coming into the Australian Open I feel much better."
Meanwhile, former US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova will face Czech Nicole Vaidisova in Thursday's second semi-final Thursday after they respectively beat Italy's Francesca Schiavone and world number three Jelena Jankovic.
