Henin Main Threat to Williams Dominance

It would have been inconceivable five years ago that Belgium might pose the main threat to the might of the United States in the women's game, but that is precisely what is happening with Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin-Hardenne spearheading the fight against the dominance of the Williams sisters.

Tomorrow the recently married Henin takes on Venus Williams for a place in Saturday's final. "If Venus plays like she did against me then she has a great chance to win the tournament, but you cannot rule out Justine because she's such a fighter," said Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova, who lost her quarter-final against the older of the Williams sisters 6-4, 6-3.

There were fears that Henin might miss her quarter-final against Virginia Ruano Pascual after her physically and mentally exhausting fourth-round victory over Lindsay Davenport. During that match, which lasted 3 hours, the 20-year-old Henin fell to the ground with cramp in the third set before recovering to win 7-5, 5-7, 9-7, and also suffered from dehydration.

Henin pulled out of the doubles and was ordered not to practise until yesterday morning, when she returned with her left leg heavily strapped. However, she insisted the bandage was only a precaution and entered the Rod Laver Arena in the early evening - the so-called twilight match - with no strapping.

She badly needed a quick start but Ruano Pascual was determined to make her run around as much as possible. Two early drop-shots by the 29-year-old Spaniard and a gorgeous winning lob set the pattern, Henin's opening service game lasting 12 minutes as Ruano Pascual took a 2-0 lead.

It was not so much that Henin was displaying any physical problems, rather that she appeared mentally jaded, which was hardly surprising. She blew out her cheeks and blinked hard, like someone who had just awoken from a heavy sleep and was desperately trying to sort out what time of day it was.

Ruano Pascual, trying to become only the sixth unseeded woman to reach the semi-finals of the Australian Open since 1981, had done everything right until this point. But Henin immediately rediscovered her real self to win 6-2, 6-2 and set up the match against Williams.

The two have met on seven occasions, with Williams holding a 6-1 lead, including victory in the 2001 Wimbledon final, the third of the American's four grand slam titles. Henin's one success came in their first meeting on clay in Berlin two years ago.

"I hated that one loss. I always remember the losses more than the wins, so I guess I'll keep that in mind this time," said Williams.

The only thing that Williams lost against Hantuchova was a large gold earring, which fell to the ground after she had flung herself to the left to hit a backhand cross-court winner that set up match point. There was a time when both Williams sisters sprayed their hair beads about the court but these days there is generally little loose about any aspect of their play.

The 19-year-old Hantuchova, coached by Britain's Nigel Sears, has risen to No8 in the world and took Venus to three sets in the third round of last year's Australian Open. But on this occasion - her third successive grand slam quarter- final - she tried to match Williams' fire with fire and was severely burned.