Tennis: Steely Henin Battles on to Face Sharapova

Maria Sharapova will have followed Justine Henin-Hardenne's struggle to beat Svetlana Kuznetsova yesterday with the cool and calculating eyes of a killer. The match stretched over three energy-sapping sets and more than three hours, which could suit the Wimbledon champion fine.

Sharapova, the world No1 in waiting, may be more vulnerable on clay than any other surface but she knew that the length of this fourth-round match immeasurably improved her chances against Henin today when all the women's quarter-finals will be played. "I think I'm getting better and better and, if people underestimate me on clay, then they'll be surprised," she said.

It is doubtful, given her immense competitive instincts, that anybody would underestimate her, least of all her fellow players. If, as is expected, the sun shines again today, then Sharapova will have a further edge. "I can go for a little more if the conditions are lighter; if not, I'll have to be patient," she said. "I feel fit enough to do that. I'll just go out there and be even tougher and play even better than I have so far."

The 18-year-old Sharapova completed her fourth-round match, held over from Sunday because of rain, with three rapid games to defeat Spain's Nuria Llagostera Vives 6-2, 6-3. Meanwhile Henin's travails were just beginning in a brutal encounter that saw Kuznetsova miss two match points at 5-3 in the third set.

The Russian, understandably, was of the opinion that she had lost the match rather than Henin having won it: "I didn't play my game. On those match points I didn't do anything. I was just putting the ball in and not being aggressive." But, as Sharapova observed: "It's not just a physical game out there." Mental toughness is every bit as important and her match with Henin will be an almighty battle of wills.

Kuznetsova felt she was "much fitter" than the Belgian but that at crucial moments she could not control her nerves, despite the experience of winning the US Open last autumn, after an all-Russian final against Elena Dementieva.

"It doesn't mean anything," said Kuznetsova. "The more you want something, the more nerves you get. It doesn't matter how much experience you have. All the players get nervous, even the best ones."

Henin, the champion here in 2003, drew on the memories of two epic matches to see her through to her 7-6, 4-6, 7-5 victory. The first was her US Open semi-final against Jennifer Capriati in 2003 on her way to the title and the second was the Olympic semi-final, when she came back from 5-1 down in the third against Russia's Anastasia Myskina, last year's winner here.

"I don't think it was luck that I won today," she said. "Svetlana is a very difficult opponent because she hits the ball so heavy but I put pressure on her to be afraid at the end of the match. The one thing I always have is my determination."

Just after she had won Henin raised her eyes and hands to the sky. Her mother, Françoise, who died of intestinal cancer when Henin was 13, had first brought her to Roland Garros as a child. "It's difficult for me to find words," she said, "but I know that she is with me."