Henin-Hardenne, Clijsters in final
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Top seed Henin-Hardenne had too much class for outsider Fabiola Zuluaga.
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MELBOURNE, Australia (Reuters) -- World No.1 Justine Henin-Hardenne has reached her first final of the Australian Open, overpowering Colombian Fabiola Zuluaga 6-2 6-2 Thursday.
Henin-Hardenne will play fellow Belgian Kim Clijsters in Saturday's final. Despite an ankle injury, Clijsters beat Patty Schnyder of Switzerland 6-2 7-6.
The pair have contested three of the last four grand slam finals.
"It's incredible for a country as small as Belgium," said Clijsters, who leads the pair's head-to-head battles 9-8 but will have to pick up her game after looking decidedly shaky against Schnyder.
Zuluaga, the first Colombian to reach the semifinals of a grand slam tournament, could not cope with Henin-Hardenne's intensity and vast array of shots.
The Belgian, who is the current French and U.S. Open champion, mixed blistering baseline passing shots with unsettling net rushes.
The top seed set the tone when she broke Zuluaga's serve in the opening game of their semifinal on Rod Laver Arena center court.
Stinging backhand
She grabbed the decisive break in the fifth game of the second set with a stinging backhand that left Zuluaga stranded.
Henin-Hardenne broke serve five times, lost hers just once and outscored Zuluaga with 23 winners to 11.
"I'm feeling good right now. I've won all my matches in two sets," said 21-year-old Henin-Hardenne. "I'm feeling ready. It's great to be in the final.
"It was a good fight -- long rallies. I played well on the important points, I served well when I had to so I'm very happy with the way I played."
Clijsters said she had overcome the ankle injury that has dogged her campaign and should be in good shape for the final.
"My ankle is not going to get any better, but the good news I can't make it any worse," said Clijsters. "I'll just have to take my mind off it."
Copyright 2004
Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
