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Henin juggernaut powers into Aussie tennis Open quarters

Society Materials 20 January 2008 08:24 (UTC +04:00)

( AFP )- World number one and top seed Justine Henin stormed into the Australian Open quarter-finals Sunday with a 6-2, 6-2 demolition of Taiwanese qualifier Hsieh Su- Wei .

Henin , who claimed the Australian title in 2004, will meet the winner of the all-Russian clash between Maria Sharapova and Elena Dementiena in the quarters.

"It's a tough draw," she said. "I just have to stay healthy and enjoy my game. It's going to be tough."

The world's top player asserted her authority early against Hsieh, breaking her opponent in the first game.

But the Taiwanese 22-year-old immediately broke back, making the most of her moment in the spotlight after winning two tough three setters in the early rounds of the tournamment to earn her showdown with Henin .

However, the Belgian's shot making skills proved too much for her opponent and Henin rattled through the rest of the set without losing another game.

The seven-time Grand Slam champion continued her charge in the second set and dominated Hsieh to go up 5-0.

The Taiwanese, the first player from her country ever to get this far in a Grand Slam, managed to stave off one match point then mustered some resistance to put herself on the second set scoreboard.

She defended her serve to make it 5-2 but it was only delaying the inevitable and Henin claimed victory in the next game after one hour 14 minutes

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