Henin and Venus through to Gold Coast final (4/1/2002)

GOLD COAST - After presenting a stunning challenge to world No.3 Venus Williams, Nadia Petrova retired in her semifinal at the Thalgo Australian Women's Hardcourts at Royal Pines today 76(1) 65.

Petrova's shoulder injury flared during the second set and, with the loss of her service game at 5-5, she called trainer Lisa Heller and pulled out of the match. "There was pressure on my shoulder even during the rallies," the 18-year-old Russian said. "I was really into the game and I really wanted to win."

Williams admitted she would have to raise her game if she was going to defeat No.2 seed Justine Henin. The defending champion earned her berth in the final after torching rising Czech teenager Daja Bedanova 62 62.

"Hopefully I'll be able to raise my game to compete with her," the dual US Open and Wimbledon champion admitted. "I lost a little rhythm today."

No.2 seed Henin was far too strong for Bedanova. After a shaky start to the match in which she dropped her first serve, Henin stepped on the gas and allowed her opponent to hold serve only once, grabbing the first set in 20 minutes.

She shot to 3-0 in the second set before the Czech regained some confidence with a much needed break of serve. She held and had break points on Henin's next service game but couldn't convert and the Wimbledon finalist once again resumed hitting clean winners to the finishing line.

Henin said she would have to play aggressive tennis to win against Williams, her conqueror at Wimbledon and New Haven last year. "I will have to be more aggressive and go to the net a lot more," she said. "I will have to be ready on the first point for sure. Venus is a great player, a great champion and on a hard court she loves to play so it's going to be difficult for me, not impossible. She's the favorite and I'm the outsider.

"I beat her already in Berlin and it gave me a lot of confidence before the French Open and Wimbledon. It was on clay court and I had this advantage, but I played consistent from the start to the end, I was really aggressive, I wasn't afraid of anything. It was the first time she played me and she didn't know me very much so after that it was different at Wimbledon and New Haven and she knew what I was going to do."

With a small contingent of Russian supporters egging her on in the stands, Petrova mounted a brilliant challenge to Williams, establishing early breaks in both sets. She matched the powerful American from the baseline and served with equal force, however at critical moments in the match the young Russian belted her groundstrokes with too much venom. The first set tiebreak spiralled out of Petrova's grasp and she squandered several break point opportunities in the second set.

Dropping her serve after leading 40-0 at 5-5 was an unbearable setback for Petrova, who had begun to pack more into her first serve, hoping for an ace to finish the point quickly.

"I wasn't going for the first ones (serves), I was only kicking them most of the time," Petrova said. "I really went for one first serve at 5-5, then it really hurt and I thought I should quit. "

Williams admitted she was surprised at Petrova's sudden retirement. "I was really just settling down and thinking about serving out the match," she said. But she was glad to have been tested before the tomorrow's final and the Australian Open, which starts January 14.

"If anything it was good for me," she said. "I found some new resolve to stay in there. I would like to play a lot better. If anything, it's about playing the big points well. This week has helped me see a lot where I can improve on my game. I'll have a week out to work things out."

Petrova is undecided whether to play the ANZ International in Hobart. "I will make a late start request," she said. "If they put me in on Monday my coach will pull me out of the tournament."

from tennisautralia.com.au