Apia International Sydney Tennis - Australian Open Series

Bring on Henin, says Serena

AAP Saturday 9 January 2010 17 Comments »

Super-confident Serena Williams arrived in Australia on Saturday welcoming a potential blockbuster second-round showdown with Justine Henin at the Medibank International Sydney.

“It’s good. It will be a good test for her, and for me,” Williams said.

Sydney tournament officials couldn’t believe their bad luck when Williams and Henin – boasting 17 grand slam titles between them – were pitted in the same eighth of the draw for the Open’s premier warm-up event.

Top seed Williams has a first-round bye and, provided wildcard Henin beats Spanish left-hander Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, the two superstars will go head to head on Tuesday or Wednesday.

After 19 months in retirement, Henin this week made an immediate impact in her return to professional tennis, storming to the final of the Brisbane International.

Henin was due to face fellow Belgian Clijsters for the title on Saturday night and, win or lose, Williams expected her great rival to be ready for their eighth career showdown.

Williams insisted she didn’t feel any added pressure to retain her top ranking with both Clijsters and Henin back in the mix in 2010.

“I don’t think about it a lot. I’ve got a lot on my plate. Everyone assumes that I’m No.1 anyway,” the 11-times major winner said.

“My main goals are always to stay healthy, and that’s a huge goal for any athlete.

“For me, it’s all about doing the best that I can. Obviously I love playing well in all the grand slams and I hate to lose, regardless of where it is.

“Whenever I play, I give 200 per cent and whether that’s becoming No.1 as a result or becoming No.50, it doesn’t matter as long as you enjoy what you do.”

Samantha Stosur also received a tough Sydney draw, striking Flavia Pennetta, an Italian ranked one place above the Australian at No.12 in the world.

With nine of the world’s top 10 women’s players completing their Open preparations in Sydney, Australian wildcard Casey Dellacqua could count her lucky stars after drawing a qualifier first up.

Bidding for a record fifth men’s title in Sydney, fourth-seeded Lleyton Hewitt will enjoy a first-round bye but is projected to run into former Australian Open runner-up Marcos Baghdatis in the quarter-finals.

The unseeded Baghdatis launches his campaign against Australian Open wildcard playoff winner Nick Lindahl.

Peter Luczak will take on Argentine Jose Acasuso, while fellow Australian wildcard Carsten Ball faces American Mardy Fish.

Tags: Justine Henin, Serena Williams

You can follow any comments to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.