Wimbledon: Clijsters over Henin in three sets

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In a match with plenty of momentum shifts and featuring one big fall, eighth-seeded Kim Clijsters was unruffled throughout and beat 17th-seeded fellow Belgian Justine Henin, 2-6, 6-2, 6-3. This was the 25th time the countrywomen played. Now, Clijsters has won 13 times. Henin took a tumble in the first set and needed attention from a trainer.

‘I can’t believe I’m back in this kind of situation,’ Clijsters said on the BBC right after the match. ‘We showed some good stuff out there today. She came out of the box really fast and started by really dominating. I kind of felt a little bit overwhelmed by it. It was up to me to stay in the points, and I started serving better and staying in the rallies. That’s how I made it turn around, getting into a few longer rallies.

Next up for Clijsters is 21st-seeded Vera Zvonareva, who advanced when fourth-seeded Jelena Jankovic had to retire down 3-0 in the second set with a back injury.

American Lindsay Davenport, a former Wimbledon champion who is doing commentary on the BBC, said, ‘Justine became much more of a timid player later in the match. It’s not easy when you’re off your game as much as Kim was in the first set to all of a sudden get it together and start playing really good tennis.’

-- Diane Pucin in Wimbledon, England