Justine Henin showed her class to successfully come through a thrilling encounter with the bruising Serena Williams to reach the semi-finals at Wimbledon. The world number one grabbed the only break point of a high-quality first set before serving out in clinical fashion.
Williams, who was derided in many circles for her alleged “gamesmanship” against Daniela Hantuchova, won the second set. Serena Williams used her trademark strength to grab the second set and then came back from 5-1 down in the decider but Henin held her nerve to triumph 6-4 3-6 6-3.
"I was a bit nervous at the end," confessed Justine Henin. "Mentally it was very difficult so I'm very happy to come through. It's the kind of win that gives me a lot of confidence for this tournament."
Williams then revealed later she had been suffering from a sprained thumb, which she said affected her backhand.
Showing few signs of humility in defeat Williams claimed: "My leg is doing a lot better but when I slipped in the third set (against Hantuchova), I hurt my thumb. I'm definitely not 100%. I was probably at 40 or 50% maximum. She played a very high-quality game, probably some of her best tennis. If I had been healthy I think I would have won, definitely. It was a last-minute decision to play and I was almost able to do it. Considering the circumstances, I think I did pretty well."
Richard Williams, Serena’s father, had advised his daughter not to play her quarter-final match after suffering a calf strain in a dramatic fourth-round win over Daniela Hantuchova.
Sportsbook.com has posted Wimbledon odds for the Women’s Singles Quarter Final Match Ups at 5:00 AM EST on July 5th, 2007:
Ana Ivanovic: +100
Nicole Vaidisova: -140
Svetlana Kuznetsova: +175
Venus Williams: -250
