BRISBANE, Australia - It was tight but Justine Henin won the first match of her Sony Ericsson WTA Tour comeback on Monday, beating Nadia Petrova in straight sets in the first round of the Brisbane International, 75 75.
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Henin, unranked and a wildcard, looked sharp in her first match since May 2008, particularly on serve, losing just five points on her delivery in the first set. She broke the No.2-seeded Petrova at 5-5 and held at love to take the first set.
The second set was a little more complicated for Henin as Petrova broke for a 2-0 lead, but the Belgian broke back and the two remained on serve until the first set pattern recurred - she broke the Russian at 5-5 and served out the match.
"I think she is a better player than before she retired. She's more aggressive," Petrova said. "Previously, she was more of a clay court player, but now I see her a hardcourt player as well. She's certainly playing high level of tennis."
"This was a big step for me. After leaving for so long, to walk out on the court with such a big crowd... it was very emotional," Henin said. "I can be positive about today. Mentally I was able to play my best tennis when it got tight. I wasn't nervous like before. I feel better about myself than when I retired.
"I still see a lot of things to work on though. Today was only the beginning."
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Henin and Petrova weren't the only players to draw big crowds on Monday. Australian darling Jelena Dokic took on another favorite Down Under, Serbia's Ana Ivanovic; it was the No.3-seeded Ivanovic who prevailed though, benefiting from 11 Dokic double faults and winning a see-saw three-setter, 75 16 63.
"I think my serve let me down in the third set," Dokic said. "We never met before - that makes the match a bit difficult as well, playing someone for the first time. I will build on what I learnt from this match today and move forward."
"I think I lost my intensity a bit in the second set," Ivanovic said. "There are still a lot of things for me to practice and improve on, but the match give me a lot of positive signs. My goal is to get back to the Top 10 and play the Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha at the end of the year."
No.4 seed Daniela Hantuchova and No.6 seed Aleksandra Wozniak also advanced, but No.5 seed Alisa Kleybanova was ousted by Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 64 26 62. Lucie Safarova, Agnes Szavay, Roberta Vinci, Timea Bacsinszky and qualifier Sesil Karatantcheva secured wins too.
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