Friday, July 7 2006 14:37 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

London: Justine Henin-Hardenne won a nervy Centre Court duel with fellow Belgian Kim Clijsters to reach the second Wimbledon final of her career, earning the chance to complete a full set of Grand Slam titles.

Henin-Hardenne, runner-up to Venus Williams in 2001, won 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) to advance to a final meeting with either Amelie Mauresmo or Maria Sharapova.

It was a case of missed opportunities for Clijsters, who squandered a 4-3, 40-0 lead in the first set and then failed to serve out the second set at 6-5.

Handed the opportunity to continue her progress through the draw without having dropped a set, Henin-Hardenne was always ahead in the second set tiebreak and wrapped up proceedings with a cross-court backhand after one hour and 30 minutes on Centre Court.

"It was tough," she admitted after her win.

"There were a lot of nerves today but I played well on the important points," he said.

"I knew I had to be aggressive but that is not easy against a player like Kim. There is one match more to go now and it is going to be a tough one," he said.

Clijsters admitted, "She played well when she had to and that is what she is good at."

Despite being seeded third, a place behind Clijsters, Henin-Hardenne had gone into the match as a slight favourite on the strength of her recent form and her record of tending to win the bigger matches against her compatriot, including the three Grand Slam finals they have contested.



There was little to choose between the two in the opening exchanges, the first six games yielding just one break point apiece, both of which were greeted with service winners.

But after securing a break to lead 4-3, Clijsters had a great chance to take control of the match when she got to 40-0 on her own serve. She failed to take it, a string of unforced errors helping Henin-Hardenne to break straight back and then reel off the next two games to wrap up the first set in 37 minutes.

Clijsters appeared to be on the ropes at that stage but she reclaimed the momentum when Henin-Hardenne double-faulted to hand her a break in the third game of the second set.

Henin-Hardenne got back on level terms in the sixth game of the set but Clijsters looked set to force the match into a third set when she broke her opponent's serve to love to lead 6-5.

Again Henin-Hardenne bounced back however and her stronger nerve gave her the edge in the decisive tie-break.