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Henin Hardenne edges out Coetzer
 9/1/2003
By AidanM
The second match on the centre court of the Adidas International featured
two of the shortest players on tour (Coetzer at 5 foot 2) and
(Henin-Hardenne at 5 foot 2). However, both were able to hit with tremendous
amounts of power, in this quarter final clash.
Having never beaten Coetzer before, Henin-Hardenne was as determined as
ever. But Coetzer, who has added more power and depth to her game, gave her
a good workout. The conditions on court were a relief from yesterday's, but
there was still a fresh north windy breeze on court.
Coetzer got the first break of the match to lead 4-2, but that was when the
Belgian stepped it up, and then took the next 4 games, to close out the
first set in 48 minutes. Henin-Hardenne wore a red rooster T-shirt with
bright white stripes on her back. Coetzer stuck with her dark pink Nike
sleeveless outfit.
The crowd were treated with tennis at a high standard. Both used their
tactics well, which saw some classy shots having to be hit, to win the
point. The 3rd seed's forehand had improved rapidly, as she registered 11
winners on that wing. Ironically, Henin-Hardenne only produced two winners
on her trademark shot - the backhand.
The two players exchanged service breaks in the early parts of the second
set, once Coetzer was receiving some bad calls, but she was able to
re-group. A pivotal game occurred at 4-4 with the South African serving, but
to Coetzer's disgust, she double-faulted for the first and only time and
lost the game to love.
Henin-Hardenne was able to clinch the last game and register a strong 6-4,
6-4 victory in 1 hour and 26 minutes, which nows sees her clash with fellow
Belgian - Kim Clijsters, the second seed. Last year they played here in the
quarters, but expect another close battle, with Kim coming out on top,
again.
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