Justine Henin

It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t right. But oh, did it exceed the considerable hype.

If the International Tennis Federation had the good sense to seed the four major tournaments 1 through 128, Justine Henin and Elena Dementieva wouldn’t have played each other in the second round of the 2010 Australian Open. But since the two ladies found themselves at the opposite ends of the blue plexicushion court inside Rod Laver Arena, they had no choice but to tear at each other in the round of 64, at least two or three rounds earlier than tennis fans would have preferred.

When forced to compete at a premature stage of a Big Four event, these two tennis stars didn’t disappoint.

In a sizzling and sensational slugfest marred only by the serving yips of each player, Henin and Dementieva put on a show in Melbourne. The crowd arrived late for this five-star showcase, but by the time it ended, a packed house sat in thrall, mesmerized by the all-court quality and hellacious hitting of two formidable female tennis talents.

Dementieva, the fifth-seeded Russian, played well enough to beat 95 percent of the field in Australia, but due to the cruel luck of a random draw, the best player never to have won a major will have to wait until the French Open to lift a coveted trophy. “Demmy” ran into a player who is part of the 5 percent contingent that has consistently denied the Russian a taste of Grand Slam glory.

Justine Henin might have taken an extended break from tennis, but upon her return to the scene, it’s crystal clear that the brilliant Belgian with the beautiful backhand hasn’t forgotten how to compete.

In a match that featured poor serving but pronounced excellence in every other respect, Henin saved set points in both sets to outlast Dementieva, 7-5, 7-6 (6). Though this match was sewn up in straights, the contentious collision took 2 hours and 50 minutes to complete. If Dementieva had won the 6-5 point in the second-set tiebreak, it’s not only possible, but likely, that this match would have exceeded four hours.

When one realizes that a first-round women’s match in this tournament (between Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova and Regina Kulikova) took 4 hours and 19 minutes, it’s amazing to think that another match could have joined that marathon on the list of lengthy WTA classics. Yet, that’s precisely what could have happened if Dementieva had won one of the precious points presented to her on Wednesday night.

But there’s a reason why the Russian fell short, in an all-too-familiar tale at the majors: the player across the net.

Henin, at just under 5-foot-6, doesn’t possess a towering frame, but the 27-year-old knows how to stand tall on a court. The seven-time major champion fought her serve and her ball toss all night long, but she always delivered the goods when she had to. At 4-5 in the first set, Henin erased two set points for Dementieva.

On one of those two occasions, the Belgian executed a flawlessly constructed point that was opened up by a lethal forehand, an underrated part of her arsenal. Mentally liberated by her escape from a pair of set points, Henin held for 5-all, broke for 6-5, and then used a clutch serve at 6-5, 30-all to gain a set point that she safely tucked away when she pushed Dementieva off balance at the baseline.

The second set would witness an achingly similar storyline for the almost-but-not-quite Russian, with Henin struggling early but winning all of the biggest points at the business end of the set.

Dementieva broke Henin for a 4-2 lead, but the fifth seed couldn’t close down her more credentialed counterpart. The unseeded Henin (lacking a protected place in the draw because of the length of her absence from the tour) peeled off three straight games, but got broken when she tried to serve out the match at 5-4. The Belgian broke back for another 6-5 lead (sound familiar), but this time Dementieva was able to force the tiebreak she couldn’t create in the first set.

With virtually every game going to 30-all, and with both servers struggling enormously, the tiebreak represented an even bigger question mark than it normally does in a high-stakes match. To underscore the poor quality of serving, the receivers won almost as many points (109) as the servers (115).

In 24 service games, the receiver won 13 games and the server won only 11. Dementieva tossed in 7 double faults, but Henin offered 8. Unlike a men’s match between flamethrowers like Andy Roddick and Ivo Karlovic, this second-set tiebreak wouldn’t be decided by dominant serving. Consistency would tell the tale, and at the very end of this taut tussle, Henin once again rose above her snake-bitten opponent.

Dementieva earned a set point at 6-5 on her serve, but Henin – with the flair of a confident champion – uncorked a gutsy swinging volley and planted it in the corner for a winner and a 6-all scoreline. Henin won the next point on a Dementieva error for 7-6, and after struggling with her ball toss on her second match point of the night (she had one at 5-4 in the second set), the Belgian – believing in herself the way an elite athlete does – unloaded a huge serve wide to the ad court and then approached the net to punch away a backhand volley. Dementieva could have won both sets on Wednesday night, but Henin did the deed.

It wasn’t appropriate that two terrific tennis players faced each other so soon, but since they had to step between the painted white lines, they did a great job of entertaining their Australian audience and millions of tennis fans around the world.

Elena Dementieva battled bravely, in a familiar refrain for an immensely gifted performer, but Justine Henin earned the accolades of a victor. She might need to work on her serve and her ball toss, but this Belgian certainly needs no pointers on how to win tough tennis matches against A-grade competition.

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