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Tennis-Wimbledon-Henin plays through the pain ( 2003-06-27 10:19) (Agencies)
Third seed Justine Henin-Hardenne is playing through the pain barrier as she attempts to add the Wimbledon title to her French Open crown. The right-handed Belgian sprained her left wrist and a finger at a tournament in Den Bosch before Wimbledon and said after her 7-6 6-1 second round win over Italian Flavia Pennetta on Thursday that the pain was hampering her devastating backhand. "The pain is still there but I am managing to deal with it," said the 21-year-old, who is on course for a grudge rematch with defending champion Serena Williams in the semi-finals. "It is bearable. I have some treatment, then it hurts, then I have some more treatment and it still hurts. We are trying to manage it, to stabilise the pain. When I draw my racket back on the backhand it bothers me a bit." The Belgian has her wrist heavily strapped and said she was taking medication to ease the discomfort. Henin was given a stiff test in the opening set on Thursday by her hard-hitting Italian opponent, who is ranked 55 and was playing at Wimbledon for the first time. Henin saved a set point at 5-6 before taking the tiebreak 7-2 as Pennetta consistently found the lines with her ferocious forehand. The Italian was visibly demoralised and errors began to flow from her backhand, allowing the 2001 Wimbledon finalist to race through the second set in 23 minutes on a blustery afternoon at the All England Club.
DANGEROUS MATCH "Sometimes it's good in the second round to have these kind of matches," Henin-Hardenne said. "I had my chances and let them go a little bit. I wasn't focused always 100 percent. "She played well, a high level of tennis in the first set. She had nothing to lose and did some very good things in the first set. "I needed to be more aggressive and focused. I was a bit surprised about how well she played. She kept hitting forehands on the line which I didn't really expect." Henin plays Australian Alicia Molik, ranked 54, in the third round and she does not expect an easy ride. "It's going to be a dangerous match," she said. "She is serving very well and I think grass is her best surface. It's good for me. Anything can happen, especially here at Wimbledon, so we will see." Should she win as expected, the hotly-anticipated rematch with Serena would be only two games away. Henin left the American in tears after beating her in a controversial French Open semi-final earlier this month.
The diminutive Belgian lost to Serena's older sister Venus in the 2001 Wimbledon final and again in last year's semi-finals at the All England Club.
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