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Belgium's Justine Henin
"I was very aggressive and I didn't make many mistakes"
 real 56k

banner Tuesday, 3 July, 2001, 13:11 GMT 14:11 UK
Martinez folds before Henin
Justine Henin
Henin is in her second Grand Slam semi in a month
Justine Henin beat Conchita Martinez 6-1 6-0

Belgium's Justine Henin recorded a sensational straight-sets win over 1994 Wimbledon champion Conchita Martinez.

The 19-year-old totally dominated the experienced Spaniard throughout the match and breezed through to the semi-finals for the second time in consecutive Grand Slams.

Martinez won the first game of the match, but that was the only success she was able to enjoy as Henin racked up 12 consecutive games.

"I'm so happy to be in the semi's," said Henin. "It was an easy match in terms of the score but I had to play a good match to win so easily."


She's got a great chance if she plays aggressively. She can beat anyone, she's a great player
  Conchita Martinez
And she aims to make the most of her match in the last four at Wimbledon having learnt from facing compatriot Kim Clijsters at the same stage at Roland Garros.

"Now I have more experience I can enjoy this moment more than I did at the French," she said. "I didn't enjoy it enough at the French and I don't want to do the same thing here."

Martinez is in no doubt that Henin has the ability to go one step further than in France.

"She's got a great chance if she plays aggressively. She can beat anyone, she's a great player."

The pattern was set in the third game when Martinez started with two double-faults to hand the initiative to Henin, and the Belgian never looked back after saving a break-point in the following game.

Martinez increasingly showed her frustration as she failed to get her game together in the face of the her opponent's remorselessly accurate ground strokes and powerful backhand.

Conchita Martinez
Martinez was outplayed
The Spaniard did herself no favours by struggling desperately with her serve, repeatedly having to stop mid-action as she failed to get her toss right, and errors flowed off both sides on her groundstrokes.

By the closing stages Martinez was finding it difficult to get to 30 even on her own serve, and on the two occasions she managed to hold Henin to deuce, Martinez immediately returned to the familiar unforced errors off the ground.

Despite the problems her opponent was having Henin was able to concentrate on her own performance and produce a wonderful array of shots.

Heavy groundstrokes and accurate passes were mixed with unplayable dropshots that completely bemused her opponent.

At 5-0 in the second set, Martinez delayed the inevitable by saving match point four times, but Martinez's exit summed up her performance as she slammed the ball into the net for match point.

Henin will play either Jennifer Capriati or Serena Williams in the semi-final on Thursday.

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