Queen Of Clay Closes In On Fourth French Open Title

The 2007 Women’s French Open champion will be decided on Saturday, and a familiar backhand is set to claim the title once again. Rafael Nadal is the King of Clay, and there can be no doubt as to who the Queen of Clay is – Justine Henin. Aiming for her third successive Roland Garros triumph and fourth in her career, the Belgian has already toppled two of the players who were expected to give her more problems than most.

Henin’s opponent in the final is a young Serbian talent. No, not Jelena Jankovic, but Ana Ivanovic. Jankovic was highly touted entering the tournament with a good deal of justification. However, being drawn in Henin’s half was always going to make things difficult for her to reach the final. Being drawn in the bottom half of the draw away from Henin, Serena Williams and Jankovic was of great benefit to Ivanovic, and she has capitalised on that to reach her first Grand Slam final.

Henin knows Court Philippe Chatrier like the back of her hand and looks set to defend the title yet again. The Belgian’s form has gradually improved and her most impressive displays have come against her toughest opponents. Both Serena Williams and Jankovic were expected to provide stern tests for the defending champion, but she dismissed both players for the loss of just 11 games. Never at any stage of either encounter did Henin look likely to be taken to a deciding set. What will worry Ivanovic is that despite these results, there is still more to come from Henin.

Before Ivanovic can set her sights on winning the match, she must first claim a set off Henin (who has won 33 consecutive sets at Roland Garros dating back to her 2005 4th round encounter with Svetlana Kuznetsova). Henin’s victims thus far in Paris have included; Elena Vesnina, Tamira Paszek, Mara Santangello and Sybille Bammer, as well as the aforementioned Williams and Jankovic.

Ana Ivanovic is on a run of her own, still only 19, the young woman from Belgrade is often known as much for her looks as her tennis. She possesses a game with the ability to hit countless winners, but with that comes the downside of racking up a stack of unforced errors. During the course of this tournament, she has largely been able to keep a rash of unforced errors out of her game and that was clearly evident during impressive wins over Kuznetsova and Maria Sharapova in her quarter and semi-finals respectively.

Ivanovic won her first three rounds for the loss of only 9 games, against Sofia Arvidsson, Sania Mirza and Ioana Raluca Olaru. The Serbian’s stiffest test came against 4th round opponent, Anabel Medina Garrigues. Despite hitting 44 unforced errors, she was able to survive, winning 6-3 in the 3rd set.

If Ivanovic is to overcome Henin in Saturday’s final, she will have to play the match of her young career thus far. The likely outcome is that she will not be able to deal with Henin’s craft and will hit out recklessly in the hope of blasting Henin off court. It remains to be seen how Ivanovic deals with the Grand Slam final environment, she showed few nerves, if any at all in her semi-final. However, facing Sharapova on clay is very different to facing a three time Roland Garros champion.

Sports Magician will be previewing the men's final by Saturday morning.