Sharapova Stuns Henin at Australian Open

She will now take on Serbian third seed Jelena Jankovic after she ousted Serena Williams earlier in the day.

Maria Sharapova inflicted world No. 1 Justine Henin's first loss since Wimbledon last year with a stirring 6-4 6-0 victory to advance to the semi-finals of the Australian Open. Photo courtesy: australianopen.com

MELBOURNE, Australia - Maria Sharapova inflicted world No. 1 Justine Henin's first loss since Wimbledon last year with a stirring 6-4 6-0 victory to advance to the semi-finals of the Australian Open.

The Russian No. 5 seed was at her clinical best against an out-of-sorts Henin, who had not been beaten for 33 matches - a streak that began after her semi-final loss to Marion Bartoli at the All-England Club.

Since then, Henin has been the dominant player on the WTA Tour, winning five tournaments including the US Open and the season-ending Tour Championships.

But she was ineffectual against Sharapova, who smashed 30 winners to just 11 to claim victory in one hour 38 minutes.

Sharapova was clearly in the zone from the outset, breaking Henin in her opening service game before taking a 5-3 lead in the first set.

Somehow, Henin fought her way back into the contest to take it to 5-4. Sharapova then had three set points on the Belgian's serve before finally converting on the fourth to close out the set in just over an hour.

Henin was unable to find any sort of rhythm on serve as Sharapova continually pounded winners from the back of the court, racing to a 4-0 lead before winning the set to love.

She will now take on Serbian third seed Jelena Jankovic after she ousted Serena Williams earlier in the day.

Story by: Brandon Cohen

Courtesy: australianopen.com

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