Justine Henin continues warming up for a return to top-flight tennis. The former world number one claimed a straight-sets win over Nadia Petrova of Russia in an exhibition match in Cairo, Egypt on Saturday.
The 27-year-old Justine Henin is using her trip to the Egyptian capital as preparation for a return to the WTA tour next month, after an 18-month absence from the game.
Henin topped Petrova in 11 of their previous 13 meetings, and the early exchanges made it seem the same result was at hand. But Petrova showed her class in a hard-fought first set. The world number 20 rattled off a series of powerful groundstrokes to force a tie-break.
Henin's experience from seven Grand Slam victories and her skill on clay proved to be the difference-maker in the tie-break. Henin won it 7-4.
The second set was less competitive. Petrova made too many unforced errors and failed to get back into the match. Henin went on to win 7-6, 6-2. She scored a confidence-boosting victory ahead of her return to Grand Slam tennis.