Justine Henin plays in adidas’ Barricades and looked like she might have sought solace in a bunker as Sania Mirza’s ballistic forehand rattled a series of winners around the court. Sharpened by three qualifying wins, the 145th-ranked Mirza held a one-set lead and was one point from a 3-2 second-set edge when Henin began applying her all-court game and survival skills.
The resourceful Belgian absorbed a barrage of baseline blasts, ultimately diffusing Mirza, 5-7, 6-3, 6-1, in a challenging first-rounder that was Henin’s first match since suffering a season-ending elbow injury at Wimbledon in a fourth-round defeat to Kim Clijsters.
Henin has reached the Australian Open final in three of her last four appearances Down Under. She pronounced herself at about “80 percent” for her Melbourne return and relied on her fitness, foot speed and problem-solving skills to set up a second-round meeting with Elena Baltacha.
Frequently forced to hit off her back foot, Henin’s ability to alter spins and speeds helped her turn it around today. The seven-time Grand Slam champion used a correct challenge and a series of errors from an increasingly tight Mirza to break for a 3-2 second-set lead. She then found the range with her strokes and won nine of the final 11 games, as a drained Mirza began to go for more and connect on less.
What can we take out of Henin’s first match in six months? Her conditioning and court coverage remain high level, her forehand was spotty at times and, as expected after a long lay-off, she sprayed shots and struggled to find her timing. Henin’s service toss strayed to her right on occasion, but she served with authority when it mattered most, winning 16 of 19 points played on her serve in the final set.
The former World No. 1 is my darkhorse pick in Oz and is one win removed from a potential third-round showdown with two-time major champion Svetlana Kuznetsova. Henin is one of only two former champions in the field and figures to become even more dangerous if she can reach the second week.
—Richard Pagliaro