PERTH, Australia (AP) Seven-time Grand Slam winner Justine Henin beat Sesil Karatantcheva 6-4, 6-3 on Tuesday to help Belgium sweep Kazakhstan at the Hopman Cup.
The win kept alive Belgium's hopes of reaching Saturday's final after an opening loss to Australia in Group A. Kazakhstan was eliminated after its second straight 3-0 loss, the first to Serbia.
Karatantcheva was brought in overnight to replace Yaroslava Shvedova, who withdrew after injuring her knee against Ana Ivanovic on Sunday.
This was Henin's first appearance at the Hopman Cup, having chosen last year to play at the Brisbane International, where the former world No. 1 lost to fellow Belgian Kim Clijsters in the final.
It's my first time in Perth and it's a great experience,'' Henin said.I wait 28 years to come here, but maybe I'll come back next year, who knows. I love to play in Australia, they have a sports culture, it's just great.''
Karatantcheva, who reached the French Open quarterfinals in 2005 before serving a two-year ban for testing positive for the banned steroid nandrolone, rallied briefly to go up 3-1 in the second set. But Henin bounced back to take the set and match.
``It's not that easy, especially after the injury (to the right elbow since Wimbledon) so I'm working hard to come back,'' Henin said.
``It's the first two matches so I know it's going to take a little bit of time, but it's great to have the opportunity to play and be in competition again.''
Belgian youngster Ruben Bemelmans later pulled off a surprise 6-4, 6-4 win over 36th-ranked Andrey Golubev in the second singles.
The left-handed Bemelmans broke serve at 3-3. Golubev could not cope with the Belgian's pace and footwork, and soon found himself a break down in the second set.
Despite seeing three match points come and go at 5-3, Bemelmans, ranked 178th, served out the match to seal the win.
Henin and Bemelmans then beat Karatantcheva and Golubev in the mixed doubles 4-6, 6-2 (10-8).
They will meet Serbia on Thursday in their final round-robin match.
I'm feeling good here in Australia ...'' Bemelmans said.I'm really looking forward to playing (Novak) Djokovic on Thursday. Justine is a great player, it's a real honor to stand next to her in the mixed doubles, it takes the pressure off a little bit of me, because she's playing great.''