French Open: The Women Contenders Advance

Six days into a rain-disturbed Roland Garros and the leading 'star' players on the WTA are all in good-to-excellent form.

The two main contenders for the title - multiple champion and title holder Justine Henin and the 2002 champion Serena Williams - have both been impressive in their first two matches.

Justine Henin 

She has shown touches of brilliance, especially in her second round match against the 16-year-old Austrian Tamira Paszek.  

Henin led 5-0 in the first set before Paszek dug in her knees, winning the next five games with solid attacking play.

Having been rocked to her heels, Henin closed out the set 7-5 with some noticeable relief. After a 70-minute rain delay, Henin was far more clinical in the second, moving in for the kill and finishing in brutal fashion: two aces measured at 115 MPH and 114 MPH and an inside-out forehand winner in the penultimate (match-winning) point that ripped through the court at ATP level speed.  

Henin closed out the match 7-5 6-1,looking both satisfied and happy with her performance.

Serena Williams

Her thunderous demolition of Maria Sharapova in the final of this year's Australian Open woke up the professional Tour with a resounding bang, has played through more mixed form, ranging from ragged to ominous in different parts of her first two matches. 

However, considering her minimal preparation (reaching the quarterfinal at tier I Rome), Williams' general form has been more impressive than would be expected for a player whose natural game is better suited to fast hardcourts and grass than to the mentally and physically demanding red clay of Roland Garros.  

Serena looked somewhat ragged in the first set of her first round encounter against Bulgaria's Tsvetana Pironkova, whose powerful defence helped edge the opening set 7-5.  Having received a somewhat stern talking to from her father Richard during a rain break, Serena produced far more controlled - and dominating - tennis in the final two sets, finishing with a 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 scoreline.  

Against Venezuela's Milagros Sequera, Serena's form was again patchy, racing through the first set 6-0 before recovering from 0-3 down in the second before eventually prevailing 6-0, 7-6 (7-3).  

Serena was less than satisfied with her own performance, commenting: "I pretty much went crazy... I honestly did not feel my game at all. Even in the first set, I felt like I was not playing well... I was struggling to get rhythm - maybe I had too many days off. But I was able to come back and I found more rhythm towards the end".

Continued on the next page Page 1 — Page 2

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