Henin beats Schiavone in three sets

Belgian Justine Henin-Hardenne (picture) twice clawed her way back from the brink of defeat to beat Italy's Francesca Schiavone 4-6 7-5 7-5 in the final of the Sydney International yesterday. Schiavone looked to be on her way to her first WTA Tour...

Belgian Justine Henin-Hardenne (picture) twice clawed her way back from the brink of defeat to beat Italy's Francesca Schiavone 4-6 7-5 7-5 in the final of the Sydney International yesterday.

Schiavone looked to be on her way to her first WTA Tour title when she led 6-4 4-1 in the second set and again when she served for the match at 5-3 in the third.

But the former world number one fought back on both occasions, raising her game as the errors started to creep into Schiavone's game.

The clash overshadowed the men's semi-finals as American James Blake and Russia's Igor Andreev booked their place in today's final.

Blake upset Russian second seed Nikolay Davydenko 6-4 6-2 while Andreev ousted Italian qualifier Andreas Seppi 6-2 2-6 6-2.

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