Henin and Jankovic to meet in Warsaw semis

WARSAW, May 4 (Reuters) Justine Henin reached the semi-finals of the Warsaw Cup today with a comfortable 6-2 6-1 victory over unseeded Italian Mara Santangelo.

She will next face fourth seeded Serb Jelena Jankovic, who advanced when sixth seed Anna Chakvetadze of Russia retired with a right shoulder strain. Jankovic won 7-6 3-1.

Top seeded Henin gave up only five points on her serve in the first set after taking early control against Santangelo. A flashy backhand pass gave the Belgian a break for 2-1, before Santangelo double-faulted for a further break at 4-2.

Henin continued her dominance in the second set, breaking for 1-0 with a blistering return. Santangelo held her only break point of the match in the next game which Henin saved with a service winner, and she took a 3-0 lead when Santangelo again double-faulted on break point.

Henin needed four game points to hold for 5-1, before Santangelo conceded the match with a backhand error.

Jankovic was evenly matched with Chakvetadze in the powerful baseline rallies until the Russian's challenge suddenly collapsed in the 7-1 tiebreak.

After receiving treatment at the end of the first set Chakvetadze lost her serve at the beginning of the second, and then retired when down 1-3 0-30.

Reuters TB GC1940