Henin battles back to progress to German Open semis

BERLIN, May 12 (Reuters) World number one Justine Henin of Belgium fought back from the brink of defeat to reach the semi-finals of the German Open today, beating fifth-seeded Serbian Jelena Jankovic 3-6 6-4 6-4.

The five-times grand slam winner showed tremendous grit to come back from 4-0 down in the final set and will play Russian third seed Svetlana Kuznetsova later today for a place in the final of the rain-plagued tournament.

Henin and Jankovic had started their quarter-final yesterday but play was suspended late in the day as darkness fell over the Steffi Graf Stadium with Jankovic ahead at 6-3 4-4.

Henin, the French Open champion and a three-times winner here, held serve when play resumed today and then broke Jankovic to take the second set.

After slipping 4-0 behind in the decider, the Belgian saved a breakpoint in the fifth game and mounted a thrilling fightback, reeling off six straight games to win in two hours 45 minutes.

In today's other semi-final, Serbian teenager and number 12 seed Ana Ivanovic takes on unseeded Ukrainian Julia Vakulenko, who upset Wimbledon champion Amelie Mauresmo yesterday.

Jankovic, the world number six, had never beaten Henin in four previous meetings but also came close in the US Open semi-finals last year.

The German Open is one of the last clay events before the French Open begins at Roland Garros in Paris on May 28.

Reuters AKD GC1935