Tennis-Top seed Henin races into fourth round at U.S. Open

NEW YORK, Aug 31 (Reuters) Top seed Justine Henin became the first woman to reach the fourth round of the US Open today when she crushed Russian qualifier Ekaterina Makarova 6-0 6-2.

The Belgian, champion in 2003, needed just 50 minutes to claim her place in the last 16, where she will play 15th seed Dinara Safina of Russia or American wildcard Ahsha Rolle.

Makarova had beaten Japanese 28th seed Ai Sugiyama in the previous round but world number one Henin was in a different class, allowing the Russian just eight points in the first set.

The world number 156 held serve in the fourth game of the second set and broke Henin in the seventh but the Belgian broke straight back to claim victory.

REUTERS RS KP2248