Top seed Justine Henin suffered a straight-set loss to unseeded Italian Francesca Schiavone in the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships quarterfinals. Both sets were decided in tiebreaks and the final result was 7-6 (3) 7-6 (4).
This loss must be especially hard for world No.1 Henin as she has never been defeated at the Dubai tournament, and already has four Dubai titles (2003, 2004, 2006, 2007; she didn’t play in 2005 because of an injury). World No.24 Schiavone ended the Belgian’s impressive17-match winning streak at Dubai.
Schiavone was powerful and determined and although she didn’t manage to close out the match on her first match point at 5-4 in the second set, she stayed strong and finished it in the tiebreak. The 27-year-old Italian definitely earned this victory.
“To beat Justine you have to play very good, at a high level, and I did today. I think for me it is my best win,” said Schiavone. “Maybe she missed some balls, but personally I think I didn’t give the possibility and the chance to come up and come up like she does every time.”
Schiavone was 0-7 lifetime against Henin prior to this quarterfinal.
