http://0rz.tw/762HL French Open - Wilander backs Henin Eurosport - Mon, 04 Jun 16:37:00 2007 French Open - Three-time French Open champion Mats Wilander casts his expert eye over Tuesday's women's quarter-finals at Roland Garros. Top seed and title-holder Justine Henin meets Serena Williams in a repeat of the 2003 semi-final which saw the Belgian win a controversial three-setter. And Wilander is backing Henin, who has now won 29 consecutive sets on the clay in Paris, to march on through to the final from the top-half of the draw. He said: "29 sets in a row is amazing. What makes her so dominant is that she moves better than the other women, she's a little lighter on her feet and she's also really strong. "She hits her backhand with lots of top spin but she can also slice it and of course her forehand is the big weapon which she can roll, hit it high or flatten it out. "And she has the heart of a champion, she plays very smart, she gets very emotional on the court, she's definitely the player to beat." But the Swede is not ruling out a Russian challenge from the bottom half of the draw. Second seed Maria Sharapova produced a battling performance to defeat Patty Schnyder 9-7 in the third but Wilander believes it's compatriot Svetlana Kuznetsova who has a better chance of reaching the final for the second year in succession. "Sharapova plays with a lot of heart and the more emotional she gets, the smarter I think she plays," Wilander commented. "She's showing a more mature Maria Sharapova than I've seen in the past but the clay courts are still a bit slippery for her I think and she needs to raise her level a little more. "Kuznetsova's chances are great. She's won the US Open once and she really has grown up on clay and played a lot of claycourt tennis in Spain under the eyes of Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario and Emilio Sanchez-Vicario. "Quarter-final opponent Ana Ivanovic is maybe a bit young. She hits the ball really hard and is maybe more of a hardcourt player. Kuznetsova is a danger to anyone on any given day." --

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