• Sony Ericsson Open

Henin and Clijsters to meet in classic semi

Justine Henin's backhand was in prime form against Caroline Wozniacki © Getty Images

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Justine Henin battled back from a set down to take the scalp of No. 2 seed Caroline Wozniacki and claim a place in the semi-finals of the Sony Ericsson Open.

Wozniacki took the opening set in a tie-break and looked well positioned to seal victory, but her serve started to falter and Henin fought hard to claim a 6-7(5) 6-3 6-4 success.

Both players at times produced both the sublime and the ridiculous. Henin came out with all guns blazing and a crushing backhand and excellent smash secured a break in the opening game.

For all the good in the first game, the second was error strewn and Wozniacki broke back. Henin held serve in game four despite being penalised a point for calling out 'allez' during a rally. She made the call when drilling a winner, but with the ball in play as she made the call she was technically guilty of infringement.

There were as many breaks as holds in the first set as both struggled to dominate behind their own serve and the set went to a breaker. Wozniacki found her range on the backhand for the first time in the match and the Dane took the breaker 7-5.

The pair were stronger on serve in the second, but Wozniacki had to dig herself out of a hole in game six by saving three break points. Henin received extensive treatment on her back and looked uncomfortable, but she was still able to put Wozniacki under pressure and secured the first break of the set in game eight and she held serve to force a decider.

The Wozniacki served slipped back to the lows of the first set and Henin cashed in, prompting Wozniacki's father and coach to come on court during a change of ends and remonstrate with his daughter.

It did not make good viewing and although Wozniacki's serve showed marked improvement, she was unable to secure the break back and Henin wrapped up the match in two hours and 45 minutes.

Henin's fellow Belgian comeback queen, Kim Clijsters, set up a semi-final that harks back to the glory days of the mid-noughties by cruising past Australia's Sam Stosur 6-3 7-5. It was a relatively straight-forward victory for Clijsters as she claims a top-ten scalp on her charge back towards the top of the game.

Henin said she was relishing the prospect of meeting her countrywoman and great rival.

"It has always been special and it will always be special," Henin said. "Kim and I grew up together, arrived on the tour at the same time, played well at the same time, retired at the same time, and now we came back at the same time. It's amazing. We have never stopped respecting each other. Never, ever, ever. Even if people talk about it, we never had any problems, Kim and I."

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