• Wimbledon, Day Three

Henin eases to win over Barrois

Justine Henin is into the round three at Wimbledon © Getty Images

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Justine Henin moved into the third round of Wimbledon with a routine 6-3 7-5 win over Kristina Barrois.

Henin is making her way back up the ladder after ending her two-year retirement in January and made it through to the Australian Open final before succumbing to Serena Williams.

Henin's efforts in Melbourne confirmed she still had the game to compete at the highest level, raising expectation that she can complete a career grand slam at Wimbledon. Twice she has been beaten in the final, in 2001 and 2006, but grass is a surface that is well suited to her game.

All the ingredients were in place for Henin to see off the challenge of Barrois and so it proved, as the German was totally outclassed. Barrois mixed up slice and topspin from the back of the court, but found Henin's court craft too big an obstacle to overcome.

Henin secured an early break but failed to immediately ram home her advantage as she sent a couple of backhands wide in the seventh game to hand Barrois a break point and the German converted when Henin surprisingly failed to track down a simple drop shot. The setback sparked Henin back into life and a couple of booming forehands earned her an immediate break back and the No. 17 seed secured the set in 32 minutes with a love service hold.

Henin gained a valuable insight into Barrois' game when beating her at 'S-Hertogenbosch recently and with a set under her belt, turned on the style in the second set. A stunning lob volley brought a break of serve in the first game and the Belgian proved her all-round class with a textbook serve and volley to hold serve.

Henin has on occasions struggled to close out matches and she suffered a hiccup when dropping her serve in the eighth game. Barrois clawed her way back from 5-1 down to level things at 5-5, but Henin regrouped to wrap up victory in 82 minutes.

Henin is scheduled to face her fellow Belgian Kim Clijsters in the fourth round and they remain on collision course following the No. 8 seed's routine 6-3 6-2 win over Karolina Sprem.

Venus Williams has a stunning record on the grass of Wimbledon and the No. 2 seed brushed past Ekaterina Makarova. The American threatened a whitewash when racing through the first set to love, but Makarova - the winner of the AEGON International recently - saved some face by taking four games in the second before bowing out 6-0 6-4.

"It was great to be back and play an opponent who has been really hot on the grass," Williams said. "She played well and it was not easy, but I did not make a lot of errors."

Fourth seed Jelena Jankovic rallied from losing the first set to beat Aleksandra Wozniak 4-6 6-2 6-4. Jankovic, who knocked out Britain's Laura Robson in the first round, will now meet No. 28 seed Alona Bondarenko in the third round after the Ukrainian beat Varvara Lepchenko in three sets.

Shahar Peer was the another seed to tumble, with 22-year-old German Angelique Kerber battling back to claim a 3-6 6-3 6-4 win, while the No. 12 seed Nadia Petrova eased to a 6-3 6-4 win over Yung-jan Chan.

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