Maria shines in win over Henin

Maria earned an efficient 6-4, 6-0 victory over Belgiums Justine Henin to reach the semi-finals of the Australian Open.

The Russian flew out of the blocks, intimidating Henin with sublime ground strokes. While the fans at Rod Laver Arena were still finding their seats, Sharapova powered to 3-0 lead in just 9 minutes.

Henin slowly played her way back, eventually breaking back when down 3-5. The following game saw Henin save three set points. An extensive rally, perhaps the best of the women’s tournament to date, gave the Russian a fourth set point, with a superb Sharapova lunging backhand forcing Henin to dump a volley into the net.

Coming into this match, Henin has a 6-2 head-to-head record over Sharapova. On the four occasions The Russian has taken the first set, Henin has recovered to win twice.

In the second set Maria fired the perfect backhand pass down the line to give herself an early break to lead 2-0.  Maria got another break to lead 4-0 when she hit a very cute inside out forehand.

The winner will meet 3rd seed Jelena Jankovic in the semi-finals.