Henin sees off determined Schiavone

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Henin completed a 7-5 6-4 triumph on the Rod Laver Arena but was forced to dig deep to overcome the Italian 25th seed.

After the two players swapped early breaks in the first set, Henin took a 3-2 lead when Schiavone dropped her serve after a backhand return flew off the frame of her racket.

Henin moved 5-3 in front after fighting back from 0-30 down on her own serve but Schiavone claimed the break she needed two games later when the Belgian uncharacteristically hit an easy volley into the net before doing the same with a backhand return.

However, the world number one regained the initiative in the next as Schiavone had no answer to her powerful forehands before closing out the set on her own serve with a cross-court volley, pumping her fist in delight on the way back to her seat.

Henin raced into a 4-1 lead in the second but Schiavone again showed her fighting qualities to break back and held her serve to close to 4-3.

However despite some uncomfortable moments, Henin did not further relinquish victory and duly closed out the win when Schiavone hit a return wide.