Henin-Hardenne faces Myskina in Eastbourne final

EASTBOURNE, England, June 23 (Reuters) Belgian Justine Henin-Hardenne maintained her recent dominance over compatriot Kim Clijsters with a 6-3 5-7 6-1 win today to reach the Eastbourne International final.

The French Open champion will meet fifth seed Anastasia Myskina in Saturday's final after she beat Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4 2-6 6-4 in an all-Russian battle.

''It was not an easy match,'' Henin-Hardenne told reporters.

''There were ups and downs in the match, but I'm very happy the way it ended. I served better at the end of the match and I played a lot of shots down the line and took the opportunities, went for the winners.'' Henin-Hardenne, who also beat her Fed Cup team mate at the same stage of the French Open earlier this month en route to the title, claimed 10 of the last 11 points and closed out the match with her 10th ace.

Both players competed superbly throughout, indicating they will be strong contenders at Wimbledon, which begins on Monday.

Henin-Hardenne's backhand was on form and she backed it up with her lethal forehand and fine serving.

Henin-Hardenne took advantage of a sluggish start by the defending champion and broke to lead 1-0 but then had to save break points when leading 2-1 and 4-3 before closing out the set with another break, her strong return forcing a backhand error.

Clijsters double-faulted to give her opponent a 2-0 lead in the second set, but Henin-Hardenne then double-faulted to drop the next game.

Second seeded Clijsters held two break points at 2-2 before breaking to lead 5-4 with a crosscourt winner that landed on the line and drew an angry but brief protest from Henin-Hardenne.

Clijsters, however, failed to serve out the set but broke again to lead 6-5 and made no mistake with her second opportunity of levelling the match.

She broke to lead 1-0 in the final set but failed to convert either of two points for 2-0, and in a seven-deuce game eventually made a forehand error to give Henin-Hardenne a break.

Henin-Hardenne grabbed a 3-1 advantage, and saved two break points in the fifth game before wrapping up victory.

''I think she played the big points very well and she served really well in that first set, and the second set I think was a little bit the other way around,'' said Clijsters.

''In the third set it could have gone either way in the beginning. There were a couple of close calls and a net cord, and that's what happens.'' Just one break for 3-1 separated Myskina and Kuznetsova in the opening set of their match.

Kuznetsova dominated the second set, before two double-faults helped Myskina break for 1-0 in the third.

She lost that and surrendered a 4-2 lead before breaking for 5-4.

Even then, she had to fight off a break point as she served for the match.

''I was really nervous at the end because I was up 2-0, 4-2 and then Sveta won two games and I was a little bit shaky,'' said Myskina.

''My serve maybe was a little bit shaky but my returns were pretty good so I'm really happy today with everything.'' REUTERS DH KN2107