Henin-Hardenne battles back to reach final

NEW YORK, Sep 8 (Reuters) Second seed Justine Henin-Hardenne recovered from a set and 4-2 down to beat 19th seed Jelena Jankovic 4-6 6-4 6-0 today and reach the US Open final.

The 2003 champion, who struggled as she served 12 double faults, went on to become the first woman since Martina Hingis in 1997 to reach all four grand slam finals in the same year.

''I feel very lucky to be in the final,'' Henin-Hardenne said.

''I was a bit nervous at the beginning of the match. She put a lot of pressure on me and I wasn't in a good rhythm.

''But I kept fighting and finally I was able to come back.

This was maybe the kind of match I would have lost a year or two ago.'' In her first grand slam semi-final, the 21-year-old Jankovic played aggressively and took advantage of her subdued Belgian opponent to lead by a set and 4-2.

But, after missing a point for 5-2, the nerves seemed to get to the Serbian and Henin-Hardenne won 10 straight games as she eased through to a clash with world number one Amelie Mauresmo of France or third-seeded Russian Maria Sharapova.

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