Henin-Hardenne books place in semis with win over Petrova

MADRID, Nov 9 (Reuters) Justine Henin-Hardenne secured a place in the semi-finals of the WTA Championships and remained on course to claim the year-end number one spot with a 6-4 6-4 win over Russia's Nadia Petrova today.

The French Open champion's victory means that the in-form Maria Sharapova will now have to win the tournament and hope the Belgian does not make the final if she is to deprive her of ending the year as number one.

''It's a great feeling to qualify for the semis,'' the Belgian said after the match.

''I missed the last two editions because of injury and I'm back after a few weeks off so it's great to be back at the top of the tree.'' Henin-Hardenne, who beat Martina Hingis in her opening match after a two-month injury lay-off, recovered from a slow start to see off her opponent in straight sets.

Petrova, who beat last year's champion Amelie Mauresmo in her opening match, got off to a promising start when she broke Henin-Hardenne's serve in the second game, but the Belgian hit back with a double break in the third and fifth to take the set.

It was level-pegging in the second until Henin-Hardenne used her superior court craft to pressure Petrova into a succession of errors on her serve and break in the seventh game.

Mauresmo takes on former world number one Hingis later today.

Hingis, who beat the Russian yesterday, will progress to semis if she wins.

Kim Clijsters, who lost to Sharapova yesterday, will also be looking for her first win when she meets Svetlana Kuznetsova, who beat fellow Russian Elena Dementieva.

REUTERS DH BST0100