Former tennis world No. 1 Justine Henin made a stylish return in her official comeback tournament today, dumping second seed Nadia Petrova out of the Brisbane International.
In a high-quality first-round encounter, Henin overcame the Russian 7-5 7-5 in two tough sets to raise organisers' hopes of a dream final with compatriot and top seed Kim Clijsters.
The tournament wildcard, who has ended a premature retirement, broke Petrova in the 11th game of each set and duly went on to close out each on serve.
Her signature single-handed backhand was working nicely for the seven-time grand slam winner while her movement at the court was slick despite not playing for 20 months.
Henin did have to dig deep, coming back from an early break in the second set, to progress through to the second round against Kazakhstan's Sesil Karatantcheva, who beat Australian wildcard Casey Dellacqua 6-2 0-6 7-6 (7-1).
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
