TORONTO – You can’t say that there wasn’t a touch of irony at the first semifinal of the Rogers Cup.
When Justine Henin and Yan Zi came onto the court for the first time, they were accompanied by U2’s “Where The Streets Have No Name.” A more appropriate choice could not have been made as many didn’t know who Yan was.
That was until the Rogers Cup.
In what was undoubtedly the main plot point of this year’s Rogers Cup tennis tournament in Toronto, Yan’s fairytale run finally ended at the hands of the world’s best player Justine Henin earlier today.
The Belgian player stumbled at the beginning of the match, but barely broke a sweat as she moved onto tomorrow’s final after beating her Chinese opponent in straight sets (6-3, 6-0).
While Henin did the expected and moved into the finals of the tournament, the story is not so much about her advance as it is about Yan’s end. The loss by the #169 ranked player in the world ends Yan’s unbelievable string of successes in the tournament.
The lowest ranked player to ever reach the Rogers Cup semifinal, Yan defeated Greece’s Eleni Daniilidou, took out defending champion Ana Ivanovic and moved to the semis after her quarterfinal opponent (Marion Bartoli) withdrew because of illness. At a post-game press conference, Yan said that her performance in the Toronto tourney definitely lifted her spirits.
“I think I have more confidence, yeah,” she said.
Yan was humble after the match, and said that she did not lose because she was scared of Henin.
“Yeah, I think I’m very relaxed,” she said. “But she played so well, so I don’t have chance today.”
The match started off well for the underdog as she managed to break her intimidating adversary’s serve twice, but just couldn’t handle Henin’s increased aggression in the second set. While it surprised some onlookers that the doubles specialist did not attack the net more, Yan explained that it was because her opponent had made the necessary adjustments.
Henin agreed.
After the match, the player who has reached the finals of her last three Canadian tournaments said that changing her style to suit her opponent’s was important factor in her swift and decisive victory.
“Yeah, it takes a little bit of time to get used to her game. She was using her forehand a lot. It’s, for sure, her best shot,” Henin said. “And I just had to move her a lot and then change the directions and be very aggressive. And it took me a few games to understand that.”
The Belgian, who will be playing for her sixth championship of the season tomorrow said that she was not surprised by Yan’s strong start.
“I mean, I knew she was on the court to compete with me, and it was 50-50 at that time,” Henin said. “But after that I just took the opportunities and played much more aggressive and just tried to be very intense in the rallies and that worked pretty good.”
While Henin was unfamiliar with Yan, she said that playing somebody who she doesn’t know has its advantages.
“It’s not easy for me to play a player that I don’t know that much in singles. So that’s not the kind of situation I do prefer, but it’s good,” she said. “I have to deal with this situation sometimes, and I think I did it a very good way today, so I’m very happy.”
In a sharp contrast with Yan’s unknown game, Henin knows both of her possible final opponents (Jelena Jankovic and Tatiana Golovin) very well. As a result, she did not express any interest in watching today’s other semifinal match between the two.
“I’m probably going to be at dinner at that time,” she said. “I know how they play. And if I have a chance to look a few games to watch a few games, but it’s not like I have to.”
There’s no question that while tournament organizes must be overcome with sighs of relief at Henin’s advance, Yan’s personality will be missed at the event that she helped to shape this year. That was evident once again in the cute way the player danced and ducked around the court before she took one of her serves in the second set, not to avoid a blistering return by her opponent but because she had caught a bee’s attention.
“Yeah, he always follow me,” she said with a laugh. “I don’t know how to play!”
