Justine Henin-Hardenne gave herself a nice birthday present. Having turned 24, the defending French Open champion advanced to the third round with a 6-2, 7-5 victory over Bulgarian Anastasiya Yakimova Thursday at Roland Garros.
After taking the first set without a problem, Henin-Hardenne was on the brink of being pushed to a final set by Yakimova. Trailing 4-5 and 40-love on Yakimova's serve, she saved all three set points before breaking to get back on serve.
After holding for 6-5, the defending champ closed out the match with another break to seal victory before rain halted further play.
"It's like November in Belgium. It's really amazing. I don't remember spending my birthday in weather like this," Henin-Hardenne expressed to reporters at a postmatch conference.
"It's difficult conditions for everybody. It's not pleasant even for the crowd. We're running around on the court, but I think in the stands they're freezing."
The conditions prevented second seed Kim Clijsters or 14th seeded Martina Hingis from taking the court. Their second round matches will take place later today.
Henin-Hardenne will face Italian Tathiana Garbin next. Garbin eliminated Frenchwoman Alize Cornet 6-2, 6-4.
Also advancing to a third round meeting were Ana Ivanovic (19) and '04 French winner Anastasia Myskina (10). Ivanovic easily defeated Emelie Loit 6-1, 6-1 while Myskina got past Melinda Czink 6-2, 6-4.
Russian Maria Kirilenko (20) moved on with a 6-0, 6-1 blowout win over Mathilde Johansson. She awaits either Anna-Lena Groenfeld (13) or American Jamea Jackson. They split the first two sets before play was suspended.
Also through were Daniela Hantuchova (15) and Nathalie Dechy (21). Both setup a third round match after posting three set wins. Hantuchova cameback to beat Emmanuelle Gagliardi 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 while Dechy advanced over Catalina Castano 6-4, 2-6, 6-3.
Argentine Gisela Dulko (32) eliminated Yuliana Fedak 6-2, 6-4. She'll next face American Shenay Perry, who defeated Akiko Morigami 6-3, 6-0. The 21-year-old Perry is into the third round at Roland Garros for the first time in her career.
Israeli Shahar Peer (31) also made Round 3 for the second straight year by ousting Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova 6-2, 6-3. Peer will play either Elena Dementieva (6) or Viktoriya Kutuzova next. The sixth seeded Dementieva was in some trouble down 1-5 in the first set before play was suspended. The match will conclude Friday.
The second round finishes up today and the third round gets underway. Top seed Amelie Mauresmo takes on Jelena Jankovic while fourth seeded Maria Sharapova battles Alicia Molik and American Venus Williams (11) faces Croat Karolina Sprem.
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