TENNIS/Australian Open: It was the match that launched Justine Henin-Hardenne's meteoric rise to becoming a double grand slam champion and world number one. Prior to last year's Australian Open Lindsay Davenport had recorded five consecutive wins against the diminutive Belgian.

Then, in the fourth round here, Henin finally turned the tables. They have not played each other since and tomorrow meet again, this time in the quarter-finals.

Last year's meeting had been billed as a grudge match, yet had genuine animosity ever really existed they were both too exhausted to prolong any verbal arguments afterwards. The match lasted three hours and 13 minutes and ended with Henin, having fallen to the ground with cramp at 7-7 in the third set, winning 7-5, 5-7, 9-7.

"I thought I was going to die," said Henin, who had been in danger of defaulting. Davenport, who squandered a 4-1 third-set lead, just as Henin had in the second set, was forced to wait at a critical moment while the Belgian was allowed to recover, ironic at the time as Henin had accused Davenport of faking injury in their previous match.

Henin frequently provoked controversy as she clambered up the ranking ladder, although now that she has reached the top her opponents are generally rather more respectful.

"When she beat me last year I probably would not have guessed that a year later she was going to be number one, but she's improved physically, as well as her game," said Davenport yesterday after reaching the last eight with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Russia's Vera Zvonareva.

Henin seemed set for a similar cruise in the park against the lowly ranked Mara Santangelo, an Italian qualifier, but she lost her way a little, saving a set point before winning 6-1, 7-6.

"I didn't serve so well, which I shall need to do against Lindsay. She's very, very strong, and I don't see myself as the big favourite because I have had many troubles against her in the past."

The two were due to meet just before the Australian Open began in the semi-finals in Sydney, but Davenport had to pull out with a sore shoulder, an injury that appears to have cleared up. "That win over Lindsay last year was something amazing. It made me believe that I could beat the top players on all surfaces," said Henin who, although she later lost in the semi-finals here, went on to win the French and US Opens.

France's Amelie Mauresmo, the number four seed, also reached the quarter-finals, defeating Australia's Alicia Molik 7-5, 7-5 in what was the best of yesterday's four women's fourth-round matches. Molik (22) has had her promising career continually brought to a halt by injuries, but will surely challenge for a place in the top 20 this year if she stays fit.

She has a classic service action, moves well and is strong on both sides, frequently troubling the grimacing Mauresmo, who appeared to be having back problems. Or maybe it was nerves. Certainly she did not hide her delight at winning, letting out a huge yelp of delight in the direction of her coach, Loic Courteau, and her Fed Cup captain, Guy Forget.

Tomorrow she plays Colombia's Fabiola Zuluaga who reached her first slam quarter-final with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Aniko Kapros of Hungary.

It is a match Mauresmo should win as she holds a 5-2 career advantage over the Colombian. When the French woman reached the Australian Open final in 1999, losing to Switzerland's Martina Hingis, she was little known, although she had been an exceptional junior. So had that final come a little too early in her career? "No, I don't think so. I was only 19 but I don't think it's ever too early to play in the final of a slam."

The upset of the weekend was the third-round defeat of Venus Williams, the number three seed, beaten 6-4, 7-6 on Saturday by her fellow American Lisa Raymond.

Coming into this event Williams had not played a competitive match since last year's Wimbledon final, which she lost to her sister Serena, who pulled out here having not recovered from a knee operation.

Both sisters have often taken a somewhat cavalier approach to this tournament in the past, and Raymond's win was greeted enthusiastically by many players. They were both delighted for the 30-year-old American, and secretly pleased to see that Venus could not simply waltz back into tennis at this level without any real preparation.

Guardian Service