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Davenport retires, Henin-Hardenne advances
Justine Henin-Hardenne advanced to the semifinals of the Family Circle Cup on Friday when top-ranked Lindsay Davenport was forced to retire in the third set of their match with a pulled muscle.
Henin-Hardenne, who spent most of last season ranked No. 1, won 3-6, 6-3, 1-0.
Davenport said she thought she had a slight strain in her hip flexor on Thursday night and taped it for the match Friday. At one point during the first set, the match was delayed so she could get additional taping.
"I was doing a pretty good job of just going for my shots and going for winners right away," she said. "But you know, after a while, you just can't play under 50 percent out there."
Davenport said she knew she probably wouldn't complete the match when she fell behind 0-3 in the second set.
She won Sunday on the clay at Amelia Island, and the unseasonably cool weather during the first few days of the tournament hasn't helped.
"Eight matches in the last ... eight or nine days, whatever it's been, definitely starts to wear on your body," she said. "The weather yesterday didn't help. It was so stiff out there and even though I was playing well, I could feel everything kind of tightening up."
Davenport said she has had pulls before and tends to recover in a week or so.
"It's not the way I like to win but ... you have to take it this way," said Henin-Hardenne, playing her second tournament since being sidelined last year with illness and injury. "I'm very, very sad for Lindsay that she had to retire, but I knew she was injured."
Henin-Hardenne fell on the court during the match and got up shaking her wrist.
"I think my wrist is fine. It was stiff a little bit and I think it's nothing serious," she said.
She was to face Tatiana Golovin in Saturday's semifinals.
In the other semifinal, second-seeded Elena Dementieva, who beat Katarina Srebotnik 6-3, 5-7, 6-4, will face the winner of the match between Patty Schnyder and 15-year-old Nicole Vaidisova.
Dememtieva won in a brisk breeze and chilly temperatures.
"With all of this cold weather and wind I was like 'Is this a tournament or is it the 'Survivor' show?'" she said. "You really had to survive on the court today."
Golovin upset defending tournament champion Venus Williams on Thursday and followed that up Friday with a milder upset — a 7-5, 6-3 win over Nadia Petrova, the seventh seed who is ranked 12th in the world.
Golovin is ranked No. 25.
"It's my first semifinal in such a big tournament so I can only go out there and try to play my best," she said. "I'm really staying calm and focused out there and I'm not getting angry at myself or getting down on myself."
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