Teen Pushes Davenport to Brink

Justine Henin’s inexperience was artfully concealed by a sublime one-handed backhand and a creative baseline attack. It carried her to the verge of the biggest upset at the French Open, as she served for the match against second-seeded Lindsay Davenport.

Then the poised youngster from Belgium turned back into a 16-year-old qualifier playing in her first Grand Slam event, winning only three points in the final three games. Davenport, of Newport Beach, watched Henin’s shots sail wildly and prevailed, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5, in the second-round match at Roland Garros on Thursday.

Davenport, 22, patted her young opponent on the back. Her relief in surviving was palpable.

“Today I just feel like I’m glad to still be in the tournament,” said Davenport, who next will play Fabiola Zuluaga of Colombia.

Earlier this month, Henin won a small event in Belgium, her first WTA event. Davenport knew little about her game.

But afterward, Davenport predicted the 121st-ranked teenager will be in the top 20 or 30 within the next year.

“I was just frustrated the way I was playing,” Davenport said. “The girl is very good. It was hard going into the match because I didn’t know anything about her. I knew I can’t be playing like this. On clay, I can’t be behind the baseline. I need to be the one attacking.”

Henin said she was not nervous when she served for the match at 5-4.

“I’m very disappointed and very pleased at the same time,” she said. “I was just one game away from victory. I don’t want to do things too quickly, either. It’s not good.”

She is practical in her approach. Henin, who turns 17 June 1, is not playing Wimbledon because there is another task on the agenda.

“I need to have some time to have a wisdom tooth pulled out, and I will rest and then we’ll see. I’ll have four of them pulled out, if you want to know,” she said, smiling.

*

There were two mild upsets on the women’s side in the second round. Conchita Martinez of Spain defeated eighth-seeded Mary Pierce of France, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, and Gala Leon Garcia of Spain beat ninth-seeded Nathalie Tauziat of France, 6-2, 6-4. Martinez, however, has reached the semifinals here three times and nearly knocked off Pierce at the recent Italian Open, losing after holding match point.

Jennifer Capriati’s winning streak reached seven matches after she beat Lilia Osterloh, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2. This is her best showing at the French Open since reaching the quarterfinals in 1993.

In the third round, Capriati will play Silvia Farina of Italy, who survived a marathon second-rounder. Farina beat Ai Sugiyama of Japan, 6-4, 6-7 (7-4), 11-9, in 3 hours 29 minutes, the third-longest women’s singles match at Roland Garros.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Today’s Featured Matches

* Men: Carlos Moya (4) vs. Sargis Sargsian; Marcelo Rios (9) vs. Albert Costa; Tim Henman (7) vs. Alberto Berasategui; Greg Rusedski (12) vs. Davide Sanguinetti; Andre Agassi (13) vs. Chris Woodruff.

* Women: Martina Hingis (1) vs. Kveta Hrdlickova; Jana Novotna (4) vs. Silvija Talaja; Venus Williams (5) vs. Alicia Molik; Arantxa Sanchez Vicario (7) vs. Irina Spirlea; Serena Williams (10) vs. Mary Joe Fernandez; Barbara Schett (15) vs. Sylvia Plischke.