Tennis

Henin beats Petrova to win comeback match

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-01-04 16:22
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SYDNEY - Belgium's Justine Henin made a triumphant return to professional tennis on Monday with a 7-5 7-5 win over Russia's Nadia Petrova in the first round of the Brisbane International.

Henin beats Petrova to win comeback match
Belgium's Justine Henin celebrates beating Russia's Nadia Petrova at the Brisbane International tennis tournament January 4, 2010. [Agencies] 

Playing her first official match since retiring in May 2008, Henin showed she had lost none of her fighting qualities as she ground out a hard-fought victory over the tournament's second seed.

Another former world number one, Serbia's Ana Ivanovic, registered her first win in almost five months by beating Australia's Jelena Dokic 7-5 1-6 6-3 in an earlier match.

Ivanovic, who has slipped to 21st in the world rankings after failing to win a tournament in 2009, overcame a lapse of concentration in the second set to see off Dokic, who contributed to her own downfall with 11 double-faults.