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ANTWERP, Belgium: Home favourite Justine Henin eased past Russian qualifier Alisa Kleybanova 6-4, 6-3 to reach the semi-finals of the WTA Diamond Games on Friday.
The world number one, who is playing for the final time in Belgium as the tournament ends its run due to a calendar change, will face off on Saturday against another outsider in the shape of Timea Bacsinszky.
The Swiss qualifier progressed when third seeded Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova pulled out of their quarter-final suffering from a heavy cold while trailing 6-2, 4-6, 4-1.
Top seed Henin reached a set and 5-2 against her opponent, only to drop serve while trying to close out victory. But she managed it a game later with a break-back to advance in front of a sell-out 13,000 crowd.
Henin is trying to win a title at home for the first time to add to her career total of 40 including seven at Grand Slam level.
"I didn't know much about my opponent before the match," said Henin. "But I knew it would not be easy.
"You don't get this far without playing well. I was able to improve from my first match and I'm so happy to be in the semi-finals at home."
Henin last played in Belgium five years ago when she reached the semi-finals here.
This week is her first competition since going out in the Australian Open quarter-finals to Maria Sharapova which was her first loss since Wimbledon last summer.
Against Bacsinszky, Hantuchova was troubled by a cold which got steadily worse the more she tried to forget about it.
"I don't know why I waited until the third set to stop," said Hantuchova. "I can't believe I stayed out there for almost two hours."
Hantuchova said she was sick when she arrived in Antwerp and had been fighting illness for nearly a week.
"I thought it would get better, but out there today it only got worse. I could barely stand on the court and was tired after playing for five seconds."
The win was the biggest in the career of 94th-ranked Bacsinszky.
"I felt I played a solid match against the number eight," said the 18-year-old.
"I've been playing well this year and I want to maintain consistency. I came out of qualifying and had nothing to lose. Against Justine it will be the same."
Bacsinszky went into Friday's match having only once previously beaten a top 20 player and that was in Zurich in 2006 when she saw off former French Open champion Anastasia Myskina.
The second set of Friday's error-strewn match featured breaks in seven of ten games, with the Swiss earning a break early in the third before Hantuchova finally stopped.
Italian outsider Karin Knapp maintained a perfect career record in quarter-finals as she upset Swiss fourth seed Patty Schnyder 6-2, 6-7 (1/7), 7-6 (7/2).
The 20-year-old, ranked 47th, won three last-eight matches in 2007 but has now extended her reach by winning one on a surface other than her native clay.
Schnyder, the world number 13, lost at the Antwerp quarters for the fourth time in five appearances.
The Swiss 29-year-old has yet to duplicate the semi-final she achieved here in 2002.
In the day's last quarter-final, China's Li Na was taking on Sofia Arvidsson of Sweden. - AFP/ac
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