Comeback kid: Justine Henin advances to Australian Open semifinals with win over Nadia Petrova

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Henin rolls on, tops Petrova to reach Aussie semis

MELBOURNE, Australia — Justine Henin has advanced to the semifinals of her first Grand Slam tournament in two years, beating Nadia Petrova of Russia 7-6 (3), 7-5 at the Australian Open.

Henin, who is in her second tournament since returning from a 20-month retirement, won the first set Tuesday with one of her trademark backhands soon after taking a 6-1 lead in the tiebreaker.

Petrova broke Henin’s service in the opening game of the second set and led 3-0 before Henin, unranked and playing on a wild-card entry, won seven of the next nine games.

Petrova had beaten U.S. Open champion Kim Clijsters and French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova on her way to the quarterfinals.