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Posted at 11:27 a.m., Sunday, March 25, 2007

No. 1 tennis player Henin rallies to advance

By Steven Wine
Associated Press

KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. -- Two points from defeat, Justine Henin played up to her billing as the new No. 1.

Henin, who reclaimed the top ranking less than a week ago, came from behind three times in the third set today and beat Virginie Razzano 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 (5) at the Sony Ericsson Open.

Henin erased a 5-1 deficit in the final set to reach 5-all. Serving at 5-6, love-30, she rallied for 6-all. Then she fell behind 2-0 in the tiebreaker before staging one last charge and closing out the third-round victory with a forehand winner.

''I came back from nowhere almost,'' Henin said. ''It's this kind of situation that I play my best tennis. I proved it many times in the past. I probably love to be under pressure -- but it's good to win in two sets, too.''

Razzano never reached match point, but three times she was two points from winning.

Henin, first ranked No. 1 in 2003, overtook Maria Sharapova for the top spot Monday. The Belgian, 12-1 this year, never has advanced beyond the quarterfinals at Key Biscayne.

''Everyone knows it's not my favorite event,'' Henin said. ''But I hope I can build something better this year.''

Third-seeded Andy Roddick, who has yet to lose his serve in two matches, beat No. 32 Gilles Simon 6-4, 6-4. Roddick's fourth-round opponent will be No. 13 David Ferrer, who won when they met in the quarterfinals a year ago.

No. 5 Martina Hingis lost to 17-year-old Agnieszka Radwanska 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 and settled for a consolation prize: the $20 million milestone. Hingis became the fourth player to reach that mark in career earnings, joining Steffi Graf, Lindsay Davenport and Martina Navratilova.

''It's not great doing it this way,'' Hingis said.

A two-time Key Biscayne champion, Hingis lost in the third round for the second year in a row. She has reached only one semifinal in eight tournaments this year.

''I'm getting a little bit tired of losing matches which I'm supposed to win,'' she said. ''I think more or less I need to recharge my whole body, and mostly my head.''