Tale of Teenage Terror: Henin Cruises

Two self-assured teenage terrors, No14 seed Justine Henin and young Russian Lina Krasnoroutskaya, will meet in their first ever Grand Slam quarter final, after both posted emphatic straight sets wins over Austrian Barbara Schett and Italian Silvia Farina Elia early Sunday.

The 18-year-old Belgian overpowered the 25-ranked Schett 6-3 6-4 in one hour, 12 minutes, while 17-year-old Krasnoroutskaya took five minutes more to dispose of the seasoned Farina Elia 6-2 6-4. Both players are competing at Roland Garros for only the second time and both are expecting to go much further in the tournament.

Henin kept the hundreds of Belgian fans on Court Suzanne Lenglen squealing with her technically sound display amidst cold and blustery conditions. The 14th seed found all the angles, mixing up her powerful baseline play with a handful of deft drop shots that surprised and withered the flat-footed Schett.

After recovering from a sleepy start where she trailed 0-3, Henin closed out the first set with a blistering forehand drive that whizzed past the Austrian before she knew it, and added another 35 winners to the tally before the match was out. Always the aggressor, the Belgian out-paced Schett from the back court, the inconsistent Austrian unable to hold her own in rallies, committing 28 unforced errors.

"She was very aggressive in the beginning but I knew she would not be able to keep that," said Henin. "I took control and have now reached my objective, but I am not stopping here. The pressure is over because I have nothing to lose now."

Henin described her appearance in the singles draw as a "beautiful present" - the Belgian had looked unlikely to compete here after she twisted her ankle three weeks ago. "Things are much clearer in my head. After the third round things are different. I felt much more relaxed on court today. This is my first time in a Grand Slam quarter final. It had to happen, and I'm please it was today at the French Open," she said.