Top seed Justine Henin eased into the third round of the US Open on Wednesday with a 6-4 6-0 win over Bulgarian qualifier Tsvetana Pironkova.

 

 

Top seeded Belgian tennis player Justine Henin returns a shot to Bulgaria's Tsvetana Pironkova during their second round match at the 2007 US Open in Flushing Meadows, New York on Wednesday, August 29, 2007. (Photo: AFP)

 

The world number one, bidding for her second US Open title, blasted 22 winners as she wrapped up victory in 68 minutes.

 

Nineteen-year-old Pironkova, ranked 130, matched Henin for the first eight games but the Belgian broke in the ninth game and served out for the first set.

 

It was all one-way traffic from that moment on and Henin cruised through to meet Russian qualifier Ekaterina Makarova in the third round.

 

"At the beginning of the match I wasn't aggressive enough," Henin told reporters. "I wasn't probably ready to fight hard in the first few games of the match and it was four-all.

 

"I'm just happy the way I won my last two matches. Just go step by step and try to build my confidence day after day."

 

Henin has dropped just seven games in her opening two matches but said winning early matches in straight sets was not necessarily crucial in terms of the tournament as a whole.

 

"It's important, but I'm not quite sure it means a lot of things," she said.

 

"I've been in trouble in my first week sometimes when I won grand slams. It's good physically if you can remain fresh and mentally and emotionally but if you can get a little bit in the competition early it's also good."

 

(CRI via Reuters August 30, 2007)