New Haven Independent

Henin-Hardenne, the compact, spring-footed Belgian star, defeated the unseeded Spaniard 6-4, 6-2 in the tournament’s second round.

Medina Garrigues gave the No. 2-seeded player a challenging return to the court. She hit the ball deep and strong. She defied many would-be winning shots and brought Justine to the brink of losing her serve — “break point” — 10 times.

“She pushed me to, you know, put a lot of rhythm, a lot of pressure on her because I could stay there for hours against her,” said Henin-Hardenne, who is recovering from a knee injury.

The Belgian is one of an especially deep pool of talented women drawing crowds to the Pilot Pen this year — seven of the world’s top 10 women entered the tournament. Her unpredictable style of play, with spin-warped crosses and delicious smashes, kept the audience in gasps and applause.

Despite being ranked third in the world, Henin-Hardenne is taking the risk of altering a basic stroke, her serve. She said she’s been working on minor adjustments to her swing after her defeat at Wimbledon. Almost half of her first serves went into the net. But the tweaked method still earned her six aces, one of which was clocked 114 mph. Her opponent had none.

The whimsy of the net cord made a couple of Justine’s spin-crazed shots completely unpredictable. In the second set, one of the Belgian’s balls hit the net then fell — just barely — onto Medina Garrigues’ court, ending the game.

“She had a lot of luck,” grumbled Medina Garrigues (pictured) after the match. And Justine was able to get winners from the middle of the court. “I needed more winners.” But the 24 year-old said she was glad to have spent so long — 1 hour 26 minutes — across the net from such a top-notch player.

Henin-Hardenne was glad for the challenge: “I knew it was going to be a tough one. Medina, she is a very tough player against me. She always plays very, very good tennis and she gave me trouble in the past.

“I really think it was good because it’s the kind of match that gives you a lot of rhythm, and that’s what I needed tonight.”

Henin-Hardenne advances to the quarterfinals Thursday with a match against unseeded Italian Mara Santangelo.

After the women’s night match, Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo, the man who toppled first-seeded James Blake Tuesday, took stage on Center Court again. Introduced by a joking emcee as “the man you all learned to hate last night,” Hidalgo was sent home after losing to Belgian Xavier Malisse.