Justine Henin scored her 28th consecutive victory after defeating Svetlana Kuznetsova in Sydney, remaining unbeaten since Wimbledon, where she was defeated by Marion Bartoli. Henin had an easy draw in the early rounds but then she had to play her best, beating WTA #4 Ana Ivanovic in the semifinal and WTA #2 Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final. Both matches were decided in the third set. The most important warm-up tournament before Australian Open had a great level of participation and semifinals featured 3 of the 4 top ranked players, completed with WTA #12 Nicole Vaidisova who defeated WTA #3 Jelena Jankovic in quarters.
Meanwhile in Hobart Eleni Daniilidou enjoyed a great week taking the singles title and reaching the doubles final. Daniilidou defeated Parmentier, Alona Bondarenko, Dellacqua and Pennetta on her way to the final. Unfortunately her opponent, russian Vera Zvonareva, got injured training before the final, so the title was awarded to Daniilidou by walkover. Remarkable performances also by Ashley Harkleroad, who won 6 matches in a row to reach the semifinals as a qualifier, and by Jelena Dokic, who also got through the qualifying and scored her first WTA victory in more than two years.
Sydney (AUS), Tier II, $600,000
Final: Justine Henin (BEL) def. Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) 4/6 6/2 6/4
Hobart (AUS), Tier IV, $170,000
Final: Eleni Daniilidou (GRE) def. Vera Zvonareva (RUS) wo.
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