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Battling Henin edges Sharapova for last 16 spot

PARIS - Four-time champion Justine Henin battled past fellow former world number one Maria Sharapova 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 to reach the French Open fourth round on Sunday after surviving a rollercoaster final set.

Henin, playing at Roland Garros for the first time since 2007, will face Australian seventh seed Samantha Stosur for a place in the quarter-finals after a trademark gutsy performance helped her recover from 0-2 down in the decider.

The 27-year-old Belgian, the champion in 2003, 2005, 2006 and 2007, also saved four break points in the third game before shattering the spirit of Sharapova, who was sent to her earliest French Open exit since her 2003 debut.

The pair had been level at a set apiece when play was suspended in darkness on Saturday.

Henin had romped into a 4-0 lead on her way to capturing the first set 6-2, but Sharapova then besieged the Belgian, who had to fight off break points in the second and sixth games of the second set.

The Russian finally broke through in the eighth game and took the set 6-3 to level the tie.

It was the first time Henin, who missed the 2008 and 2009 tournaments due to her shock retirement, had dropped a set at Roland Garros since the fourth round in 2005.

On Sunday, Sharapova, a semi-finalist in 2007, settled quicker than the Belgian, breaking in the first game before backing it up with a convincing hold to lead 2-0.

Henin, however, saved four break points in the third game and levelled at 2-2 courtesy of a loose Sharapova service game.

The determined Belgian broke again in the sixth game as Sharapova, whose Grand Slam title collection is still missing a French Open, ballooned a forehand high and wide into the chilly Paris breeze.

But the 23-year-old Russian is nothing if not a fighter and she retrieved the break in the seventh game when Henin, suddenly on the back foot, served up her ninth double fault of the tie.

Still, Sharapova was unable to build on her reply and she again handed the advantage back in the eighth game.

Henin then took the 2hr 10min match on a second match point when Sharapova’s radar again deserted her and a wild backhand sailed wide.