Top seed Henin beats Serena Williams to reach semis

NEW YORK, Sep 4 - Top seed Justine Henin beat two-time champion Serena Williams 7-6 6-1 in a much-anticipated battle under the lights on Tuesday to reach the semi-finals of the U.S. Open. Williams had a set point at 6-5 but Henin won the first set on a tiebreak and then ripped through the second to set up a clash with either third seed Jelena Jankovic of Serbia or American 12th seed Venus Williams.

"I played a very good tiebreak," Henin told the crowd.

"I am very happy about my second set, I took all my opportunities, I returned better and am very happy tonight. I hope I can just keep going."

In what was the third consecutive grand-slam quarter-final between the two, world number one Henin broke in the first game but was broken when serving for the first set at 5-4.

Williams, who came into the U.S. Open having not played since Wimbledon because of a thumb injury, then forced a set point on the Belgian's serve at 6-5.

But Henin held on and stormed through the tiebreak 7-3 before taking a 3-0 lead in the second set.

Williams forced two break points in the fifth game but Henin saved them and then romped through the final two games