(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-02-29 10:58

DUBAI - World number one Justine Henin's unbeaten run of 17 matches at the Dubai Open came to an end as she went down to a 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (7/4) quarter-final defeat to Francesca Schiavone on Thursday.

Justine Henin of Belgium reacts to a lost point against Italy's Francesca Schiavone at the WTA Dubai Tennis Championships, February 28, 2008. [Agencies]

Henin had never lost in seven previous matches to Schiavone but despite having a point to break serve early on and making a brave late revival, she was too inconsistent to deny her aggressive, in-form Italian.

Partly this was Henin's determined policy to take more risks to develop her attacking game, in the interests of her long-term physical well-being.

Henin had said she hoped, after making an escape from trouble on Wednesday against Katarina Srebotnik, that this would be another new beginning for her.

Last year she won the Dubai Open after separating from her husband and went on to win nine other titles, and now she is trying to recover from a knee problem and emotionally tiring family rapprochements.

"She played well but I didn't take my opportunities," said Henin.

"I was not brave enough and she really took her chances and she was better than me.

"I didn't go for winners enough. I had my chances to come back in the second set but I was too short."

Henin agreed that her long late match against Srebotnik the night before had tired her, but insisted that this was not an excuse.

"When I came back I didn't do enough to win and especially in the tie-break I didn't do enough. She came up to the net and I didn't."

She was below her best and Schiavone was inspired to attack brilliantly, sometimes getting to the net more effectively than Henin.

Henin appeared to have escaped from trouble when she recovered from 2-5 to 6-5 in the second set and earned the first mini-break in the tie-break.

But she could not sustain the comeback, and after Schiavone managed an audacious net charge to pull the leeway back, Henin served a double fault.

This put Schiavone at 5-4, whereupon she won a baseline rally and closed out the match by hitting an inside out forehand drive winner to follow up a good first serve.

Schiavone said it was the best win of her career, and that she had lost the 5-2 lead because "at that moment I didn't push hard enough and she kept going".

"She's so strong. Every point you have to beat her. Every point is a match point.

"At the end in the tie-break I said 'you push now or you go home; it's better you push now' - and I did."

Meanwhile, Amelie Mauresmo's dismal run of form continued when she lost 6-1, 7-6 (7/4) to Svetlana Kuznetsova, the second-seeded Russian, which means that the former world number one from France still has not won three matches in a row since losing her Wimbledon title eight months ago.

"I started to play better in the second set and there were times when I played some good tennis," said Mauresmo, trying to make the best of another disappointing performance.

"There were still probably a few things here and there which cost me that second set, and I didn't play the tie-break as I expected, but she came up with some good shots when she needed them."

Kuznetsova now plays Jelena Jankovic, the world number four from Serbia, for a place in a final she reached four years ago.

Jankovic, who had a long hard match before surviving in three sets against Sania Mirza of India on Wednesday, celebrated her 23rd birthday with an encounter that lasted little more than half an hour as opponent Anna Chakvetadze retired hurt with a back injury after losing the first set 6-1.