INDIAN WELLS, CA, USA - She reached finals in the first two tournaments of her Sony Ericsson WTA Tour comeback earlier this year and in the first match of her third tournament she picked up right where she left off. Justine Henin won her opener at the BNP Paribas Open in straight sets Wednesday.
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Henin, a wildcard because she is still unranked - although that will change after this tournament - was never in trouble against Magdalena Rybarikova, storming out to 4-0 leads in both sets and never looking back to win, 62 62.
"I was very happy with the way I played today," said Henin, who saved all four break points she faced during the 68-minute contest. "I found my rhythm and it was great to meet with the Indian Wells fans again. I have great memories from playing in the past here and am so happy to be back."
Henin is one of six former champions in this year's draw, winning the Indian Wells title in 2004. After this year's tournament she will reappear on the rankings - a player needs ranking points from three tournaments to get one (she was a runner-up at Brisbane and the Australian Open in January). She is a former world No.1 with seven Grand Slam titles to her name.
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The bottom half of the singles draw played the first round Wednesday. Other notable winners were former Top 10 players Anna Chakvetadze, Kimiko Date Krumm, Patty Schnyder and Alicia Molik, plus the No.1-ranked doubles team in the world, Cara Black and Liezel Huber, who are going for their first Indian Wells title. The top half of the draw will play first round matches Thursday.
