Henin survives scare to reach Antwerp final

ANTWERP, Belgium (Reuters) - World number one Justine Henin recovered from an early scare to beat qualifier Timea Bacsinszky 2-6 6-3 6-3 on Saturday and reach the final of the Antwerp Diamond Games.

The top seed and local favorite looked to be heading for a shock exit after a poor first set but made amends in the second against the Swiss teenager, ranked 94th in the world.

Henin, who broke in the fourth game of the third set, said she had not been surprised at Bacsinszky's resilience.

"She has played well all week already and she has a great future ahead," Henin said.

"True, things didn't go easy, but the most important thing is that I reached the final. Antwerp was an important goal for this year's season."

Henin will face either Karin Knapp of Italy or China's Li Na in Sunday's final. On paper neither should pose a problem for the Belgian seven-times grand slam tournament winner, with Li ranked 33rd and Knapp 47th.

Henin said she was pleased that the knee problem that was bothering her at last month's Australian Open was not troubling her too much.

"I started the tournament with a lot of doubt about my physique, but my knee is keeping up alright. Hopefully it will all work well on Sunday and I can win the title," she said.

(Writing by Sonia Oxley in London; editing by Rex Gowar and Trevor Huggins)