Justine Henin is just two games away from emulating the successful return of compatriot Kim Clijsters after she reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open 2010 on Tuesday.
The Belgian ended Nadia Petrova's hopes of claiming another big scalp, winning 7-6 (7-3) 7-5 at Rod Laver Arena to reach the final four of the Women's singles and become the third women's wildcard entry ever to reach the last four of a Grand Slam.
The 27-year-old, who will face Jie Zheng for a place in Saturday's final, is now 15/8 to win the tournament.
After Tuesday's win, the Belgian admitted her run in the tournament had gone better than she was expecting.
"I remember my discussion with (coach) Carlos (Rodriguez) on the plane when we were flying to Australia we were talking about the goals," she said. "It's much more than what we expected.
"I was coming here to see a lot of things. I was curious about what I was going to feel on the court, but now I've won a lot of matches and everything is going well for us."
She added: "I wasn't able to play well in the tough moments at first, but in the last few matches I have been able to. That is probably the most important thing."
Zheng (20/1) booked her place in the semi-finals after beating Maria Kirilenko 6-1 6-3 in just one hour and 25 minutes to reach her second Grand Slam semi-final.
"I am so happy to be through," said the world number 35. "Before the match I knew it was a big chance to get to a semi-final again so I was nervous early on but I did very well.
"I played aggressive and made a lot of winners."
Zheng, 20/1 to win the Women's singles, admitted that Henin is her favourite player and that she had a tough semi-final ahead of her.
But she added: "I don't have anything to lose, I just want to play my tennis."
Zheng is 10/3 to win Thursday's semi-final with Henin the early 1/5 favourite. Oddspreview.com will have a preview of their semi-final clash on Thursday.
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