Justine Henin wins easily at BNP Paribas Open

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Justine Henin played with ruthless casualness Wednesday in her first-round, 6-2, 6-2 win over Magdalena Rybarikova, a 21-year-old from Slovakia who is ranked 53rd in the world, in 1 hour, 8 minutes at the BNP Paribas Open.

This is only Henin’s third tournament back since she ended her 18-month retirement by coming to the Australian Open in January. Henin told the crowd that she’s eager to play a lot here. ‘I need as many matches as possible,’ she said. Because Henin is still working her way into the computer rankings she came to this event with a wild card and no seed, which meant she had to play a first-round match while all the seeded players have byes into the second round. Henin will play 31st-seeded Gisela Dulko in the second round.

Henin has won here only once, in 2004.

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-- Diane Pucin