Sydney, January 10:

Justine Henin extended her winning streak to 27 matches and advanced to the final of the Sydney International with a 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 win over Serbia’s Ana Ivanovic on Thursday.

Playing her second match of 2008, Henin got a tough workout from Ivanovic’s powerful groundstrokes and strong serves. The former Australian, French and US Open champion will meet No 2 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final on Friday. Kuznetsova, also a former US Open champion, beat Czech Nicole Vaidisova 7-5, 7-6 (4), saving a set point on her serve in the ninth game of the second set. She then came back from 3-0 down in the tiebreaker to win seven of the next eight points and the match.