Henin in heaven after breakthrough Belgian title
Updated: 2008-02-18 08:48
ANTWERP, Belgium - Justine Henin fulfilled a career-long dream as she won her first title at home in Belgium as the Diamond Games closed out a nine-year WTA run on Sunday.
 Belgium's Justine Henin smiles as she holds the diamond racket, that holds 2008 diamonds and worth more than euro1 million (US$1.5 million), after beating Italy's Karin Knapp at the WTA Proximus Diamond Games tennis in Antwerp, Belgium, Sunday, Feb.17, 2008. Henin won 6-3, 6-3. [Agencies] |
The top seed dismantled Italian challenger Karin Knapp 6-3, 6-3 in 90 minutes.
A full-house crowd in excess of 15,000 revelled in the success of their world number one at an event which has been wiped from the women's calendar from 2009 in a scheduling shake-up.
Henin, who lost a heartbreak Australian Open quarter-final a month ago to Maria Sharapova while carrying a painful knee injury, had made it her mission to lift the home crown.
She prevailed easily over the number 47 Italian playing in her first career final. Knapp, aged 20, has yet to beat a Top Ten player.
"It's so great to win at home in Belgium," said Henin. "That was really my goal this week and I'm so happy I was able to do it. I've had tough matches but came through. This is a very emotional moment for me."
Henin finally had a more straight-forward win after struggling in her matches all week.
But it still did not go entirely to script. Henin broke twice for a 5-2 lead in the first set but dropped serve in the eighth game as Knapp kept the contest alive, 3-5.
Henin quickly righted herself, claiming the opener after 40 minutes on her third opportunity as Knapp put an approach into the net. In the second set, Henin broke for 4-2 and closed out victory on her first match point.
The win was her 11th of the season against the Melbourne defeat and marked the 41st of a career which also includes seven grand slam trophies.
Henin has now won ten finals in a row, last tasting defeat against Serena Williams in Miami in April last year. The Belgian came good on her third appearance in Antwerp after a 2002 final and 2003 semi-final.
She returned home to play for the first time in five years and kept the tournament on its feet financially as more than 100,000 fans came through the doors over the concluding week.
Henin's victory was her second title of 2007 after Sydney in January. She will next play in Dubai in a week after pulling out of next week's required WTA event in Doha, which will cost her at least 125,000 dollars in year-end bonus pool money.
|
|
|
||
|
||
|
|
|
|