It had been over 10 years since two players with as many Grand Slam titles did battle for another one and this time it was nothing short of a war; in the end only one of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour's legends could grow their legacy, and this time it was Serena Williams who did, beating Justine Henin in an electric three-setter Saturday night, 64 36 62.Williams and Henin were on their game from the very beginning, with nine deuces in the first three games alone. They traded breaks once early in the first set, Williams at love to go up 3-1 and Henin breaking back to close to 4-3; but Henin was shaky on serve in the 10th game and Williams pounced, drilling her groundstrokes deep until Henin sailed a backhand wide on set point.
There were two halves to the second set. The two players were back on serve with Williams up 3-2 but that's when Henin went on absolute overdrive, winning five games in a row to steal the second set away, 6-3, and lead 1-0 in the third. Henin actually won 15 points in a row at one point, 10 straight to end the second set and five more to start the third. There were half a dozen winners in there, too, coming from all wings - serves, volleys, forehands, backhands.
She seemed in trouble, but Williams got the momentum back. After a few more breaks of serve Williams got herself a holding pattern, regaining control of her delivery and breaking Henin in the fifth and seventh games, then she served it out at 15, blasting two aces en route to match point and finishing it off with a huge backhand winner into the corner.
"I'd like to thank God for letting me be able to play today," Williams said during the trophy presentation. "I'd like to congratulate Justine for having such a fabulous tournament and giving me a run today - it was a great final and could have gone either way. I'm also really happy Justine came back."
Williams becomes the first woman in the Open Era to win five Australian Open singles titles. Coming into the tournament she was in a five-way tie alongside Margaret Court, Evonne Goolagong, Steffi Graf and Monica Seles.
Williams' 12th overall major ties her at No.6 on the all-time list with Billie Jean King; Court, Graf, Helen Wills Moody, Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert are the only players with more major singles titles in their careers.
"I'm so honored Billie, we're tied!" Williams added in her speech.
Henin was trying to follow in the footsteps of fellow Belgian Kim Clijsters, who - also as an unranked wildcard, at last year's US Open - went all the way to a Grand Slam title. This was just the second event of Henin's comeback to tennis; in her first, she reached the final of Brisbane, falling to Clijsters.
"It has been a very emotional two weeks for me. I thought it would never happen again," Henin said to the crowd. "Finally I could come back on the courts and enjoy the tournament. Australia was the best place to come back - you all know the sport so well and it was amazing playing in front of you all. Thank you for all of your support. I'd really like to congratulate Serena - she's a real champion."
"I'll see you next year," the seven-time Grand Slam champion added.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Singles - Final
(1) Serena Williams (USA) d. (WC) Justine Henin (BEL) 64 36 62
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