She was fierce on hardcourts, but everyone knew once it got to the European clay court season she'd be deadly. Justine Henin picked up the first title of her Sony Ericsson WTA Tour comeback at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, snapping the 11-match winning streak of Samantha Stosur with a three set win in the final, 64 26 61.Henin, who retired in May 2008 but returned to the Tour at the start of 2010, had recorded some incredible results right off the bat, reaching finals at Brisbane and the Australian Open and the semis in Miami - her only letdown was a second round loss in Indian Wells to the always tricky Gisela Dulko.
It was fifth time lucky in Stuttgart however. Unseeded, she took out three seeds en route to the title - No.8 seed Yanina Wickmayer in the second round, No.4 seed Jelena Jankovic in the quarterfinals and No.7 seed Stosur in the final. After losing five games in a row to lose the second set and go down 1-0 in the third Henin caught fire, reeling off six games in a row of her own - losing just seven points in that stretch - and rushing the net at every opportunity.
"I never thought I'd be back in Stuttgart a year ago. And especially for it to be on clay now, it means a lot to me," Henin said. "When I saw Roger Federer winning the French Open... it brought back the fire that wasn't there anymore before. It has been a lot of work but I'm ready for it. It's great to be back and share these emotions with all of you guys. I had a fantastic week. Everything was perfect."
Henin collected her second career Porsche Tennis Grand Prix title, also winning in 2007. This was the Belgian's 42nd career singles title on the Tour, placing her at No.2 among active players (Venus Williams has 43).
"Justine was just too good today," Stosur said. "In the third set she just got really aggressive, made some really good returns and put me under a lot of pressure. I think that was the key to the match. She broke me three times in a row. It was nice to come back here after a few years of not playing here."
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Singles - Final
(WC) Justine Henin (BEL) d. (7/WC) Samantha Stosur (AUS) 64 26 61
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