Henin Storms to Third Straight Roland Garros Title - 網球

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Henin Storms to Third Straight Roland Garros Title

PARIS, France - Although it was seemingly her most effortless, Justine
Henin's fourth Roland Garros title run this past fortnight was perhaps her
most meaningful; with the support of her family for the first time, the
Belgian continued to work her way deeper into the hearts of her adoring
French fans with a resonant 61 62 rout of Ana Ivanovic.

Having raced through the draw without the loss of a set, notching easy
victories over in-form players Serena Williams and Jelena Jankovic in the
quarters and semis, it was curious to see Henin struggle early against
Ivanovic in the early goings of the final, dropping serve in the opening game
and watching the No.7-seeded Ivanovic jump ahead 40-0 in the second game. But
that's when the match turned on a dime.

"All of a sudden it just hit me," Ivanovic said. "I realized what was
happening, then the nerves came into my serve; I was having so much trouble
with my toss on the first serve and it was going everywhere. I was just
trying to put my first serves in. She used those opportunities and broke me
back right away."

"That game was important, to really stay close to her in the match," Henin
said. "She was getting pretty nervous and I did my job perfectly. I hit a
good shot to come back to deuce and then hit one or two pretty good
forehands. I felt a little bit more free after that. I served well and did
exactly what I had to do."

The rest of the match was no contest as a relaxed Henin started whipping
winners from both wings and jerking Ivanovic all over the court with
well-placed serves and angles, eventually ending it with a volley winner in
one hour, four minutes.

"I wanted this victory so much," Henin added. "You cannot imagine how
strongly I felt, even if I was a bit nervous at the beginning of the match.
But I couldn't lose this one. I wanted to win another title here in Paris.
I'm very happy and proud about it. It's been a great adventure the last few
weeks to build this victory."

Having arguably been dealt one of the toughest draws possible for the No.1
seed, with Australian Open champ Williams and Charleston and Rome winner
Jankovic on the path to the final, Henin still managed to stay on top until
the end.

"It's like my garden. I just feel at home over here. I was at the draw
ceremony and I was not very pleased to play Serena in the quarters, but I
always say when you arrive at the Grand Slams, it's long. You have seven
matches and you have to build something day after day, and I did. I just
enjoyed every moment of it."

Ivanovic, whose best prior result at a Grand Slam was the quaterfinals here
two years ago, can still walk on with the memory of an incredible fortnight,
in which she had wins over the world's two other Top 3 ladies, Svetlana
Kuznetsova and Maria Sharapova, and continued to push Serbia to the forefront
of tennis.

"This was a great experience and I can actually learn from Justine because
she's such a great champion; I'm sure she was nervous too, but she just dealt
with it better than I did. I had an amazing two weeks here and played some
really good tennis. I beat a few top players, so that gave me a lot of
confidence. This is a whole new situation I had to deal with and I'm really
proud of my achievements. I'm very excited for upcoming tournaments and other
chances I'll get."

Henin becomes just the second player in the Open Era to win three consecutive
titles at Roland Garros (Monica Seles achieved the feat between 1990 and
1992). She's also just the ninth player to earn six or more majors, with
Williams being the only other active player to own at least that many (the
American has eight).

"It's amazing; I still don't realize what's happening," Henin stated. "I was
a little girl dreaming of coming here and playing the tournament and winning
it, then I did it four times, and three times in a row, twice without losing
a set. It's great."

It was made even better considering the support of her family, with whom she
had been estranged from for some time before reconciling in the last few
months.

"The atmosphere, what I felt when I won and my family and the good people
around me all being there was so special," said Henin, whose brothers and
sister were in the stands watching their sibling's title-winning performance.
"It has been a huge step in my life in the last few months that I am in touch
with my family again. I was glad I could give them this victory. Everyone
suffered from the situation in the last few years. Today, finally, we are
united in this joy and we can share this moment and it's great. I feel so
happy that I can offer that to them."

Henin and Ivanovic weren't alone in standing out from the pack in Paris.
Jankovic solidified a Top 3 ranking with her run to the semis, while
Sharapova had an impressive run to her first Roland Garros semifinal, having
just returned from nearly two months off with a hurt shoulder. Also earning
breakthroughs were Tathiana Garbin, Sybille Bammer and Marion Bartoli, who
reached Grand Slam second weeks for the first time in their careers.

Also lifting trophies on the terre battue were Alicia Molik and Mara
Santangelo, who won the women's doubles crown, and Nathalie Dechy, who took
the mixed trophy with Andy Ram. Read more about the doubles here and the
mixed here.

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