Magnificent Henin-Hardenne wins third title - 網球

Magnificent Henin-Hardenne wins third title

By Matthew Cronin
Saturday, June 10, 2006

In yet another gutsy effort from a woman who loves Court Philippe Chatrier the
most, Belgium's Justine Henin-Hardenne won her third Roland Garros crown with
a 6-4 6-4 victory over Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final on Saturday.

"This is very emotional again," Henin-Hardenne told the crowd. "It was
magnificent victory."

Unlike in her prior two finals here, Henin-Hardenne faced a severe physical
test from the strong-legged Russian.

Henin-Hardenne, who held four Grand Slam titles coming into the match, appeared
to be heading toward an easy victory early on in the match, as the Russian
struggled with her nerves and had trouble keeping the ball in the court during
long rallies.

But after falling behind 1-3, 2004 US Open champion Kuznetsova steadied herself
and began to dictate much of the play off her own serve.

She broke back to 2-4 behind a muscular all court attack, dictating with her
forehand, playing steady on her backhand side and frequently rushing the net.

But while Henin-Hardenne was unable to penetrate Kuznetsova service games for
the rest of the set, she more than held her own in her final service game,
serving huge on big points.

The little Belgian held on to win the first set with a 182km/h ace followed up
by another big serve and a forced forehand error from the Russian.

Kuznetsova came out flying in the second set, taking the first two games at
love as Henin-Hardenne looked winded.

But Henin-Hardenne broke back to 1-2 and regained her composure as the Russian
began to break down, losing control of her forehand.

Henin-Hardenne broke her back to 2-2 with a brilliant backhand crosscourt pass
and then re-seized control of the contest.

Kuznetsova managed to hold in the next game, but it was clear that her
confidence was shaken and the Belgian sensed that.

Instead of playing passive, Henin-Hardenne began to attack and broke Kuznetsova
to 4-3 with a huge return, a crisp backhand volley down the line and a steaming
overhead.

Both women then held, but in the last game, Kuznetsova couldn't find the high
level that she displayed in ousting Czech Nicole Vaidisova in the semifinals,
while Henin-Hardenne stood strong.

The Belgian nailed an ace, a backhand down-the-line winner and on her second
match point, saw Kuznetsova sail a forehand return long.

Henin-Hardenne then raised her arms, blew kisses to the crowd and waved to
her husband, Pierre-Yves, and coach Carlos Rodriguez.

The 24-year-old now owns five Grand Slams crowns, tying her with current
competitors Venus Williams and Martina Hingis.

After a trying clay court season where she was unable to win any titles prior
to Roland Garros, Henin-Hardenne once again established herself as the world
premier dirt baller, not dropping a set during the fortnight.


出自：http://www.rolandgarros.com/en_FR/news/articles/2006-06-10/
200606101149951060891.html


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再一次恭喜Henin
又一次攀上職業生涯高峰 ^^

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