Henin Pulls Off Rare Paris-Eastbourne Sweep

EASTBOURNE, UK -- Moving from slow clay to slick grass has often been tough for even the game's greatest players, but an extremely focused Justine Henin-Hardenne made the transition successfully this year, capturing The Hastings Direct International Championships title with a 46 61 76(5) victory over Anastasia Myskina in the final.

The finalists thrilled the capacity Devonshire Park crowd for exactly two hours on a sunny, Saturday afternoon. The early stages of the match were fairly streaky, with Henin-Hardenne racing ahead 4-2 before Myskina reeled off four consecutive games to tuck away the opening set. The Belgian bounced back in the second set, stepping up her aggressive game and losing only 11 points to draw even, one set apiece.

Down an early break in the third, Henin-Hardenne began mixing in serve-and-volley play to claw her way back, and eventually found herself at triple match point in the 10th game with Myskina serving. But the Russian held in a 10-minute game, and the two players were neck-and-neck throughout the exciting climax until Henin-Hardenne broke away for a 6-4 lead in the tie-break, winning 7-5.

"I was expecting a very tough match today from Anastasia," Henin-Hardenne declared. "She played very well and I wasn't aggressive enough at 4-2 in the first set. In the second set, I stepped it up because I knew if I didn't I would lose and in the third set, it came down to who was mentally stronger."

"I'm very happy with the way I played today and the whole week," Myskina said. "I finally believe in myself again and the hard work is paying off. I really want to get back to where I was, as I was tired of losing. I want to win again and that?s a good challenge for me."

Henin-Hardenne becomes only the third player in Sony Ericsson WTA Tour history to win Roland Garros and Eastbourne in the same year, a feat that has proven difficult to many of the game's greats given the drastic change in surface. Only Chris Evert (1974, 1979) and Martina Navratilova (1982, 1984) had done it.

"I'm very proud to join Evert and Navratilova as the only ones to win Roland Garros and here. It's a special achievement and a great honor, but I think what they did, no one will achieve again in their careers."

With her second career grass court title (having won 's-Hertogenbosch in 2001), the Belgian also becomes the fifth active player to have won at least two titles on all four surfaces (after Lindsay Davenport, Kim Clijsters and the Williams sisters), as well as the fastest woman ever to earn $2 million in a season. All of this in her tournament debut, where she opened with easy victories over Kveta Peschke and Elena Likhovtseva and capped it with wins over Kim Clijsters and Myskina.

"I'm very happy with my week here. The courts were excellent; a little windy at the start, but great preparation for Wimbledon. I'll be back next year for sure."

Despite heading to the All-England Club with the most prestigious tune-up event's title in hand, the five-time Grand Slam winner is still taking it match by match.

"I'm not looking too far ahead. Everybody knows how difficult first rounds are for me; I hope the preparation will help me when I play my first round Monday."

Myskina's week was also a good sign for Wimbledon. The Russian cruised through her first three rounds easily, then had her first win over a Top 10 player this year in the semis, over Svetlana Kuznetsova. She heads into Wimbledon with a 32-14 career grass court record (Tour main draws only), and looks to repeat her good form from last year at the All-England Club, which took her to the quarterfinals.

In the doubles final, Kuznetsova and Amelie Mauresmo ousted No.4 seeds Liezel Huber and Martina Navratilova, 62 64, for their first career title as a team. It was the Russian's 13th career Tour doubles title and Mauresmo's second. Huber and Navratilova had pulled off arguably one of the biggest upsets of the entire tournament, singles and doubles included, with a straight set semifinal victory over top seeds and reigning US Open and Roland Garros champions Lisa Raymond and Samantha Stosur, 76(3) 76(3).
-- WTA