Henin Stays Perfect in Dubai

DUBAI, UAE - When the going gets tough, the tough get going. That was the theme throughout the week in Dubai as a somewhat rusty Justine Henin played her way back into top form, and on Saturday night extended her undefeated streak in the Middle Eastern paradise to 16-0 with her fourth Dubai Duty Free Women's Open title. She downed Amélie Mauresmo in an intense final, 64 75.

The championship match, played under the lights of the beautiful Dubai Tennis Stadium, was a tight affair save the first and final moments. The top-seeded Henin broke twice to jump ahead 4-1 in the first set; Mauresmo, the No.2 seed, got one break back then nearly pulled even, holding points to close to 4-all, but was unable to capitalize. The second set was a tight one as well as the players remained on serve throughout most of it; but again it was the Belgian who pulled through in the crunch, holding, breaking and holding on a 12-point, three-game tear for her 16th straight win at the $1.5 million, Tier II event.

Henin said that the dynamic hinged on that near-turnaround in the eighth game.

"That was the key of the first set for sure, and probably of the match, because she was coming back in the match very strongly and I was starting to feel a little bit nervous; but I had good serves and was pretty aggressive," said Henin, who broke a 6-6 head-to-head tie against Mauresmo with the win. "Tonight I played my best tennis and I'm very proud of it."

The Belgian had not had an ideal beginning to the 2007 season. Having finished last season as the world's No.1, she missed the entire Australian season due to personal reasons, then fell in the semifinals of her first event of the year in Paris. But her fortune changed in the desert paradise that is Dubai, where she had already claimed singles titles in 2003, 2004 and last year.

"It was hard for me this week; I had a lot of ups and downs, but I kept fighting," said Henin, who survived three set scares from Tamira Paszek and Svetlana Kuznetsova in earlier matches. "I've been very positive. Each point has been important for me this week. I think I deserved it today. I love this place."

Mauresmo, who was coming off her third consecutive Proximus Diamond Games title in Antwerp (receiving the coveted diamond-studded racquet for that effort), was disappointed, but was still encouraged at her level of play this past week.

"I'm really proud of showing the crowd here in Dubai some of my best tennis; unfortunately I didn't get the title, but I really enjoyed it here," said Mauresmo, who won here in 2002. "I said at the beginning of the week it was going to be difficult to get through to the end. I almost got there. It was only the matter of a few points here and there. She just played some great shots at the right time."

Henin improved to 30-15 in Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles finals with the win, while Mauresmo fell to 24-20. They are expected to remain at No.2 and No.3, respectively, when the new singles rankings are released this coming Monday.

Others who made headlines this past week were Jelena Jankovic, who defeated Martina Hingis for a semifinal berth before spraining her left ankle and retiring against Mauresmo Friday evening; Kuznetsova, who also reached the semifinals before falling to Henin in three; and Eleni Daniilidou and Alicia Molik, who both notched Top 20 victories earlier in the week.

But Dubai belonged to Henin, who, playing just her second event of the season, brought out some inspired aggressive form to move herself back in the winner's circle. And she doesn't intend on slowing down, or looking back, any time soon.

"Sure I had a great season last year but that's already in the past. I love tennis so much and it's my passion, so every time I walk on the court, it's to give my best and to enjoy the moment. I love competition. I'm sure I'll come out even stronger with a little more time."

African duo wins fourth tournament in a row

The Zimbabwean-South African pairing of Cara Black and Liezel Huber just can't be stopped. On Saturday night they beat Svetlana Kuznetsova and Alicia Molik, 76(6) 64, for the Dubai Duty Free Women's Open title, adding to their previous 2007 title runs, at the Australian Open, Paris and Antwerp. The victory over the Russian-Australian tandem was their 18th in a row.

"We're really excited; I can't believe we won - this is almost as big as the Grand Slam it seems," Huber said. "All in all, we were happy with our performances. We're tired now but this is the end of the trip. We have three weeks off now."

The Dubai title match win was the 15th straight set win in their 18-match streak; their only three matches to go to three sets were the Australian Open final, the Antwerp final and an opening round win this week over Jelena Jankovic and Li Na.

Black and Huber have two Grand Slam doubles titles together: 2005 Wimbledon and the triumph down under. They are already setting their sights on another.

"Our schedule is certainly tailored around the Slams," Huber continued. "We don't play too much leading up to them, but make sure we still have enough matches in us. We've sorted out what we need to do to win, so it's just how we manage ourselves, and then we will give ourselves the best chance to win the big ones."

Black now owns 31 Sony Ericsson WTA Tour doubles titles, while Huber has 19.

The unseeded team of Kuznetsova and Molik took out the No.2 and No.4 seeds en route to the final. They weren't a debut pairing by any means; they have two titles as a team, both in 2005, at the Australian Open and at the Tier I in Miami. (WTA)