The Hindu : Sport : Justine Henin's reign continues at Roland Garros

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Sunday, Jun 10, 2007
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Justine Henin's reign continues at Roland Garros

AWESOME DISPLAY: Justine Henin completed a hat-trick of titles at Roland Garros with a commanding performance. — Photo: AFP

PARIS: Justine Henin claimed her third consecutive French Open title — and her fourth overall — taking advantage of 19-year-old Ana Ivanovic's shaky play to win 6-1, 6-2 here on Saturday.

Henin closed out the match with a forehand volley winner, then flipped her racquet, buried her head in her hands, leaned on the net and exhaled.

``It's surreal to win for the third time in a row,'' the Belgian said. ``I am struggling to take it in.''

Henin became the first woman since Monica Seles (1990-92) to win three consecutive Roland Garros titles, and only the second since 1937.

Fizzling out

Ivanovic, a Serb playing in her first Grand Slam final, started well before her play deteriorated. The first sign of trouble came when she awkwardly hit a serve 10-foot long, prompting groans from the crowd. She double-faulted to fall behind 3-1, and the unforced errors came in a hurry after that.

``I started getting nervous,'' Ivanovic said. ``I couldn't control the serve, and she used that well.'' Ivanovic committed 26 unforced errors to 13 for Henin and also double-faulted five times.

It was tight at the start. Henin trailed in each of the first four games, which took 24 minutes, but won 18 of the next 22 points.

Pumping her fist after nearly every point she won, Henin kept up the pressure in the second set with a vast repertoire that ranged from delicate backhands to overhead smashes. During the final changeover, she opened an envelope and pulled out a note bearing the word `Allez' — French for `Let's go.'

Then she finished the job. Ivanovic missed two consecutive shots to fall behind 0-30, and Henin ended the contest two points later. he Belgian became the fifth woman since 1925 to win the French four times. Chris Evert leads with seven titles. Henin won the French Open for the first time in 2003.

Knowles-Nestor win

Mark Knowles of the Bahamas and Daniel Nestor of Canada won the men's doubles title defeating Czech pair Lukas Dlouhy and Pavel Vizner 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the final.

Molik-Santangelo win

Australia's Alicia Molik and Mara Santangelo of Italy won the women's doubles title on Friday with a 7-6(5), 6-4 win over Japan's Ai Sugiyama and Slovenia's Katarina Srebotnik.

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