AUSSIE OPEN WOMEN'S FINAL

Justine hardens at end of three-set Aussie Open final win over Clijsters
Another near miss for Kim

By Matthew Cronin
tennisreporters.net

In a whirlwind psychological battle between two very intense rivals, top-ranked Justine Henin-Hardenne mentally wore down Kim Clijsters 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 and won her third Grand Slam and first Australian Open.

In a gripping contest that saw Clijsters claw her back from substantial deficits in both the second and third sets, it was Henin-Hardenne who was able to steady herself late and come up with huge, courageous forays in the match’s final game.

After she belted a service winner down the tee, Henin-Hardenne fell to knees, buried her face in her hands and wept.

It was the third time in the past year that Henin-Hardenne had gotten over her younger countrywoman in a Slam final, but this was the first time that Clijsters seriously challenged her.

After Clijsters had pumped herself up and let loose in coming back from a 2-4 deficit in the second set, it appeared that muscular blonde had seized the momentum. But Clijsters came out flat in the third set and Henin-Hardenne walked all over her, racing out to a 4-0 lead behind a gorgeous display of all-court tennis.

But Henin-Hardennen appeared to get nervous and Clijsters briefly took advantage, breaking to 1-4 with an inside-out forehand winner, easily holding to 4-2 behind powerful groundies and the breaking Henin-Hardenne to 4-3 with a patented backhand down the line winner.

Siggi Bucher

Justine looks mighty tall with the '04 Aussie trophy.

But the contest turned in the next game, when Clijsters failed to take advantage of two game points when she inexplicably double-faulted twice. After the second double, Clijsters flailed at a sitter-high backhand volley, and then, on break point, Clijsters had the misfortune of having chair umpire Sandra DeJenkins overrule her forehand swing volley that a replay showed clipped the back line. Knowing that she had caught a gigantic break, Henin-Hardenne easily served the match out.

Clijsters Comes Out Flat in Third
Henin-Hardenne was the much more authoritative and confident player in the first set, as she showed off her thumping second and first serves, volleyed with precision and returned with outright aggression. Clijsters unveiled a new strategy of trying to trip Henin-Hardenne up by mixing in charges to the net, but the two-time Grand Slam doubles champ never seemed particularly comfortable there.

Henin-Hardenne broke Clijsters to 3-2 when her foe missed a forehand approach shot. She never looked back, leaping into forehands and daring Clijsters to determine the outcome of the match by attempting to dictate with her two-handed backhand. Henin-Hardenne won the set when Clijsters was unable to pull off one of her favorite shots, a sharply-angled rolling backhand to the midcourt area.

Even though the crowd at Rod Laver Arena was firmly in Clijsters' corner, they never roared for the Belgian with the enthusiasm that they do for her fiancée, Aussie Lleyton Hewitt. Clijsters appeared all but dead when Henin-Hardenne whaled a gorgeous backhand passing shot down the line to jump ahead 4-2, but for the first time in a year, Henin began to back off the ball a bit and Clijsters dug in.

She broke Henin-Hardenne for the first time to 3-4 when Justine dumped an ill-advised drop shot into the net. Down 0-30 in the next game, Clijsters ripped four winners to even the set at 4-4. Henin-Hardenne double faulted to give Clijsters a break point in the ninth game and Clijsters responded when she pasted an inside out forehand winner.

Clijsters then won her first set in a Slam final against Henin-Hardenne when her opponent netted a forehand return of serve.

But in an odd turn of events, instead of coming out focused and super-determined in the third set, Clijsters looked lost and let go of all her momentum when Henin-Hardenne held at love in the first game of the third set.

Consequently, Clijsters dug herself a huge hole that a player of her credentials found impossible to climb out of. The 20-year-old Clijsters has now reached four Slams finals and lost in all of them: to Jennifer Capriati at '01 Roland Garros; and to Henin-Hardenne at '03 Roland Garros, the '03 US Open and the '04 Aussie Open.