Henin-Hardenne eases past Pierce to regain French Open glory

Former winner Justine Henin-Hardenne regained her French Open title Saturday in Paris, easing past another former champion Mary Pierce 6-1, 6-1 in just over one hour.

Henin-Hardenne hugged with 2000 winner Pierce before she buried her face into the towel in the emotional moment with capacity spectators on Court Philippe Chatrier cheered for her.

Henin-Hardenne, turning 23 Wednesday, became the lowest seed to clinch the title here when the 10th seed rushed to the victory in one hour two minutes, her shortest match in seven battles here.

Henin-Hardenne committed two double faults before Pierce's backhand returned stumbled into net to give the Belgian former world number one a much-awaited win on her second match point.

She was the more consistent player in the match, having 15 unforced errors to 29 from Pierce, surprising the field to reach the final as the 21st seed.

"I had thought maybe I could not return but I always hoped to be back here," said Henin-Hardenne in a French speech on receiving the silverware.

"I'm not at my best. I think I can do better. I want to improve my game all the time," she said after taking her 24th consecutive wins of the season. "Even if you win, you have to know what is not very good in your game so you can improve and you can be better."

"But I think I enjoy probably more my game than before my illness, so that's the biggest key. I enjoy every moment I'm on the court. Every ball I hit, it's with my heart. I really enjoy it."

Henin-Hardenne was handed an second round exit by Italian Tathiana Garbin last year. She didn't play due to cytomegalovirus until Athens Olympic Games victory but was forced to be sidelined again because of a right knee fracture suffered during practice session in December, 2004.

Henin-Hardenne has won three titles in Charleston, Warsaw and Berlin since her comeback starting in Miami where she finished in last eight.

She contributed her strong comeback to her love of the sport and inner power gained from some tribulation in life.

Henin-Hardenne's mother passed away in 1995 due to cancer.

"I play tennis because I love it so much. That's my passion. For sure my parents help me at the beginning to come to tennis and a lot of member in my family were playing," she said.

"I have no idea if it's part of my success, but I wouldn't be the same person if I wouldn't have lose my mom pretty early and all these kind of thins. So it's bad in a way, very sad in a way,

but that made me stronger unfortunately."

Pierce, in downhill form since 2000 due to chronic injuries, made a stunning comeback at the French Open.

The 30-year-old naturalized French choked with sobs while making her speech.

"I am very sad because I lost. Sorry I didn't bring a longer performance to all the spectators," she said. "But I will come back next year."

Source: Xinhua