With at times a breath taking demonstration, Justine Henin has won the Indian Wells tournament. The #1 of the world beat #4 Lindsey Davenport in two sets: 6-1 and 6-4. Especially in the first set Henin played some amazing tennis, in the surging American heat of nearly 40 degrees Celcius. It is Henin's fourth tournament victory of the year, the 18th of her career. Her three previous won tournaments this year were: WTA-tournament of Sydney, the Australian Open and the WTA-tournament of Dubai.
In the past the matches between Davenport and Henin often gave the worldwide tennis fans a lot of joy with heroic displays from both players. In the first set of the Indian Wells' final there was a very obvious difference between the two. Hennin started agressively and immediately broke through Davenport's service. With two aces and some good defending, Henin was immediately 2-0 up. Davenport fought back and at a 2-1 score, she had the chance on a break of her own. Henin saved the break point however and made it 3-1.
Henin found the perfect pace and she broke through Davenport's service for the second time. Davenport got a bit nervous and started to make quite some mistakes. At 5-1 there were a few times where Davenport really got slaughtered by a terrific Henin, who was at times playing with her opponent. After 33 minutes, Henin made the first set point to close down an impressive first set.
The second set was more equal as Davenport fought back with great heart. She broke through Justine's service for the first time and made it 3-1. Right when Davenport seemed to be in total control of the set, Henin shifted into a higher gear and it was 3-3 in no time. From then on, Henin made a few mistakes while Davenport was able to avoid any. Davenport got two break points, but Henin denied the American on both occassions.
Both players were able to keep their own service, but at 5-4 in Henin's advantage, Justine made two fantastic points and Davenport started shaking. Davenport was shaking and bending, but not breaking yet! She saved four match balls, but the fifth was simply too much. Henin finished the match with a strong forehand, after nearly an hour and a half of top tennis. |