Australian bride is bridesmaid again

A lesser player with a shallower reservoir of confidence might have taken that as a sign that Clijsters was finally prepared to win her first Grand Slam singles title. Instead, the No. 1-seeded Henin-Hardenne took it as a hint to reassume command of the match, winning the first four games of the third set and then keeping just enough of her nerve in the shakier moments down the stretch to win, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3.

When her last serve down the middle proved too much for the second-seeded Clijsters, Henin-Hardenne threw her arms in the air, letting her racket fly, and then dropped to her knees and covered her face with her hands.

It was the first Australian Open title for Henin-Hardenne, the 21-year-old from Belgium’s French-speaking south, but it was hardly her first significant victory.

A year ago, she had yet to win a Grand Slam title, but she has now won three — the French Open, the US Open and the Australian Open, beating Clijsters in the final on each occasion.

Only nine women have held three of the four major titles at the same time, the most recent being Serena Williams, whose extended absence from the game has coincided with Henin-Hardenne’s domination.

When Williams returns to the circuit, perhaps later this month in Paris, she will find that Henin-Hardenne is a more complete and confident player than she was last summer. She needed to believe in herself on Saturday, because she did not serve particularly well, getting only 49 percent of her first serves in play and double faulting six times, a nasty habit that contributed to Clijsters’ comeback from 0-4 down in the final set to 3-4 after breaking Henin-Hardenne’s serve twice in a row.

But the 20-year-old Clijsters, for all her athleticism and power, is not 0-4 in Grand Slam finals for nothing. When she served at 3-4, she double-faulted twice on game points and then anxiously overhit a high backhand volley that she — once the world’s top-ranked doubles player — would make nine times out of 10.

Henin-Hardenne had her at break point, and she was about to have some luck. Clijsters moved forward to hit a high forehand volley that landed near the baseline, and the shot ws called good by the linesperson.

Henin-Hardenne immediately extended a finger, protesting that the ball was out, and the call was overruled by the chair umpire Sandra De Jenken. Television replays indicated that the shot had clipped the line.

“I’m not the type of player who starts complaining after matches, but it’s something at the moment that was very disappointing,” Clijsters said.

If Clijsters had won on Saturday, she, not Henin-Hardenne, would have been No. 1 in the ranking on Monday. But though their head-to-head record is now tied at 9-9, Henin-Hardenne has a clear edge in the big matches and the history books.

That’s because she gets balls back in play that would be winners against most other players. “Before, I couldn’t finish these kinds of matches, but being stronger physically helped me be stronger in my head,” Henin-Hardenne said.Clijsters was not at her healthiest, spraining her left ankle at the Hopman Cup in early January.

“Two and a half weeks ago, I didn’t even think I’d be able to participate here,” said Clijsters, who received intensive treatment before and during the Australian Open. “Although I lost, I’m still very thankful to many people who allowed me to come out here and start the tournament.”

New York Times