Clijsters slams Henin-Hardenne in all-Belgian final

“I was seeing the ball really well today,” said Clijsters, one of the favorites for the U.S. Open starting on August 29.

“I knew I needed to be aggressive. There was a lot of wind out there, they were not easy conditions.”

Erratic Henin-Hardenne hit several balls wide and some into the crowd in the first set, having trouble controlling her shots in the conditions.

The second set belonged to Clijsters, who took a 3-1 lead when Henin-Hardenne double-faulted on break point and did not lose another game from that point. “I have been getting stronger as the tournament went on and I felt good today in the second set again,” Clijsters said.

The final took just one hour and 10 minutes and Clijsters’ total match time was just over four hours for the entire week, thanks to three easy wins and a walk-over.

Both women were encouraged by the Belgian flags in the crowd for the all-Belgium final.

“I think I can speak for Justine, too,” Clijsters said. “No matter where we go there is always a lot of Belgian flags in the crowd supporting us.”

Henin-Hardenne lost for just the third time in her last 32 matches. The 2005 French Open winner just could not get her game in gear after a tough semi-final match in which she defeated France’s Amelie Mauresmo in three sets.

The final was a somewhat anti-climactic end to the tournament from which five of the top eight seeded players withdrew, including Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams.

Fans at the Rexall Centre cheered wildly in a thrilling women’s doubles final when 48-year-old Martina Navratilova and Anna-Lena Groenefeld of Germany rallied to defeat Spaniards Conchita Martinez and Virginia Ruano Pascual 5-7, 6-3, 6-4.

Roddik praises Federer

CINCINNATI: Roger Federer emphasised the gulf at the top of men’s tennis on Sunday when he beat Andy Roddick 6-3, 7-5 to win the Cincinnati Masters, his ninth title of the year.

Though teenage Spaniard Rafael Nadal has also collected nine titles this year, Federer’s victories have come on all surfaces.

Having won 22 straight finals and taken his record for the season to 64-3, the Swiss proved yet again that he is head and shoulders clear at the top of the sport.

“He’s the guy that all of us are chasing,” said Roddick, who climbed to world No.4.

“He’s the main guy and then there’s probably four or five of us (just behind). Maybe we need to do just a tag-team effort or something, join forces, like Power Rangers.”

Federer’s victory gave him a record-equalling fourth Masters Series title of the year and Roddick said he hoped the Swiss’s brilliance would force him and the chasing pack to improve.

“I think it’s similar to what happened with golf, two or three years ago when Tiger Woods won seven out of eight, or eight out of nine majors,” he said.