No perfect end to Henin fairytale

As Serena Williams collapsed on the court on Saturday,weary and elated after capturing her fifth Australian Open title,those who follow tennis....

As Serena Williams collapsed on the court on Saturday,weary and elated after capturing her fifth Australian Open title,those who follow tennis,or perhaps sports of any kind,knew they had witnessed a great performance. She had turned back a pretty good champion in Justine Henin for a hard-fought 6-4 3-6 6-2 victory.

It was Williamss 12th Grand Slam title,which matches Billie Jean Kings total and is halfway to the record for major titles held by Margaret Court,who was at Melbourne Park to present the championship trophy. Williams fought through pain to earn it her right thigh and left knee and wrist were wrapped,as they have been for the past two weeks.

Williams used her thundering serve,a ballistic forehand and the ability,as Henin put it,to hit the right shots at the right time.

But mostly,as Williams said,I get up for the big ones. She demonstrated that early in the third set. In the previous set,Henin used a symphony of shots to save two break points and held for 3-3,then won 13 of the last 14 points. Henin was a maestro,waving her racket and calling in every section of her orchestra booming forehand winners,tinkling backhand slices that Williams could not run down and controlling the rhythm of the game.

When Henin held serve to go up,1-0,in the third set,Williams looked at her racket,and gave it and herself a talking-to.

I thought I was just giving her too many points, Williams said. She was playing well,but I knew I could play better so I literally told myself,I need to man up.

Deadly,accurate

Williams leaned on her big,deadly and accurate serve to dish out 12 aces,then broke Henins serve three straight games and left little doubt that she was the best womens tennis player in the world right now.

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Henins second tournament since returning to tennis after a 20-month retirement went almost perfectly. A wild-card entry,Henin was the emotional touchstone. Williams,28,suggested that having Henin back,and defeating her,made this title a little more precious. I felt like we both were out there trying to kind of prove something, Williams said. I think we both did at the end of the day.

Henin rediscovered the magic that had propelled her to seven Grand Slam titles. She matched shots and grit with the champion in ways Williams said she had not seen of late.

As you saw today,she took me to the umpteenth level, Williams said. She clearly hasnt,like,lost a step at all since shes been gone. So I feel like I played a girl whos been on the tour for the past five years without a break. I think her game is definitely better. I mean,it was excellent before she left. But,you know,I think shes added a lot to it.

The last time a Grand Slam womens final went three sets was at Wimbledon in 2006,when Henin lost to Amélie Mauresmo.

Bryans take fourth Aussie title

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American twins Bob and Mike Bryan won their fourth Australian Open mens doubles title,beating Daniel Nestor of Canada and Serbian Nenad Zimonjic 6-3 6-7 5 6-3.

The US pair have now won the title here four of the past five years and were losing finalists the two previous years. They have eight Grand Slam mens doubles titles.