updated 2:28 p.m. ET June 12, 2006

PARIS - Justine Henin-Hardenne was weary and her game was awry, a product of a relentless opponent, a searing sun and the grind of trying to win a Grand Slam title on unforgiving clay.

And yet, as so often in the past, Henin-Hardenne summoned a combination of will and skill at all the right moments.

It’s one thing to win at your best, another to get by on an off-day, and Henin-Hardenne did the latter Saturday, beating Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4, 6-4 to win a second consecutive French Open and third in four years.

“The difference today was a couple of points, important points. I managed those moments better, even though we might say she was more solid than I was,” said Henin-Hardenne, a five-time major champion. “I play tennis because of these very close situations. This tightness — when you’re nervous, on the crucial points, on break points — that’s what I love.”

It was hardly the most aesthetically pleasing match; the players combined for 68 unforced errors, 40 in the first set alone. Both women double-faulted on break point. Both were betrayed by their best shot: 2004 U.S. Open champion Kuznetsova missed 20 forehands — five in the first game — and Henin-Hardenne’s backhand gave her fits early.

“The match today was not so good, the quality of what she did was not so good,” said Carlos Rodriguez, Henin-Hardenne’s coach. “But she understands now that even if she doesn’t play the best match, she can still win.”

That’s thanks, at least in part, to mental fortitude and guile, two traits Henin-Hardenne uses to excel at 5-foot-6 and 125 pounds in a sport overtaken in recent years by the power game ushered in by the likes of the Williams sisters.

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A white ballcap pulled low on her head, Henin-Hardenne can smack the ball with the best of them, as she showed Saturday by unfurling the occasional big groundstroke or an ace at upward of 110 mph.

As good as Kuznetsova is at tracking down balls, the fifth-seeded Henin-Hardenne was her equal in that department. And the final result wasn’t much of a surprise, certainly: Henin-Hardenne is now 11-1 against Kuznetsova, including 4-0 on clay and 4-0 at majors.

“She plays smart, she mixes up her game. She serves pretty well,” the eighth-seeded Kuznetsova said. “And, of course, I guess it’s her mentality. ... She believes a lot.”

Kuznetsova, who’s worked with a sports psychologist to improve her internal strength, made things interesting by winning the first 10 points of the second set. Henin-Hardenne appeared to be a step slower, and she tried to cool off by holding a bag of ice on her neck at changeovers.

In Henin-Hardenne’s previous major final, at the Australian Open in January, she quit because of stomach problems brought on by medication taken for an ailing shoulder.

“I wanted to forget about what happened in Melbourne,” Henin-Hardenne said, “but it was a little bit in my mind.”

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