Henin wins first tourney in Belgium in 5 years
Top-ranked player solidifies ranking by beating Knapp at Diamond Games
 | Belgium's Justine Henin holds the diamond racket worth more than $1.5 million after beating Karin Knapp in the final at the WTA Proximus Diamond Games on Sunday. Henin won 6-3, 6-3. |
Yves Logghe / AP |
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ANTWERP, Belgium - Justine Henin flashed her winning smile again, and her opponents should beware.
Coming off a dispiriting quarterfinal loss to Maria Sharapova at the Australian Open, Henin won the title at the Diamond Games by beating Karin Knapp of Italy 6-3, 6-3 Sunday.
“Played three, won two. I look at the bright side,” Henin said of her victories here and in Sydney last month.
Besides the mental blow of the 6-0 second set in her loss to Sharapova, Henin returned home with an injured right knee that needed cortisone treatment.
“The defeat, plus my knee, let doubts creep into my game,” she said.
It showed much of the week. The top-ranked Belgian rarely produced sparkling tennis even though she did not play a single seeded player.
“Sure I know I can do better, but this is one step at a time,” she said.
Knapp, ranked 47th, was the toughest opponent Henin played in Antwerp. But the 20-year-old Italian was playing in her first WTA final and looked out of her depth.
“I’d never thought I’d get this far,” Knapp said. “I get to play Justine, and in a full hall like this. It was great.”
Knapp survived the opening round of a tournament for the first time this year and her runner-up finish will likely propel her to 36th in the rankings.
The win, Henin’s first WTA victory on home soil in five years, reinforced her top ranking. It was also Henin’s 41st career title, and she has now won the last 10 finals she has played in.
Henin struggled with her serve all week, but with the diamond-studded trophy racket gleaming in the background, she concentrated and served more aces than double-faults — four to one — to take the title.
“My confidence came back a bit,” Henin said, realizing her serves were more often the solution than the problem.
In both sets Sunday, Henin won an early break and was solid enough in the back court to withstand Knapp. It was the first match Henin moved freely around court again.
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“If emotion gets into it, it makes it all the tougher,” she said.
Henin next plays in the Dubai tennis championship, which starts in a week and where she is the defending champion.
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