Final look: Henin v Ana

Henin –

Nationality: Belgium

Age: 25 (June 1, 1982)

Height/weight: 1.67m and 57 kg

WTA ranking and French Open seeding: 1

Titles: 32 including five grand slams (Australian Open 2004, French Open 2003, 2005, 2006, US Open 2003) Best previous Roland Garros: Three-time winner and twice defending champion

Ivanovic –

Nationality: Serbia

Age: 19 (November 6, 1987)

Height/weight: 1.83m and 73 kg

WTA ranking and French Open seeding: 7

Titles: Berlin (2007), Montreal (2005), Canberra (2004) Best previous Roland Garros: Quarter-finalist in 2005

ROAD TO THE FINAL

Henin –

First round: d Elena Vesnina (RUS) 6-4 6-3, Second round: d Tamira Paszek (AUT) 7-5 6-1, Third round: d Mara Santangelo (ITA) 6-3 6-3 Fourth round d Sybille Bammer (AUT) 6-2 6-4

Quarter-finals: d Serena Williams (USA) 6-4 6-3

Semi-finals: d Jelena Jankovic (SRB) 6-2 6-2

Ivanovic –

First round: d Sofia Arvidsson (SWE) 6-2 6-0 Second round: d Sania Mirza (IND) 6-1 6-4 Third round: d Ioana Raluca Olura (ROM) 6-2 6-0 Fourth round d Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP) 6-3 3-6 6-3

Quarter-finals: d Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) 6-0 3-6 6-1

Semi-finals: d Maria Sharapova (RUS) 6-2 6-1

CREDENTIALS

Henin – The Rafael Nadal of women's tennis, Henin is arguably one of the greatest of all time on this surface and certainly the greatest of the past four years. The diminutive Belgian has not dropped a set at Roland Garros in 16 matches. Highlights this year include a title in Warsaw and a semi-finals appearance in Berlin.

Ivanovic – A brilliant 2007 clay season during which she climbed to a career-best of seven in the rankings with a title in Berlin and a semi-finals appearance at Amelia Island has been capped by a dream run for the 19-year-old at Roland Garros. In her last two matches she beat the second and third seeded Russians in world number two Maria Sharapova and last year's finalist Svetlana Kuznetsova.

PREVIOUS MATCHES

The two met once before as Henin beat the 17-year-old Ivanovic 6-4 7-5 in the Warsaw semi-finals in 2005.

THEIR GAMES

Henin – Justine is built perfectly for clay, with a powerful shot from both the forehand and the backhand side, an aggressive style of play at the net, and the speed and instincts to seemingly chase down any ball on court.

Ivanovic – The 19-year-old has proven to be one of the most powerful players in this tournament with a big first-serve and a massive forehand. An excellent defensive backhand allows her to get in a position to set up winners with her forehand.

KILLER SHOT

Henin – A deadly one-handed backhand, one of the few in the women's game, allows the Belgian to turn opponents upside-down and around with a fabulous slicing attack. She can also fool rivals by using the slicing backhand as a drop-shot.

Ivanovic – A huge first-serve puts the Serbian starlet in control of points straight away and allows her to play fewer and quicker points, which should be key against Henin. She leads the entire tournament with 36 aces and is second on fastest serve at 201 km/hour, behind Venus Williams' record-breaking 206 km/hour effort.

TROUBLE SPOT

Henin – Few to none. If the teenage Ivanovic wants to pull off the upset of the year, she's going to have to force Henin to play short points, because the Belgian is perhaps the best in the world and grinding out long rallies.

Ivanovic – In a second-set loss to Kuznetsova, the young Serbian showed that she can be pressed into making mistakes, and there is no one better than Henin at forcing opponents to make mistakes. If she gets frustrated and double-faults then the mistakes could snowball.

INTANGIBLES

Henin is playing to become the first woman to win three-straight French Open titles since Monica Seles beat Steffi Graf to claim her third consecutive crown in 1992 (a match Henin attended). The most professional and focused player around, the historic nature of the occasion won't likely affect her. What could bother the Belgian is if the Paris crowd, who she is used to having in her corner, comes out strongly for their new darling Ivanovic. The Serbian, meanwhile, is playing in her first grand slam final and could very well come out with the jitters against the world number one in her biggest match to date.

IN THEIR WORDS

Henin – "I forget about [the chance for three straight titles], because it's not going to help me to win, probably. The thing is that I want to win tomorrow, because I love to win, generally, even if it's in Warsaw, in Dubai, in Paris, probably, a little bit more here. But I'm a real competitor, and that's why I love to win matches, and big matches like tomorrow. So then if I can win the third one here in the world, that would be great, that would be a great achievement. But right now, it's not my main goal. I'm focused on winning this title and that's it."

Ivanovic – "I think [emotions are] the most difficult part, probably.

And it's very easy to say, 'Oh, don't be nervous and don't be emotional,' but it's a little bit harder to do it. I think nerves always exist no matter which match you play. And once I'm on the court, it's very important for me to think more technically and what I should play, which kind of strokes, and not think too much about the occasion."

PREDICTION

Henin d Ivanovic 6-4 6-4 - Justine played in her first grand slam final when she was 19 and lost the 2001 Wimbledon title to Venus Williams. Look for a similar result today for Ivanovic, as the Belgian's power, speed and experience will prove just too much for first-time finalist.

- Jeremy Stahl in Paris