Justine wins

Her dominant straight sets victory over fierce rival Amelie Mauresmo in Madrid capped off a fantastic year for the Belgian who only lost eight matches throughout the season.

But the 6-4 6-3 scoreline underplays Mauresmo's role in what was a thrilling women's final which exhibited some high-quality tennis.

Just as she did in her semi-final victory over Maria Sharapova, the Belgian made an aggressive start, taking the game to Mauresmo from the off and manufacturing a succession of break points as she worked her opponent around the court.

Mauresmo stood firm on her first two service games, but relented in the third when Henin-Hardenne earned herself three break opportunities and cracked the Frenchwoman's serve with a wonderful back-hand pass.

The Wimbledon and Australian Open champion dug deep to use her superior power to break back and level the set at 4-4, but the Belgian used her classy backhand to snap the Mauresmo serve once again.

Henin-Hardenne then played a flawless service game to take the first set 6-4.

She maintained the momentum at the start of the second set, breaking serve in the first and fifth game, but on each occasion she was pegged back by Mauresmo.

The two players traded blows in a series of intense rallies in the middle of the set as they searched for a breakthrough and it was Henin-Hardenne who earned another break to go 4-3 up.

She held serve and then broke the Mauresmo serve for the sixth time in the match to close out a thoroughly deserved victory.

The French former number one admitted, "She played better than me.

"I was not serving as well as I wanted to. I've given up a lot of energy over the last few days but that's the way it is. I was a little tired after yesterday but we're all the same so that's no excuse.

"I am a little disappointed but you can't always get the titles. I'm now looking forward to 2007"

An elated Henin-Hardenne said: "There's a lot of emotion as its been hard in the last couple of weeks."

"I wanted this victory so much that I can't describe my feelings right now."

Having lost to Mauresmo only two days ago, the eventual winner couldn't be predicted before the match, and Henin-Hardenne said that result helped her win the final.

"The key after the loss of Friday was to see what went wrong and recognise that I could have won."

The ecstatic winner only returned at the start of week after a two-month lay-off following a calf injury sustained in the Fed Cup final in September.

"It couldn't have gone better; especially as it was doubtful as to whether I would even take part. It's been an unbelievable year. I'm so happy with the way the season went and now I can enjoy my vacation."

The victory gave the three-time Roland Garros champion some revenge for her defeats to the Frenchwoman in the finals of the Australian Open and Wimbledon this year.