Madrid, Spain (Sports Network) - Justine Henin of Belgium outlasted Russia's Maria Sharapova to win her the season-ending WTA Tour Sony Ericsson Championships.
The top-seeded Henin, who disposed of Serbia's Ana Ivanovic, 6-4, 6-4 in the semifinals, dropped the first set and was down 3-4 in the second before rebounding to take a 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 victory in a battle that nearly lasted 3 1/2 hours, a record for a three-set final at this tourney.
Henin also won this title last year and secured her 10th singles crown of 2007. The last woman to win as many 10 titles in a single season was Martina Hingis, who won 12 times in 1997. The Belgian is also riding a 25-match winning streak, dating back to a semifinal loss to Marion Bartoli at Wimbledon.
Sharapova was the 2004 winner of this event and was gunning for just on her second title of 2007. Her lone victory of the year came in a U.S. Open tuneup this summer at the Acura Classic in San Diego. She also lost in the final at the Australian Open and reached the title match at the Wimbledon tuneup in Birmingham.
Meanwhile, Henin finished a brilliant season on a high note. She won her third straight French Open crown this year, captured her second U.S. Open title and had an astounding match record of 63-4 in 2007.
Henin now leads her all-time series with Sharapova 6-2 and collected $1 million for her win. Sharapova earned $500,000.
Madrid, Spain (Sports Network) - Saturday's semifinals are now set at the season-ending Sony Ericsson Championships, as top-seeded Belgian Justine Henin will meet fourth-seeded Serbian Ana Ivanovic and sixth-seeded Maria Sharapova will take on her seventh-seeded fellow Russian Anna Chakvetadze.
Friday's Sharapova-Ivanovic winner would not have to face the world No. 1 Henin here on Saturday, and it worked out for the 2004 Championships victor Sharapova, who dismantled her fellow 20-year-old Ivanovic 6-1, 6-2 on the fourth and final day of round-robin play on the hardcourt at Recinto Ferial Casa de Campo.
Sharapova pasted Ivanovic in 1 hour, 10 minutes, as she recorded five service breaks, compared to zero for the overmatched Serb.
The Australian Open runner-up and former world No. 1 Sharapova was a perfect 3-0 in this week's four-player Red Group, while the French Open runner-up Ivanovic went 2-1. The group was rounded out by eighth-seeded Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova (1-2) and second-seeded U.S. Open runner-up Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia (0-3). Hantuchova took the place of Wimbledon champion Venus Williams (dizziness) in the exclusive eight-player field.
Henin captured this week's Yellow Group, at 3-0, followed by Chakvetadze (2-1), alternate Marion Bartoli of France (1-1) and third-seeded Serbian Jelena Jankovic (0-3). The Wimbledon runner-up Bartoli replaced an injured Serena Williams here on Thursday. The fifth-seeded Williams, this year's Australian Open champ, pulled out here with a left knee injury after losing to Chakvetadze, 6-4, retired, on Wednesday night.
In a pair of meaningless matches on Friday, Hantuchova handled the former U.S. Open champion Kuznetsova 7-6 (9-7), 6-0 and a 10th-ranked Bartoli was leading Jankovic 6-1, 1-0 when the Serbian retired due to an illness. The busy Jankovic led the WTA Tour with a whopping 72 match wins in 2007.
On Saturday, Henin will meet Ivanovic for a third time in their careers. The Belgian is a perfect 2-0 lifetime against the Serb, including a victory in this year's French Open finale. The amazing Henin leads the tour with nine titles already this season.
The other semi will pit Sharapova against Chakvetadze, for a sixth time. The two-time major titlist Sharapova is a flawless 5-0 all-time versus her compatriot, including three wins in as many tries this year. Sharapova beat Chakvetadze in this year's Aussie and French Open quarterfinals.
Prior to this event, the reigning U.S. and French Open titlist Henin had already clinched the year-end top-ranking for a second straight season and for the third time in five years and is currently riding a torrid 23-match winning streak.
The seven-time Grand Slam event titlist Henin defeated France's Amelie Mauresmo in last year's Championships finale here in Madrid, which will give way to Doha as the tournament's host city next year.
The winner of this $3 million event will collect $1 million, while the runner- up will claim $500,000.
Madrid, Spain (Sports Network) - Justine Henin of Belgium outlasted Russia's Maria Sharapova to win her the season-ending WTA Tour Sony Ericsson Championships.
