Justine Henin-Hardenne of Belgium produced a flawless display of clay court tennis to defeat France's Mary Pierce 6-1, 6-1 here Saturday for her second French Open title. The winner here previously in 2003, it was Henin-Hardenne's fourth Grand Slam title alongside the 2003 US Open and the 2004 Australian Open. The 10th seed was the lowest seed ever to win the women's title in Paris.
In what was a totally one-sided final, Henin-Hardenne ran off nine games in a row from 0-1 down in the first set to take the sting out of the big-hitting Pierce and silence her fans in the crowd.
The final brought together two players who this time last year were both facing crisis-points in their careers as sportswomen.
Henin-Hardenne was entering a long period of doubt due to a debilitating viral condition that sent her to the sidelines, while Pierce, the 2000 winner here, was considering retirement as she battled with injuries and weight problems.
But both dug deep to claw their way back, Henin-Hardenne winning her three tournaments prior to Paris and Pierce blossoming again in front of a Paris public that jeered her off the court just two years ago.
Henin-Hardenne had struggled though her early games, saving two-match points in the fourth round against Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova.
Pierce blasted a path through to the final including a straight sets walloping of top seed Lindsay Davenport in the quarter-finals.
But in three previous matches between the two the Belgian had yet to drop a set.
With a crackling atmosphere in the Roland Garros centre court, packed with French and Belgian fans, Pierce started by comfortably winning her opening service game.
But then her dream quickly turned into a nightmare as Henin Hardenne rattled off 14 points in a row to drive into a 4-1 lead with two breaks of serve.
Pierce's big groundstrokes were proving to be no problem for the speedy Belgian and in return she was disconcerting Pierce with her trademark backhand and forehand drives.
The Belgian wrapped up the set in 24 minutes two games later with Pierce having won just a measly six points.
With rain threatening, Pierce tried to step up her attacks at the start of the second set but let slip a break point when she sent a relatively easy forehand wide.
She then missed an easy smash at the net to drop serve once again and go 2-0 down.
Henin-Hardenne eased into a 3-0 lead before Pierce finally managed to win a second game, but it was another struggle on her own serve.
At 1-4 down and serving Pierce tried to unsettle her opponent by sending up a series of moon-balls, but the former world No 1 was having none of it and she broke again to serve for the title.
An ace set up match point and a backhand from Pierce into the net finished it off in 1hr 02mins.
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