http://www.justine-henin.be/public/index.asp?lang=en Eastbourne 07 - Hail Tennis Queen Justine! 23/06/2007: Belgian tennis queen Justine defeated arch rival Francophonic Amelie Mauresmo 7-5 6-7(4-7) 7-6(7-2) in two hours and 37 minutes. It was a match that was billed by the British media as the "avenging" bout or even a "prelude" of Wimbledon between these two rarities of women's tennis: the brilliant 1-handed backhand grand slam stylists. The Eastbourne title is Miss Henin's fifth of the year. "Apparently when you have been married you remain Mrs forever in tennis. But Miss, Mrs, Justine, that's fine by me; I don't care." - Justine Under the typically heavy onshore winds in the seaside town of Eastbourne, this year's final looked to be about which player had better control over handling the rougher North end of the court. The signs didn't look promising for Justine in the first set as she battled in practically all of her games against the wind for placement of her immaculate shots. The more physical style of Mauresmo didn't fare any better than Henin in the gusty conditions, and the Frenchwoman's serves were slightly more vulnerable in the latter stages. Justine took the first set 7-5 by breaking, and standing stronger from 1-4 down. Mauresmo took a more cautious approach in the second set, and chose to utilize the safe, and secure volleys simply blocking returns as Justine started to go astray with her higher risk, and low margin shot making. Belgian percision simply didn't work well against French stability. Mauremo won the second set with a confident tiebreak display as Justine made a tactical change too late after falling behind and saving four set tiebreak points at 4-7. The match went into a lower gear in the start of the third set as both players held serves without much resistence until Mauresmo looked to have taken over with a deja vu of last year's Wimbledon final in a 2-4 lead. But a very different Justine emerged, one that's less removed from 2006 and more in tuned to the classic spirited fighting 2003 tennis season version. Justine levelled things at 5-5. The gauntlet was again thrown down with another tiebreaker, but this one was all Henin as she again changed tactics and went back to the hyper aggressive rapid passing shots, and crosscourt winners mode. This switch in plans by Justine left Mauresmo stranded and off guard up at the net in the midsts of following through with volleys. Justine won the tiebreaker 7-2. Final Score 7-5 6-7(4-7) 7-6(7-2) in 2 hours and 37 minutes --

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