Belgian tennis player Justine Henin, who just this season returned to the game, beat the Australian Samantha Stosur 6-4, 2-6, 6-1 in the WTA tennis tournament final in Stuttgart, Germany, this past Sunday. This is Henin’s first trophy after two years. Henin returned to competition last January after 18 months of inactivity, winning the Stuttgart final against the 26-year-old Australian and world No.10 after 1 hour and 40 minutes of play.

The Belgian, herself 27 years old, suffered an injury in her left hand two weeks ago which prevented her from playing in the Fed Cup with her national team. But the injury didn’t prevent her from winning, for second time in her career, the title on the clay court of Stuttgart; her first win was in 2007.

Henin has been in three finals since her return in January. The first one was in Brisbane, where she lost against Kim Cljister; in the second, at the Australian Open, she was defeated by Serena Williams. The third was the charm; the victory added her 42nd title of her career.

During the first set, Stosur, who won the Family Circle Cup in South Africa, began firmly and had no trouble with her serve. However, her service game became a little weak in the fifth game of the first set, and Henin broke the Australian, gaining a lead of 3-2. After that Henin refused to give up that advantage and closed the set with a 6-4 victory.

In the second set, the Australian saved two break points in the third and fifth game, when it seemed that Henin was in route for the victory. However, the service of the former world number one fell to pieces and Stosur took advantage, breaking Henin’s service twice and winning the set with a 6-2. The scoreboard was matched with one set apiece.

The third set was a different story; Henin returned to the match with great authority and prevented her rival from recovering after a key break shot in the third game, putting the score at 2-1. Henin continued to pressure her rival and broke the Australian’s serve three times in a row, winning the set at the end with a crushing score of 6-1.

At the end of the match, Henin stated that she was really excited at winning her 42nd title of her career after 2 years and her second at Stuttgart. She thought of Federer as an inspiration for her in her comeback after seeing him winning at Roland Garros last year.

"It's very emotional to be back here because one year ago at this time I never expected to be back. This is a great experience, especially on clay. It was a great week. I thought about a comeback when I saw Roger Federer win the French Open (for the first time last year). This brought back the fire,” said Henin.

On the other hand, for Samantha Stosur, just getting into the final was a great achievement and, despite the loss, she was really pleased with her performance all week and congratulated Henin on a great game.

"Getting to the final was really good; it's been a great week. She (Henin) just got very aggressive in the third set, she put me under a lot of pressure and broke my serve three straight times."

With this victory, Henin places herself in the top 20 of the WTA rankings. Now she is getting ready for the French Open, which starts on May 23rd. Stosur is climbing too, from the 10th spot to the 8th in the world rankings this week after getting to this final in Germany.

About the Author

Ally White has been a prominent writer on daily Tennis Games reviews, sports news and sports betting industry updates for many exceptional sports web sites. You may reprint this article in its full content, please note no modifications to it are accepted.