Henin outlasts Jankovic in Rogers Cup final

　　August 19, 2007

　　TORONTO (TICKER) -- Justine Henin's already crowded trophy case has a new piece of hardware.

　　The top-seeded Belgian defeated No. 2 Jelena Jankovic, 7-6 (7-3), 7-5, in the final of the $1.34 million Rogers Cup on Sunday.

　　In addition to the to first prize of $181,980, the win gave Henin her 35th career title and her sixth championship in 10 Tour events this season. Along the way, the 25-year-old improved to 7-0 all-time against Jankovic, who is ranked third in the world.

　　"Jelena is a real fighter ... and she proved it many times this year, so I was ready for a big fight," said Henin, who admitted after the match that she almost pulled out of the final due to a nagging shoulder problem.

　　"Yeah, that was true. Because last night I was really concerned about my problem with my shoulder. It was really inflamed. Last night I wasn't really positive about the fact that I could play today. So I really wanted to wait until my warm-up and I was feeling much better this morning."

　　Henin made it clear that she will be on the court for the U.S. Open later this month.

　　"It's going to be sore for a few days, I know it because that's a pain I've known for a couple of years," Henin said. "I'll be fine for the Open, but I was really concerned about playing on it today. I was glad I could make it, because it would have been really rough on it for me and for the tournament not to play the final."

　　Also the 2003 champion of this hardcourt event, Henin latest win against the 22-year-old Serbian was anything but routine.

　　As was the case with her four prior matches at this tournament, Henin started slow before finding her stroke. The world No. 1 was broken in the fourth game when she sent a seemingly simple finishing point wide right.

　　"I have been in trouble in all my matches at the beginning of the matches," Henin said. "Every day it's been tough for me. Why? I don't know. I'm not going to try to really understand everything. It doesn't have an answer all the time."

　　Jankovic went ahead 4-1, before Henin settled in and fought back for a break of her own to restore the service game. It appeared Henin had the set sewn up when she earned her second break to go ahead 6-5, but Jankovic returned the favor in the next game to force the tiebreak.

　　Henin used her strong one-handed backhand on more than one occasion to take control in the tiebreak, which she won easily after forging a 5-1 cushion.

　　The second set was not short on drama.

　　After the players traded two break points each, Henin took a 5-4 lead to put Jankovic into a sudden-death situation.

　　Jankovic faced championship-point trailing 30-40, but persevered to win the game and extend the match, which lasted 2 hours, 18 minutes.

　　"I played some great games and was really playing well and then I would just let down and make a few mistakes and she would just take advantage of that," Jankovic said. "You give her one point ... it's like I give her one finger, she takes my whole hand."

　　The 11th game of the set, with Henin on serve, was a classic 21-minute battle that saw both players squander chances. Henin, who drew looks of astonishment from Jankovic during the marathon game, eventually emerged with a 6-5 lead.

　　"One of the toughest games I've ever had," Henin said. "It was an important game ... I just tried to take my opportunities. I went to the net a lot. But she gave me so many good passing shots. But finally it paid off."

　　On serve and perhaps feeling the effects of the previous game, Jankovic fell behind 0-40 in the following game. To her credit, she saved four more championship points before Henin finally sealed the victory with a strong forehand winner.

　　"It was really important mentally and physically to conclude the match at that time," Henin said.

　　Jankovic was the first to admit that the lengthy second set took something out of her.

　　"I never give up. I was just hanging there. I thought I could come back and even it out at 6-all and maybe I have a chance in the tiebreaker, but it didn't happen," she said. "But I was very tired. I don't know if I could keep going, even if I made it to the tiebreak, I don't know how much of a chance I would have, because I was really at my limit. I'm starting to kind of shake at the end."

　　In her only hardcourt appearance leading into the U.S. Open Henin showed very little rust at this event despite playing in her first tournament since losing in the semifinals at Wimbledon in July. She she did not lose a set here and improved her season record to 43-4.

　　"Wimbledon seems far away for me now," Henin said. "It's been disappointing, for sure, because I'm a competitor. I hate to lose. And especially in the Grand Slam semifinal, a tournament where I had a lot of expectations ... Wimbledon is in the past now, I just want to stay focused on the Open."

　　Jankovic, who has won a career-best four titles this season, was after her sixth career championship.