Henin chases second title piece of history

　　By Simon Cambers

　　NEW YORK (Reuters) - Justine Henin takes on Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final of the U.S. Open on Saturday, chasing a seventh grand-slam title and a little piece of history.

　　Victory for the Belgian world number one would not only lift her above Venus Williams to second in the list of active grand-slam winners.

　　But having beaten Serena Williams in the quarter-finals and Venus in the semi-final, she would also become the first woman ever to beat both sisters en route to winning a grand-slam crown.

　　"It's not easy to play Serena and Venus back-to-back," Henin said. "It's been really, really important to me in this tournament to play both of them. It was a great challenge and I did it, so it's great.

　　"I think I just did a great job but my tournament is not over yet. I just hope I can have a good recovery and get ready for tomorrow night."

　　Former world number one Martina Hingis beat both Williams sisters at the Australian Open in 2001 but ended up losing to American Jennifer Capriati.

　　When Henin won her only U.S Open title to date, in 2003, she beat Capriati in an epic semi-final, before coming out the next day to beat fellow Belgian Kim Clijsters in the final.

　　And having lost to Russian Maria Sharapova in the final 12 months ago, Henin said she was itching to win the title again.

　　LITTLE REVENGE

　　"It's one of the best memories of my career, what I did against Jennifer here a few years ago," she said.

　　"I hope I can get a lot of great moments. Kind of a little revenge what happened last year.

　　"It would mean a lot to me, after my disappointing loss (to Marion Bartoli in the semi-final) at Wimbledon and the fact that I've been dominating the clay for the last few years.

　　"I've been playing very well on hard courts, but no major, so I hope I can make it."

　　Kuznetsova, whose only grand-slam title to date came at Flushing Meadows in 2004, will be appearing in her third grand-slam final.

　　The Russian survived a bout of nerves to beat compatriot and sixth seed Anna Chakvetadze in the semi-finals.

　　Though she has beaten Henin only twice in 16 meetings, she did win their last encounter, on clay in Berlin earlier this year, and said she expected to be relaxed in the final.

　　"I don't want to think about the win or lose," she said.

　　"I am just going to go out there and enjoy the final. I have not had one match on (Arthur) Ashe (Stadium) in the night yet.

　　"It is an opportunity for me to play a great final. I am just going to give it my best. Doesn't depend on me (alone) if I win or lose. Of course it does, but on the other player also."