Justine has started like a train, and Serena has so far produced very little.

Henin leads 4-0 in the first set.

From 40-15 down, Justine breaks again and leads 5-0.

Serena slammed her racket down in frustration at the end of the game.

A 6-0 blow out to Justine.
The Williams-Davenport mafia won't be happy! roflmao

After several deuces, Justine closes out the set 6-0

:o

I was in the slight minority who voted Henin as the favourite in that poll over in the other thread, and this is why. The Belgian knows how to draw errors from her opponent, and Serena is already prone to making bad errors when she starts slowly (as she did against Peer).

I didn't expect a 6-0 blowout, though. But Henin is outclassing Serena in every department, even hitting her off the court in rallies. If the American doesn't rediscover her weapons soon she may know how Sharapova felt down in the AO final.

Another woeful service game from Serena as she's broken to love in the first game of the second set.

Henin 6-0 * 1-0

:o Serena continues to get her ass whooped!

Signs of life from Williams' end of the court as she surges to 0-40 on the Henin serve, but Justine pulls it back. After a series of deuces though Serena finally gets herself on the scoreboard.

Henin 6-0 * 1-1

Serena played that game much more smartly. After giving away two break points by trying to murder a serve instead of just getting it into play, she began to pull back and work more on guiding it in with good placement, and it earns her the break back to go 1-all in the second.

Also, Henin's first serve seems suspect now.

What a battling hold for Serena. After five or six deuces, she finally is up in a set 2-1. It's too soon to tell if she can get back into the match, but at the very least she is putting up a fight now. Her footwork is still slightly off and her serve hasn't been there for her as it has all week, though.

Let's see how Henin reacts now that there's an opponent on the other side of the net again. I keep thinking of the Wimbledon final, where it looked like she was going to coast after going up 6-2, but faltered.

Henin has an easy hold, and Serena had to dig herself out of trouble so soon after she just did it the last time. Nevertheless she saves three break points and goes up 3-2. Perhaps in a contrary way having to struggle on her serve is helping to build her confidence, but it's clear that she's still in grave danger.

Poor service game from Serena, and on a brilliant return winner with an unlikely inside-out forehand Henin gets the break to lead 4-3. It's all but over now. Serena's fightback hasn't gone nearly far enough to keep her hopes alive.

Unsurprisingly, I spoke too hastily. With some stellar defence Serena breaks to 30 to level it 4-all.

5-4 Henin. She will serve for the match now.

I thought Serena would have more fight than this ...

Perhaps I spoke too hastily about speaking too hastily. Henin gets another break, seemingly the fatal one, on the back of some bizarre errors from Serena and a blazing overhead and will serve for her first Miami title at 6-0, 5-4.

Can't watch the match unfortunately. Or perhaps it's fortunate? I wish I hadn't seen what I did of the Murray match the other day roflmao

15-15.

I can't watch *scared* x 100000000000000

30-15. Only two points away.

40-15. Two match points.

40-30. One saved.

Deuce. Serena's not going quite without a fight, it seems.

Break Point!

Saved. Deuce. Well, I can't watch this, but it does look like there's a battle of wills going on here.

Another break point!

And Serena takes it!

From the jaws of defeat, she makes it 5-5. She still needs to hold, though.

What high drama! A little nervy play from Henin, with two doubles (one at deuce but she was still shaken from the last point, where she fell to one knee after a stunning forehand winner off a net cord that took her off balance), but mainly some ferocity from Serena keeps her alive for a break to level at 5-all.

Thanks for the commentary!

Well done to Serena --- well, it seems like we've got a match in this set. I would like to see this go to three, but I guess Justine will still be in the driver's seat if she manages to break again here

I f....g knew it :angry: :angry:

That fall shook Justine up :sad:

6-5 Serena :yahoo:

Pressure on Henin now ... are those match points still on her mind?

Henin seems haunted by the two championship points that fell by the wayside, and Serena holds to love (possibly for the very first time in this match!) including with one highly improbable backhand volley at full stretch to put the pressure back on the Belgian, who now needs to hold to avoid a third set serving at 5-6.

I think both women deserve a tiebreaker now. I'd hate to see Henin falter a second time.

Unfortunately, falter a second time is exactly what she does (from 30-love!) by going for too much on her shots, hitting them well wide each time. Henin is clearly wary of the rejuvenated Serena now, and it costs her some steadiness in her play which she'd had throughout. She also seems a bit winded as well, and I'm wondering if the breathing problems she'd mentioned haven't begun to creep up at the worst possible moment.

It'll be a deciding set then, 6-0, 5-7.

So far it looks like the third set is the first one in reverse, with Henin just looking unsteady and missing far too many makeable shots. She seals the stamp on her troubles by throwing in a double at 30-40, and Serena goes up 2-0 in the third.

Of course, let's not forget that Henin started the second set by breaking immediately as well. I think there is still room for another momentum shift in this match.

With some gutsy play and some encouragingly positive body language, Henin forces deuce on Serena's service game. But a fantastic net exchange between the two goes the American's way, and she leads 3-love.

COME ON JUSTINE

There's another scary moment as Henin's leg goes out from under her as she throws everything into a crosscourt backhand (that wins the point). After taking some moments to recover, she demonstrates that she's still in this with the first 'Allez' I've heard in quite some time after sending down a service winner on the next point.

She is locked at deuce for some time, and Serena has a point to win her seventh game in a row (in an echo of Henin's own run of seven at the start of the match), but Henin fights extremely well to escape and get on the scoreboard in the third set but still down 1-3.

My but things have grown extraordinarily tense, as this contest finally becomes the battle of iron wills we all anticipated. Henin turns up the volume on her return game, earning several break points; but Serena digs deep to fend off three. Yet it is the American who blinks first with an untimely double at deuce, and Henin (with some phenomenal grit) makes good on her fourth chance to get things back on serve in the third 3-2.

Henin announces that she isn't going anywhere with a confident hold to love that she seals with an ace, and it's 3-all.

Serena responds in kind with an easy hold and restores her lead to 4-3.

I think I'm going to be watching the rest of this match peering out from between my fingers.

I LOVE THIS GIRL

So what will Serena be ranked.

Serena wins 0-6 7-5 6-3! :D :yahoo: :clap:

She is such an outstanding fighter - I can't compliment her enough. She is the player to beat and she fully deserves this title.

Credit to Justine for getting herself back into the match after the disappointment of missing 2 match points; she played her part in some superb tennis in the final set, and has done herself proud in Miami.

It was a very exciting and dramatic match. I really hope these 2 play each other more in the near future. :ok:

WELL DONE SERENA!

Serena takes her fourth Miami title 0-6, 7-5, 6-3 with a steely win over the world no 1.

This loss has got to hurt for Henin. There were the two championship points at 40-15 at 5-4 in the second. After fighting so hard to level the third set, she allows herself to be broken to 15 at 3-4. She has 0-40 when Serena is serving it out, making it seem like she could return the favour of breaking her opponent at the finish line, but fails to convert any of the break points (granted Serena was firing off some solid winners and dug herself out of them).

The American rose to the occasion to be sure, and deserves the victory, but there are shades of the Wimbledon final to be felt I think. Nevertheless not too much should be read into that, as this was clearly a triumph of Serena's fighting spirit. Well done for Serena for her second consecutive title won against the odds, and well done to Justine on reaching her first Miami final, her third consecutive final on the year, which will give her some comfortable breathing room at the top of the rankings. Finally well done to both women for providing a riveting match that bodes well for a renascent rivalry between them the rest of the year.