By Kamakshi Tandon

Justine Henin (BEL)[1] vs. Ana Ivanovic (SRB)[7]Women's final: Court Philippe Chatrier – 3:00 pm

It’s no surprise that a lopsided draw yielded a lopsided finals matchup. The top half of the draw was crammed with title contenders, while the bottom half contained largely injured stars and untested youngsters.

The contrast between the current resumes of the two finalists is equally stark. Henin will be going for her third straight French Open title, her fourth French Open win overall, and her sixth Grand Slam title. For Ivanovic, this is her first time past the quarterfinals.

Their personal journeys to this point have been repeatedly traced during the tournament. Henin – coming to Roland Garros at 10 with her mother and vowing to one day be on court herself, getting married, separating from her husband at the beginning of this season and subsequently reuniting with her estranged father and siblings. Ivanovic – memorizing the number for tennis lessons from a TV ad, honing her skills in the now much-celebrated empty swimming pool, continuing to play as bombs fell over Belgrade, leaving to train in Switzerland and making a swift rise into the top ten after turning pro in 2003.

Though she’s much more inexperienced in this encounter, it bodes well for Ivanovic that she has little track record of choking at big moments. She played well to win her first big title in Montreal last summer, and got her second in Berlin by keeping her nerve to win in a third-set tiebreak.

Henin, however, is one of the most mentally-tough competitors on tour, and will probably prove a tougher nut to crack than either Martina Hingis or Svetlana Kuznetsova, Ivanovic’s opponents in the Montreal and Berlin finals.

If the two-time defending champ serves well and can use her variety to move the relatively slower Ivanovic around, she should be able to control this encounter from the outset. The match could be a battle if Henin has one of her ‘tired’ days and gets pushed back chasing Ivanovic’s well-struck groundstrokes, but Henin hasn’t exactly been pushed on her way to the final. She’s dropped 35 games so far – not exactly a record low, but consider that her last two opponents have been Serena Williams and Jelena Janovic.

Prediction: Henin