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Return Winners: A look at the 2010 Brisbane WTA final

Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin played one of the best matches in

ByVan Sias

Published Jan 07, 2017

The Brisbane International WTA event in 2010 was the site of a near-lifelong rivalry renewed between two of the greatest players of their generation.

Belgian superstar Kim Clijsters entered the Brisbane International as the top seed, a major feat considering that her return to professional tennis had started less than six months prior after a two-year retirement. In only her third tournament back in 2009, she won the US Open. That successful run just happened to light a fire under her countrywoman, Justine Henin, who stepped away from the game at her peak in 2008. Henin decided to make her own comeback in Brisbane, one of the warm-up tournaments for the first Grand Slam of the season in Melbourne.

Right off the bat, Henin defeated the tournament’s No. 2 seed, Nadia Petrova, in straight sets. Henin won her second-round match easily before being pushed to the limit in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, she handled No. 3 seed Ana Ivanovic handily to make the final in her first tournament back.

In the top half of the draw, Clijsters faced minimal resistance, only dropping one set on her way to the title match, where she’d meet her most familiar foe.

In their 23rd official encounter—and first in more than three years—it was Clijsters who got off to the quicker start as she won the first set, 6-3. It appeared as if Clijsters would go on to a routine victory as she took a 4-1 lead in the second.

However, Henin was far from done as she then stormed back to take eight games in a row to win the second set, 6-4, and go up 3-0 in the third. Henin served for the match at 5-3, but was broken after holding two match points.

When they reached a deciding tiebreaker, Clijsters edged ahead to a 5-1 lead. Henin rallied once again and evened things at 6-all before Clijsters took the next two points for the match and her 36th career singles title.

0

Despite making the final in Brisbane and at the Australian Open, Henin was unranked after her trip Down Under because three tournaments are necessary to qualify for a ranking.

11

The number of finals the two played against each other over their careers, with Brisbane 2010 being the last one. Henin held a 7-4 edge in finals, with Clijsters leading the overall head-to-head, 13-12.