Justine Henin-Hardenne vs. Maria Sharapova 2006 Dubai Final

This was an excellent match. Maria Sharapova was out to avenge her defeat a few weeks earlier to Justine Henin in the semi final of the Australian Open.

Both players were serving well and the first 6 games went fairly comfortably for the server with only 4 points going against the serve. Maria was coming to the net on quite a few occassions early on but it did not prove successful.

In the 7th game Maria’s serve came under pressure for the first time and she was down 15-40. With dogged determination she won the next 4 points to hold.

In the next game Justine’s serve followed suite and she was 15-40 down. After a titanic struggle with 4 deuces and on her fourth break point, Maria won the game to take a 5-3 lead.

Maria Sharapova was now serving for the set and opened with an ace. A couple of unforced errors and a magnificent backhand by Justine Henin left her two break points down. Maria managed to pull it back to deuce, but a good forehand down the line by Justine, followed by a wild error from Maria saw Henin get the break back.

The next game was very close with Justine serving to stay in the set. It was a bit sloppy by both players to start and ended up at deuce. From there the women produced some great rallies and after a couple more deuces Justin won the game to pull it back to 5-5.

On the first point of the next game Maria hit what she thought was a winner, which was clearly on the line, but was called out. She then lost her concentration producing two unforced errors and lost the game when she hit long. It was 6-5 to Henin. Justine then served out the next game to love with some strong play to take the set 7-5.

The First 4 games of the second set went with serve. Although holding serve was not as easy as at the start of the first set. In the fifth game Justine broke to take a 3-2 lead. Maria had a break chance in the next game to pull even but failed.

Two double faults in the seventh game put Maria further into trouble and she was broken again after a thrilling rally which Justine won with a topspin backhand down the line.

Now Justine was serving for the match. Maria fought back tigerishly and got to 15-40 with a superb dropshot. Justine hit back winning the next 3 points to take her to match point. She only need the one as Maria failed to get a good serve by Justine back over the net.
 
This wonderful match finished 7-5 6-2. It was Justine Henin’s third Dubai title.

Match available on DVD at Tennis DVDs website and on video at Tennis Videos website.

Tags: Justine Henin, Maria Sharapova, Tennis, womens tennis, wta tennis