Justine Henin was inspired to return to tennis by Roger Federer and the decision was rewarded on Sunday when she beat Australia's Samantha Stosur in the final of the Stuttgart indoor tournament for her first title since her comeback.
It was the Belgian's first tournament on clay, her favoured surface on which she has won four French Open titles, since she ended her 19-month self-imposed exile at the start of the year.
Henin, runner-up at Brisbane and the Australian Open in January, won 6-4, 2-6, 6-1 to end Stosur's 11-match winning run.
"I never thought I would be back here," said Henin in an on-court interview. "On clay, it means a lot to me."
"When I saw Roger Federer winning the French Open (in 2009), I had a lot of respect. That brought back the fire that wasn't there any more.
"It's been a lot of work to get back and it's not over."
Henin's victory came less than a month before she is due to return to Roland Garros for the first time since winning the title there in 2007.
A break in the fifth game was enough to give wild card entry Henin the first set against the world number 10.
In the second game, Stosur saved break points in the third and fifth games as the Belgian threatened to walk away with the match.
Instead, Henin's serve briefly went to pieces and Stosur broke twice in a row to fight her way back into the match.
The third set was a different story as Henin pulled herself together and never looked back after breaking in the third game.
"Justine was just a little bit too good today," said Stosur.
"In the third set, she got very aggressive, hit some very good returns and put me under pressure all the time."
It was Henin's 42nd tournament win and her first since Antwerp in 2008.
