Justine Henin-Hardenne beat her fellow Belgian Kim Clijsters 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 in the women's singles final at the Australian Open on Saturday.
Henin-Hardenne, 21, added the Melbourne Park trophy to the French and U.S. Open titles she won last year to strengthen her hold on the number one ranking.
"It's a pleasure to play in Australia, I'll be back again next sure," a beaming Henin-Hardenne said.
"I want to congratulate Kim for a wonderful tournament. She wasn't sure whether she could play but she fought a lot."
Clijsters, who also lost to Henin-Hardenne in the Paris and New York finals, has been troubled by an ankle injury for the past month and said she was satisfied just to make the final.
"I think she played a great final and in the end she was too good so well done," Clijsters said.
"This has been an incredible two weeks for me. Two and a half weeks ago I didn't even think I'd even be able to participate."
"So although I lost, I'm still very thankful to so many people who helped me get out here."
Henin-Hardenne swept through the first set in 32 minutes with two breaks of serve then had to overcome a determined fightback from Clijsters to seal the title on an overcast centre court.
After a tentative start by both players, Henin-Hardenne grabbed the first break in the fifth game after second seed Clijsters double faulted to gift her opponent a break point.
FOUGHT BACK
Clijsters, with her fiance Lleyton Hewitt watching from the stands with Australian golfer Greg Norman, netted a forehand on the next point to hand Henin-Hardenne a 3-2 lead, which the top seed quickly extended to 4-2.
Clijsters, 20, saved one set point but could not stop Henin-Hardenne from breaking her serve again in the ninth game to claim the first set.
Henin-Hardenne raced to 4-2 lead in the second set when she broke in the sixth game before Clijsters fought back to win the next four games and level the match at one set all.
Clijsters survived a break point before serving out the set.
The 21-year-old Henin-Hardenne, however, regained the initiative at the start of the deciding set.
She raced to a 4-0 lead but had to weather another Clijsters storm before claiming the title.
Clijsters pulled back to 3-4 but dropped serve in the eighth game after her forehand was ruled long by the umpire.
Henin-Hardenne duly served out for the championship and threw her racket into the air after sealing victory.
