It has come down to a battle between unseeded Justine Henin fresh out of retirement and playing in her first Grand Slam tournament since losing in the Quarterfinals of the Australian Open in 2008 and world No. 1, Serena Williams.
Henin hardly broke a sweat as she downed unseeded Jie Zheng of China in her Semifinal match. Henin was just too powerful from everywhere on the court, finishing off her opponent 6-1, 6-0.
Williams had a tough battle in her Semifinal match, needing two tie-breaks to finish off a determined No. 16 seed, Na Li of China, 7-6(7-4), 7-6(7-1). Williams looked like she was running out of gas, and had Li won just one of those tie-breaks, the story might have turned out much differently.
Williams leads their head-to-head competition 7-6, but Henin has a 4-2 advantage in their matches at Grand Slam events. This includes their last three match ups, all in 2007, the French, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. In their last meeting, Williams blew out Henin in Miami in 2008, 6-2, 6-0. They have split their four matches in finals, but this is their first head-to-head final at a major.
It should be a great match up. I give well-rested and fresh-looking Henin the edge over heavily bandaged, tail-dragging Williams.
