Henin triumphs in Germany

Henin won the match on a tiebreak

Justine Henin denied Serena Williams her first claycourt crown by winning the final of the German Open on Sunday.

The Belgian teenager won 6-2 1-6 7-6 (7/5) for her first title of the year.

The victory made up for Henin's three defeats to Serena's sister Venus in finals earlier in the year.

It has been a great week

Justine Henin

Henin, who beat world number two Jennifer Capriati to reach the final, took advantage of some sloppy early play from her rival to win the first set in just 30 minutes.

But Williams found her range in the second set, building up a 3-0 lead, eventually levelling the match on her fourth set point with an ace.

Recovered

Henin, ranked eighth in the world, led 4-2 in the final set thanks to a missed drop shot by Williams.

But Williams battled back to take the next two games and level it at 4-4.

I couldn't get a first serve in

Serena Williams

After Henin let two match points slip at 6-5, Williams rescued the game to force a tiebreak.

Henin won the first three points of the tiebreak and a stop volley at the net gave her a third match point and Williams fired long to concede defeat.

It was only Williams' second defeat of the year.