Henin happy after Sydney victory

Henin is seeking to regain her Australian Open title

Justine Henin will go into the Australian Open with her confidence high after beating Svetlana Kuznetsova in the Sydney International final.

The world number one, who extended her unbeaten run to 28 matches with a 4-6 6-2 6-4 win, said: "That was the kind of match that I needed before the Open.

"I think that was perfect. She really pushed me to my limits."

On Monday the 25-year-old Belgian faces Japan's Aiko Nakamura in round one of the opening Grand Slam in Melbourne.

Kuznetsova, the second seed, looked to have the match under control when she broke Henin's serve and held her own to lead 3-0 in the deciding set but the Russian managed just one of the next seven games as Henin raised her level.

"It's good to see that I could deal with the nerves because I was in a pretty bad situation in the third set," added Henin.

"I remained calm and played my best tennis when I was under pressure."

Henin, who won the Sydney title in 2004 and 2006, will be seeking to win her second Australian Open title, having triumphed in 2004.

She reached the final in 2006 but missed the tournament last year for personal reasons.