EASTBOURNE, England -- Justine Henin-Hardenne defeated Russia's Anastasia Myskina 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7-5) Saturday in the Hastings Direct final.
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The French Open champion, seeded third, won the two-hour match on her fifth match point.
Both players pounded groundstrokes from the baseline with Henin-Hardenne gaining the early edge to break and lead 2-1.
Myskina broke to love to level at 4-4 and again for the set when Henin-Hardenne made a backhand error.
Failing to build on her advantage in the second set, fifth-seeded Myskina double-faulted to drop the first game. Henin-Hardenne began to attack more and a second break gave the Belgian a 3-0 lead. A further break to love closed out the second set.
Myskina twice broke in the final set to take the lead only for Henin-Hardenne to immediately break back. The Russian faced defeat at 5-4, but fought off three match points before holding for 5-5.
The match climaxed with a tiebreaker, which Henin-Hardenne won 7-5 to complete an impressive preparation for Wimbledon.
"I saw very good things, I saw things I can improve. But a Grand Slam is another kind of tournament," said Henin-Hardenne.
Despite her defeat Myskina thought she could even be a contender at Wimbledon.
"I think I can compete with any of the girls that are going to play next week," she said. "But the first round is always tough, it doesn't matter who you play."
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