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MIAMI - Serena Williams fought off two match points on her way to an epic 0-6 7-5 6-3 comeback win over world number one Justine Henin to claim her fourth Sony Ericsson Open title on today.
"Its just not in me to give up, I just keep fighting,"
said Williams. "I feel when I get down a part of me plays better. I think all champions have that, when they get down you can't hold them down.
"When I was down 5-0 I kept saying, come on. Even though I was down, I never was out.
"I kept fighting, it was important not to surrender.
"I never threw up the white flag," she told reporters.
Brushed aside in 26 minutes in the opening set and broken by the Belgian to start the second, Williams's title hopes had appeared over.
But the muscular American, backed by a vocal home crowd at Crandon Park, gathered her reserves and clawed her way back into the contest, finally gaining control after fending off two match points with Henin serving at 5-4 in the second set.
With the momentum and crowd now firmly in her corner, a ruthless Williams moved in for the kill sweeping through the next six games to take a 3-0 lead in the third set, closing out the two hour 26 minute match with a service winner on her first match point.
"I had many chances, many opportunities," Henin told reporters. "Serena is a fighter, she never gives up. It is tough to close the matches against her because she goes for it.
"She's a champion and that makes the difference from other players."
It was the ninth meeting between the two but their first since the Wimbledon semi-finals nearly four years and the passage of time has done nothing to dull their great rivalry.
Although Williams is ranked 18th, the final featured the WTA Tour's two hottest players with both women coming into the showdown having lost just one match this season.
Henin arrived at the championship contest riding a 13-match unbeaten streak including back-to-back titles in Dubai and Doha while Williams, playing her first event since lifting her eighth grand slam title at the Australian Open, brought a 12-match unbeaten run onto Stadium court.
Ranked 95 at the start of the year, Williams will move up to number 11 on Monday.
But to many who witnessed her performances in Melbourne and Miami, the 25-year-old American has already embarked on another reign as the top player in women's tennis having won the two biggest titles of the year so far.
On the way to her 28th career title, Williams dropped just one set recording wins over world number one Henin and Maria Sharapova, who held the top spot before surrendering it to the Belgian last week.
"I can only go up. I have no points to defend until Cincinnati, I have nothing lose," said Williams, who will start her clay-court preparations in two weeks at the Family Circle Cup in Charleston.
"I'm playing with a no lose attitude and it's fun. I'm not going to stop here."
- REUTERS