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Henin beats Mauresmo for women's singles gold
It was an impressive return for the top-ranked Henin-Hardenne, who missed most of the past four months with a viral infection.
Belgium's Justine Henin-Hardenne added an Olympic gold medal to her three Grand Slam titles Saturday, beating France's Amelie Mauresmo 6-3, 6-3 in a matchup of the top two women in the rankings.
The gold is Belgium's first at these Olympics. It's also only the country's second tennis medal: Dominique Van Roost and Els Callens won a doubles bronze at the 2000 Sydney Games.
IOC president Jacques Rogge, a Belgian, was in the stands for Saturday night's final.
It was an impressive return for the top-ranked Henin-Hardenne, who missed most of the past four months with a viral infection. She hadn't competed at all since May, when she was upset in the second round of the French Open as the defending champion. Henin-Hardenne broke Mauresmo's serve in the first and last games of the opening set, then took control of the second by breaking to 2-0 on her seventh break point of that game.
Mauresmo's 10-match winning streak ended. She reached a career-best No. 2 in the rankings on August 9.
Unseeded Alicia Molik of Australia beat No. 3 Anastasia Myskina of Russia 6-3, 6-4 to win the bronze medal earlier on Saturday.
