Testud's Win At Big Island First Title In Three Years
WAIKOLOA, Hawaii -- Sandrine Testud of France broke through for her first title in three years Sunday, defeating an ailing Justine Henin of Belgium at the Big Island Championships.
Trailing 3-6, 0-2, the top-seeded Henin retired due to a thigh injury, leaving her without a title since late June. Henin, 19, had won her first three WTA crowns this season.
Testud, 29, ended up with her third career title and first since October 1998, when she upended Lindsay Davenport to claim the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Germany.
Seeded second, Testud also avenged January's straight-sets loss to Henin in the final of the Canberra International in Australia, where she won only four games.
Testud, who claimed the $22,000 top prize, had appeared in only one championship match since then, dropping a 6-3, 6-2 decision to world No. 1 Martina Hingis at the Qatar Open in January.
Although she reached the fourth round at the French Open and Wimbledon, Testud struggled through the middle part of the season, but a return to hard courts has agreed with her.
Since the start of the summer hardcourt season, Testud has gone 13-5. She reached the fourth round at the U.S. Open before losing to eventual champion Venus Williams.
At a watered-down field in Hawaii, Testud never dropped a set. She reached her seventh career final with wins over Anca Barna, Katarina Srebotnik, Alina Jidkova and Marissa Irvin -- none of whom are ranked higher than 93rd in the world.
The championship was no different as Testud, ranked 17th, cruised through the first set.
Henin, ranked eighth, then needed a pair of medical timeouts. She had a thigh wrapped during the first and retired from the match after the second.
Despite the loss, Henin still is enjoying a career year, having won three of her five finals appearances. One of her losses came to Williams at Wimbledon.
