Justin Henin-Hardenne won the battle of the Belgians on Sunday as she retained her German Open title with a 6-4 4-6 7-5 win over Kim Clijsters.

It marked her third tournament victory of the year and was the perfect warm-up for the French Open later this month.

"It was an unbelievable match. I won the first set and was up 4-1 in the third when Kim started to play better and came back in the match," said Henin-Hardenne.

"At 4-1 up maybe I thought I had won the match already. We both played at a very high level in the third set.

"I am so happy right now. This win is really great for my confidence."

Clijsters, who was hampered by a strained left hamstring, admitted there had been little she could do as her Federation Cup team-mate beat her for only the third time in 10 meetings.

"She is the toughest clay-court player out there," said Clijsters.

"There was nothing I could do. She served two services on the line.

"I missed two passing shots only by a few centimetres. That's tennis."

She added: "Although I lost, I really enjoyed it. With a match point you are one point away.

"Justine stayed really cool. She made a lot of first serves. I really have to give her credit for that."