Anastasia Myskina couldn't hide her delight after beating world number two Justine Henin-Hardenne to win Leipzig's Sparkassen Cup.

Myskina overcame the loss of the first set to win 3-6 6-3 6-3, ending the Belgian's 22-match winning run and giving Myskina her career-best win.

The Russian came into the final after her semi-final opponent, world number one Kim Clijsters was forced to retire with a sprained ankle.

But she demonstrated that she more than merited a showdown with Henin-Hardenne and said afterwards: "I'm so happy with this win, it's definitely the biggest of my career.

"I knew I had a chance to beat Justine and my coach told me to be aggressive right from the start and that's what I tried to do.

"I made too many mistakes in the first set, and then Justine's level dropped a little in the second and gave me a chance to get back into the match."

French and US Open winner Henin-Hardenne, bidding to win her Tour-leading eighth title this year, added: "I'm happy with my week. I had a very good reaction after winning the US Open and played well up until 6-3 3-2. After that, I wasn't so aggressive any more, Anastasia started playing better and forced me behind the baseline.

"I felt a little bit tired and wasn't as good any more. Now I'm going to have a week off, probably arrive in Filderstadt next Sunday and give 100% there.

"I'm not thinking about the number one spot right now, I know I don't have many points to defend at the end of the year and I'm not worried if it doesn't happen this year. I'm sure it will happen at some point and I'm looking forward to that day."

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