Unseeded Belgian Justine Henin-Hardenne claimed her first tournament victory since winning the gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics with a 7-5 6-4 triumph over second seed Elena Dementieva of Russia on Sunday in the final of the Family Circle Cup.
Formerly the top-ranked player in the world, Henin-Hardenne was playing in just her second tournament since last year's US Open after recovering from a viral illness and a knee injury.
She lost to Russian Maria Sharapova in the quarter-finals of the Nasdaq-100 in her only previous entry of 2005.
Dementieva broke Henin-Hardenne to level the second set at 4-4, but the Belgian immediately broke back and claimed the match when the Russian netted a running forehand.
Henin-Hardenne, who improved to 7-1 all time against Dementieva, had lost their only previous match-up on clay, a three-setter at Amelia Island in 2003.
They had not met since the Belgian posted a 7-5 6-0 win at Filderstadt in 2003.
Prior to the 2004 US Open, Henin-Hardenne emerged as an Olympic hero by recording a 6-3 6-3 victory over Amelie Mauresmo of France in the finals in Athens, Greece.
The Belgian, who claimed her 20th WTA singles title, played in this clay court event once previously, winning in 2003 with a straight-set triumph over American Serena Williams in the final.
Dementieva, who also was playing in her first final of the year, was aiming for her fifth career singles title.
She has not won a tournament since Hasselt last year.
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