Justine Henin-Hardenne won nine of the final 11 games to defeat Maria Sharapova 7-5 6-2 in the title match at the Dubai Duty Free Open on Saturday.

The fourth seed from Belgium, Henin-Hardenne improved to 12-0 all-time at this tournament which she also won in 2003 and 2004.

Henin-Hardenne posted her fourth straight victory over Sharapova, whom she defeated in last month's Australian Open semi-finals, 4-6 6-1 6-4.

Sharapova got off to a strong start here as well, jumping out to a 5-4 advantage, but she lost the next three games and Henin-Hardenne pulled away thereafter.

Both Henin-Hardenne and Sharapova, the third seed from Russia, had to win a pair of matches on Friday because of rain on Thursday.