Justine Henin-Hardenne did all she could to help Belgium win the Fed Cup, but her body finally gave up on her.

A three-time French Open champion, Henin-Hardenne was forced to retire in the third set of the decisive doubles match on Sunday with a knee injury, allowing Italy to claim their first Fed Cup title.

Despite some health issues, Henin-Hardenne won both of her singles matches in the tie, including a 6-4 7-5 victory over Francesca Schiavone in the first of the three matches on Sunday.

After Kirsten Flipkens dropped the second reverse singles match-up to Mara Santangelo, 6-7 (3-7) 6-3 6-0, Henin-Hardenne chose to play in the lone doubles match with Flipkens.

Star player and 2005 US Open champion Kim Clijsters was unable to compete for Belgium because of a wrist injury.

Although Henin-Hardenne is mainly a singles player, the Belgians got off to a flying start, winning the final three games to grab the first set, 6-3.

However, the Italian team of Schiavone and Roberta Vinci stormed back to grab the second, 6-2. Henin-Hardenne gave the home fans some fright, wincing in pain a couple of times.

In the third set, Italy grabbed the first game on the serve of Schiavone and then broke Henin-Hardenne, who clearly had problems serving on her bothersome knee.

In the end, the pain proved to be too much for the world's second-ranked player and Henin-Hardenne opted to quit with Italy holding the 2-0 lead.

It was a rare event in the final of the Fed Cup, with the previous retirement coming in 1983, as West Germany's Bettina Bunge quit in a singles match to give the title to Czechoslovakia.

With their first Fed Cup title, Italy improved to 7-0 all-time against Belgium.

The Belgians dropped to 1-1 in final appearances in this event, winning the title in 2001.