Justine Henin won her 10th straight WTA Tour final on Sunday.

The world's top-ranked player, Henin defeated 20-year-old Karin Knapp of Italy 6-3 6-3 in the final of the Proximus Diamond Games.

Henin, who had a 32-match winning streak snapped with a quarter-final loss in the Australian Open, captured her 41st career title and won the first prize in her native Belgium.

But the unheralded Knapp, ranked 47th and playing in her first career final, put up a strong fight before her surprising run here fell short.

Facing Henin for the first time, Knapp fell to 0-3 against top-10 players. She upset fourth-seed Patty Schnyder of Switzerland in the quarter-finals and number nine seed Na Li of China in the semi-finals.

Henin twice had to rally from a set down en route to the title.

She survived a scare in the second round against unseeded Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria and experienced more problems in the semi-finals against 18-year-old Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland as she overcame a poor start to oust Bacsinszky, 2-6 6-3 6-3.

"On a tennis level, this week was a hard one for me,'' Henin said. "But it turned out right in the end.

"This will always remain a wonderful memory. That round of applause every time you enter the court, I got goose pimples every time.''

Henin improved to 41-16 in career finals, ranking 11th on the all-time list. She is second among active players, trailing only Lindsay Davenport, who has 54 career titles.

"Of the three tournaments I played this year I won two,'' Henin said. "Let's look at things the positive side. I'm very pleased to have added the Proximus Diamond Games to my (resume).

"It is one of my aims to win at least one edition of every tournament where I have played.''