TENNIS in DEPTH.

Serena Williams denied Justine Henin of a fairytale return in her first grand slam since coming out of a 20-month retirement with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 victory in front of a packed Rod Laver Arena.

Both players suffered from nerves in the early exchanges, but top seed Williams broke her Belgian opponent twice to wrap up the opening set in 51 minutes.

Henin valiantly battled back in the second as Williams began to show signs of tiredness.

Although the first two games went with serve, Henin broke Williams in the third game when the American played a poor volley that the Belgian whipped across court.

Williams immediately broke back and held her next service game to lead 3-2 before her game started to unravel and Henin reeled off the next four games in succession.

Henin won the last nine points in a row to force the match into a deciding third set and looked on course to deny Williams of a fifth title in Melbourne by taking the opening game.

But Williams stamped her class when it mattered to win the first three-set women’s final since Wimbledon in 2006 – when Henin was also on the wrong end of the scoreline against Amelie Mauresmo.

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