MADRID, Nov 12: World No 1 Justine Henin battled back from a set down to overcome Maria Sharapova 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 and retain her WTA Championships title in an epic struggle at the Madrid Arena on Sunday.

The 25-year-old Belgian had to draw on every ounce of her renowned reserves of grit and determination to shake off Sharapova in a thrilling match that lasted three hours 24 minutes, a record for a three-set final in the end-of-season tournament.

The victory extended Henin’s winning streak to 25 matches and made her the first woman since Steffi Graf in 1989 to go unbeaten in the second half of the season, post-Wimbledon.

She also became the first player to claim 10 tour titles in a year since Martina Hingis won 12 in 1997, and the first to break the $5-million barrier in prize money in a season.

Henin, who had won five of her previous seven meetings with Sharapova, made a confident start, winning her first service game.

Sharapova hit back immediately, earning two break points and slamming a deep return on to Henin’s toes to take the game.

There was nothing to separate the two players until the 12th game, an epic affair in which Henin’s serve let her down as she committed four double faults.

Henin managed to hang on and save seven set points before her serve finally cracked.

The match began to swing in Henin’s favour when she broke in the ninth game of the second set.

Sharapova broke back when Henin was serving for the set but Henin won the next game to go 6-5 up and finally produced a solid service game to level the match.

Victory in the second set gave Henin a new lease of life. She saved three break points in the fourth before going 3-1 up and although Sharapova hit back in the next game the Belgian cracked her serve once again to lead 4-3.

Sharapova saved four match points in the final game before she eventually relented.—Reuters