Sharapova rallied with her first break of the second set when Henin-Hardenne sent a forehand into the net. Henin-Hardenne, who had seven aces, had three service breaks in the first set while forcing Sharapova into 14 unforced errors. Henin-Hardenne beat Sharapova for the third time in four meetings this year - the Belgian's only loss coming in the U.S. Henin-Hardenne can take a tour-high sixth title of 2006 in Madrid after missing nearly two months while recovering from a muscle tear in her right knee. "Hopefully she'll party (tonight) with her No. "It's the last match of the year and obviously it's great to have Justine and I in a final again, after we had a tough match yesterday," Mauresmo said. Mauresmo also defeated Henin-Hardenne in a round-robin match Friday. Henin-Hardenne won the French Open and was the runner-up at the three other Grand Slam tournaments this year - the first woman since Martina Hingis in 1997 to reach all four major finals. Henin-Hardenne's 6-2, 7-5 (5) victory over Sharapova clinched her second year-end No.
Mauresmo advanced to the final with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 victory over two-time winner Kim Clijsters. Henin-Hardenne will face defending champion Amelie Mauresmo in today's final, with $1 million going to the winner. Madrid, Spain | Justine Henin-Hardenne will finish the year as the top-ranked player in women's tennis after beating Maria Sharapova in Saturday's semifinals of the WTA Championships.
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