ZÜRICH, Switzerland - Having given her problems in their first three encounters - including just two weeks ago in Stuttgart, where she was the first player to take a set off her in her last 16 matches - a fast start for Tatiana Golovin hinted at an upset in the making in their fourth meeting in the Zürich Open final on Sunday. But those hopes were quickly dashed, as Justine Henin rallied and eventually won her Sony Ericsson WTA Tour-leading ninth title of the year, 64 64.

In a near-repeat of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix final two weeks ago, where a top-seeded Henin beat an unseeded Golovin for the title, 26 62 61, the top seed this time faced another early deficit, falling behind 4-1 in the first set as the unseeded Frenchwoman dictated play with her big serve and pinpoint forehand. That forehand let her down at one key moment though, and the match turned; a run of five straight games gave the Belgian the set, 6-4.

“She started off very strong - better than in Stuttgart. I had to play flawlessly to go 4-1 up,” Golovin said. “After I missed the forehand that would have given me 5-1, she was a different player. I felt she was dictating more and there was less power in my shots and serve. Basically, she raised her level and I didn’t. That’s what I have to do during a match against the top players if I want to win more.”

Henin gained a critical break in the third game of the second set then held serve the rest of the way to extend her win streak to 20 matches in a row.

“Even if I didn’t play my best, I was more positive than yesterday,” stated Henin, who battled more than two hours to beat Nicole Vaidisova in a three set semifinal. “I definitely learned from our match in Stuttgart. I knew I’d have to hit more to her backhand, and come in and be as aggressive as possible. The turning point was at 4-2 in the first set, when I realized I was too far behind the baseline. I was giving her too much time and I had to take that away from her.”

This has been Henin’s best ever season in several ways, including in terms of her titles won - nine, beating her previous-best of eight from 2003; and prize money earned - she will depart Zürich with $4,365,086, which beats last season’s total of $4,204,810 - which, incidentally, is second only to countrywoman Kim Clijsters’ $4,466,345 from 2003. Henin can pass that at her last event of the year, Madrid.

“I’m very proud that I beat my 2003 record of winning eight titles, with my ninth this season today,” the 25-year-old added. “I feel a little tired, because I have been getting to the semis or finals of every tournament this season, so the weeks are always very long for me. Madrid is my last tournament and I’m very excited about going there - it’s my favorite event and the best organization in my opinion.

“It’ll be the toughest one to win. The best eight in the world will be there. But you know me - I’ll be looking forward to the challenge.”

Henin is looking forward to time off before the Sony Ericsson Championships, as well as the holidays she has planned for the off-season.

“I’ll be partying on the plane tonight by myself - that’s pretty sad but it’s the life of a professional tennis player,” Henin added. “I’ll have plenty of time at the end of the year to celebrate with friends and relax on vacation in South Africa.”

Though Golovin leaves sans-trophy, she won four rounds (including beating Ana Ivanovic for her third Top 10 win since the US Open) and moved into a Tier I final for the very first time. She is now 15-3 since leaving New York, and will head to next week’s event in Linz, Austria riding a huge wave of confidence.

“I’m getting the train to Linz tonight so I guess the party will be at the bar on the train, how about that?” joked the Frenchwoman on her post-Zürich celebrations. “Of course I’m disappointed, but if you told me I would have lost in the final to the world No.1 4 and 4, I would’ve taken that. I’m extremely pleased the way the last six weeks have gone, and am looking forward to continuing that form.”

She also had gracious words for her conqueror, against whom she is still winless.

“Justine is such an inspiration to all of us, from how professionally she prepares for the match right down to how she executes.”

The Zürich Open boasted a field that included the entire world’s Top 4, something that hadn’t happened outside the Slams since Miami last March. But Henin was the only one to reach her projected spot in the semifinals, with Serbs Jelena Jankovic and Ivanovic losing their openers (Nicole Vaidisova beat Jankovic) and Svetlana Kuznetsova succumbing to a shoulder injury during her quarterfinal match.

Kveta Peschke and Rennae Stubbs won their third doubles trophy of the year Sunday, beating scratch combo Lisa Raymond and Francesca Schiavone in the final, 75 76(1). Peschke and Stubbs, who had already triumphed at Los Angeles and Stuttgart so far this season, nearly let an early 5-0 lead go before closing out the first set and rallied from 5-3 down to take the second in a tie-break. The two unseeded teams had beaten the tournament’s Top 2 seeds en route to the final, Peschke and Stubbs ousting No.2 seeds Katarina Srebotnik and Ai Sugiyama and Raymond and Schiavone beating No.1 seeds Cara Black and Liezel Huber.

It was just the 10th Sony Ericsson WTA Tour event in the last 17 years to boast a field that included each one of the world’s Top 4 but already two of those marquee names have been sent packing, as the second round began at the $1.34 million Zürich Open on Wednesday.

Ana Ivanovic was the first of the top quartet to fall, as Tatiana Golovin beat the world No.4 handily, 63 61. Golovin broke away at 3-all in the first set, a run of four consecutive games putting her ahead 1-0 in the second set and another run, this time five games in a row after Ivanovic evened it at 1-all, bringing her the victory. It was just her second victory in their eight career encounters.

“The last time we played, she played out of her mind and I did not play smart,” stated Golovin, who lost to Ivanovic just a few weeks ago in Luxembourg, 61 62. “Today I tried to stay with her from the beginning, hang in during the rallies and serve more into her body. I think that caused her to go for more, and I am proud of the way I was able to turn it around.”

“Maybe I put too much pressure on myself coming in here,” stated Ivanovic, who reached the semifinals in her last trip here, in 2005. “I really wanted to play well. I had been playing well in practice and felt very good about my chances. Maybe I got a little too ahead of myself instead of focusing on the moment, and you have to do that with Tatiana, as she’s a very dangerous player. She proved it today.”

Following Ivanovic to the sidelines in the night match was fellow Serb and the world’s No.3 player, Jelena Jankovic, who fell to Nicole Vaidisova, 64 64. The young Vaidisova, who had won four of the pair’s seven prior meetings, improved to 5-3 lifetime against Jankovic with the straight set win, regrouping after a 4-1 lead became 4-all in the first set but then rallying back from 3-1 down to win the second. The Czech phenom is now through to her second consecutive Tier I quarterfinal, having gone this far at the Kremlin Cup in Moscow last week.

Golovin notched her fifth Top 10 win of the year (and 12th of her career) with her win over Ivanovic. Vaidisova had her third of the year (seventh of her career).

The upsets didn’t start there - in an early match, Alona Bondarenko moved into a Tier I quarterfinal for the first time in her career, defeating No.8 seed Amélie Mauresmo, 26 64 61. Leading 4-3 in the second set, Mauresmo had two points for a 5-3 lead and a chance to serve it out; Bondarenko hung tough, holding serve in that game then winning six games in a row to move ahead 4-0 in the third.

“I think my game improved today as the match went on; I started very nervously in the first set, but I played better and better, and then played really well in the third set,” Bondarenko said. “I tried not to think that about it being Mauresmo on the other side of the net, I just tried to play my own game.”

Mauresmo, who is not entered in any more tournaments this year, looks to the off-season as a chance to recuperate from an up-and-down season, which was rocked early on by an appendectomy and just hasn’t been able to settled down.

“I’m glad the year’s over in a way. I need time to get physically stronger and fitter as today I had nothing left in the third set. I played probably my best set in months in the first set and I’ve felt things have been improving, but I still have to get my confidence back the way it was before my surgery in March. I’m looking forward to doing what it takes during the off-season - I feel like I’ve had enough time off so I need to work hard again and look forward to starting in Australia.”

Three of the four seeds in action on Wednesday fell, with the only one winning being No.9 Marion Bartoli, a 64 61 winner over wildcard Michaella Krajicek. In a rematch of their Wimbledon quarterfinal, which Bartoli won in three sets, it was all Bartoli after Krajicek held serve to lead 3-2 in the first set, as the Frenchwoman powered through 10 of 12 games for the straight set triumph.

In the last first round match of the week, Francesca Schiavone advanced when a left adductor strain became too much for Elena Dementieva to handle. Schiavone prevailed when Dementieva stopped play trailing 46 61 42.

The remaining four singles quarterfinal spots are all up for grabs on Thursday. Among those on the schedule are the world’s Top 2 - Justine Henin and Svetlana Kuznetsova - who try to avoid the Wednesday fate of their fellow Top 4 players.

By contrast, both doubles seeds in action were able to forge ahead. No.3 seeds Chan Yung-Jan and Chuang Chia-Jung won six straight games from 5-1 down in the second set - losing just six points in that stretch - to defeat Bondarenko and Vera Dushevina, 64 75; No.4 seeds Alicia Molik and Mara Santangelo defeated US Open champions Nathalie Dechy and Dinara Safina, 64 46 108. Unseeded teams who moved on as the first round came to an end were Anabel Medina Garrigues and Flavia Pennetta and Chinese-American combo Peng Shuai and Meilen Tu.

Zürich open 2007

Jankovic plays tonight vs. Nicole Vaidisova (CZE). The match was scheduled for 8.30pm at central court.