Justine Henin-Hardenne won the Pilot Pen Tennis title as Lindsay Davenport retired after the first game of the second set, 6-0, 1-0, due to a right shoulder injury. Henin-Hardenne now is 7-5 in career head-to-heads against Davenport. Henin-Hardenne’s Pilot Pen title is her first title at New Haven, but her fifth title for this season.
Henin-Hardenne dominated Davenport in all aspects of the game in the first set, handling Davenport a bagel, 6-0, in just twenty-two minutes. It seemed that Davenport had ran out of all her energy from her victory over Samantha Stosur in the semifinal. Davenport looked wary from the start of the match. After Henin-Hardenne took the first set, Davenport asked for a medical time-out. She then returned, with her right shoulder heavily strapped, to play. When Henin-Hardenne broke her serve, Davenport then decided to retire.
With just two days before she plays at the US Open, Davenport hopes to recover in time. “I just hope that it is going to be better next week. If I can get through the first round, then maybe it will be better, because I will have a day off between each round,” she said.
Henin-Hardenne on the other hand was ecstatic about her win. “Physically, I was feeling healthy, and also mentally fresh,which is important.”
