Henin Emerges the Victorious Avenger

The women's single draw turned out to be more predictable then anyone expected, except perhaps for Justine Henin.
Looking every bit like the number one player in the world, Henin trounced Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-1, 6-3 in the finals of the U.S. Open Saturday night, exacting revenge for Kutnetsova's surprise victory against Elena Dementieva in the finals three years ago when Henin was last seeded number one at the tournament. (Henin was knocked out of that year's tourney by Nadia Petrova.)
There were no surprises last night, as Henin became the first number one seed to win the U.S. Open singles draw since Serena Williams last won the championship half a decade ago. Looking as out of shape as Williams appeared to be at the Australian Open, Kuznetsova could not get away with not being in top form against the world's top player and was outplayed from the baseline, at the net and between the ears.
Kuznetsova's one chance came near the end when Henin, still a shaky closer, gave her a few double faults and Kuznetsova had two break points. But Henin came up with the goods and by the short night's end was hoisting her seventh Grand Chelem trophy overhead.
Roger Federer will be going for a 12th Grand Slam victory today against Novak Djokovic after both eased into the finals--Roger for a record-setting 10th straight time as Davydenko proved the futility of going toe to toe against Rog from the baseline. Did anyone stay awake during either match? It looked like Federer barely had to.
In the other semi, Djokovic had some moments where he was fighting for air against David Ferrer, even though it was a straight set victory. Djokovic is a tremendous player, but his breathing problems are alarming. I compared Henin to Federer in my last posting, but Djokovic and she have some things in common too--tremendous fight despite some physical vulnerabilities.
As for Federer, he was hardly looking vulnerable. I wonder if he'll ever wake up from the dream of victorious tennis he's been marching through for the past half decade. Could Novak be the one to turn the dream into a nightmare? No one other than the number one seed has won the U.S. Open since 2003.
And that surprise winner just happened to be Roger Federer.