LEIPZIG, Germany - Anastasia Myskina defeated Justine Henin-Hardenne 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the final of the Sparkassen Cup on Sunday, ending the Belgian's 22-match winning streak.
Henin-Hardenne, the U.S. Open and French Open champion, was beaten for the first time since the Wimbledon semifinals. Her winning streak was the longest on the tour since Venus Williams had 24 in 2001-2002.
"I was always on defense, and that's not my style," Henin-Hardenne said. "I had problems with her serves. She deserved to win this time."
Myskina picked up victories against the Nos. 1 and 2 players on consecutive days. In her semifinal, top-ranked countrywoman Kim Clijsters quit against the Russian because of a sprained ankle.
Henin-Hardenne can still take the No. 1 ranking from Clijsters at the Filderstadt tournament, starting Oct. 6.
"If it's this year it's great, but if it's next year it's great, too," Henin-Hardenne said.
She was playing in her first tournament since adding the U.S. Open to her French Open title. She lost for just the second time in a final this year.
"In the second set I started to get tired," Henin-Hardenne said. "For sure, I didn't play my best tennis today."
Myskina, seeded third and ranked 10th, won her fifth career title. Henin-Hardenne was chasing her eighth title of the year but Myskina ran her all over the court and won when the Belgian hit a backhand into the net.
"If you're really confident in yourself you can win anything," Myskina said. "I've been stuck at the No. 10 ranking for a while now and I want to move up."
Myskina gained a break to lead 4-2 in the third set, but Henin-Hardenne broke back. The Russian then reeled off the last two games to win the title and $93,000.
Myskina raised her record to 3-2 against Henin-Hardenne, dropping their previous match in the U.S. Open quarterfinals. She was last year's losing finalist in Leipzig, falling to Serena Williams.
In Nonthaburi, Thailand, Taylor Dent upset top-ranked Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-3, 7-6 (5) to win the inaugural Thailand Open for the American's second title of the year.
Dent beat Andy Roddick in February to capture the St. Jude Classic in Memphis, Tennessee. This was his third career title.
Ferrero lost the U.S. Open final to Roddick this month and was bidding for his fourth title of the year. Dent, seeded eighth in Thailand, was beaten by Ferrero in Cincinnati last year.
Both players held serve until Dent applied pressure at the net to take the first set. Dent jumped to a 5-3 lead in the second-set tiebreaker. Ferrero evened it at 5-5 but Dent took the match when Ferrero made an error on a backhand slice.
Dent received His Majesty the Kings trophy for winning the $550,000 tournament.
In Shanghai, Wimbledon runner-up Mark Philippoussis capitalized on his big serve Sunday to beat top-seeded Jiri Novak 6-2, 6-1 for the Heineken Open title. The match took just 45 minutes.
The pair traded games early on before third-seeded Philippoussis took control in the first set. Novak won the second game of the second set but was blanked the rest of the way.
Philippoussis had three aces in the last game.
