DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, Feb. 28 (UPI) -- Top-seeded Justine Henin-Hardenne successfully defended her Dubai Duty Free Women's Open title Saturday with a straight-sets victory over Svetlana Kuznetsova.
Henin-Hardenne defeated Kuznetsova, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3, in the final of the $585,000 hardcourt event to remain undefeated this season. She improved to 14-0 this season, winning her third title in as many tournaments. Her other titles this year came at Sydney and the Australian Open in January.
Th 21-year-old Belgian earned $93,000 for her 17th career title. She has never lost in three meetings with Kuznetsova.
Kuznetsova, an 18-year-old Russian, knocked off three seeds this week en route to her first Tier III final, notching wins over No. 3 Venus Williams, No. 5 Ai Sugiyama and No. 7 Francesca Schiavone.
