First Grand Slam crown for Mauresmo

Amelie Mauresmo has charged to her first ever grand slam title with an emphatic victory over 2004 champion Justine Henin-Hardenne in the Australian Open final.

The Frenchwoman put to bed once and for all the label of "best current player not to have won a major" with a demolition job before the more favoured Belgian pulled out of the contest.

Mauresmo took the match 6-1 2-0 when after Henin-Hardenne retired because of illness, and never looked like loosening her grasp on the title she first missed out on in the 1999 final against Martina Hingis.

For the usually composed Henin-Hardenne it was a performance worth forgetting as her powerful opponent coaxed her into an uncharacteristically high number of unforced errors.

The Belgian went into the match as the heavy favourite having four grand slam titles to her name, but she was soon outclassed before injury took its toll.

Mauresmo started the match strongly with an easy hold of her opening service game.

The tournament’s third seed then silenced the crowd moments later when she comfortably broke the serve of Henin-Hardenne.

The Frenchwoman then raced out to a 4-0 lead shortly after when she capitalised further on the unforced errors of her opponent to take the double break.

Her first test came moments later on her own service game when she stared down the barrel of a break back from Henin-Hardenne.

However, a strong ace from the eventual champion compounded shortly after by an unforced error from the Belgian allowed her to hold.

Henin-Hardenne then finally found some composure to hold her first service game but it was a case of too little too late as the Frenchwoman served out to take the first set in 33 minutes.

Mauresmo started the second set in the best possible fashion with another break of her opponent’s opening service game.

Henin-Hardenne looked to be her own worst enemy as she struggled to contain her rising error rate.

The world number three soon consolidated the break by holding her service game after a series of fiercely contest rallies.

The Belgian, down 0-2, then called for a doctor with an apparent stomach complaint.

Henin-Hardenne then took to the court after a brief consultation but shortly after pulled out of the match after her pain appeared to worsen.