Maria Sharapova collapsed in joy on the court after winning the US Open 6-4, 6-4 Saturday over Justine Henin-Hardenne.
The Russian third seed lifted the grand Slam honor more than two years after making her big-match breakthrough with the 2004 Wimbledon trophy.
The defeat denied Belgian Henin-Hardenne the chance to regain the world No. 1 ranking from Amelie Mauresmo.
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The match stretched a trend of two-set women's finals, with the last three-setter in 1995 when Steffi Graf defeated Monica Seles.
Sharapova won her third title of the year as she improved to 58-14 on the season.
Henin-Hardenne, a finalist at all four majors in 2006, won a third French Open title this season at Roland Garros, but lost finals in Australia and at Wimbledon.
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"This is an amazing honor," said Sharapova, who ran into the stands to hug her father and coach Yuri before later speaking on a gold mobile phone in the heat of victory while awaiting the trophy presentation.
"I had to play patient and smart against Justine," said the Florida-based Russian, who had stalled five times at the Grand Slam semi-final stage since her Wimbledon success.
"I had lost four times to Justine, so I threw out everything I'd done and did a 360 [turn of strategy]. I did the total opposite. Justine had some amazing results this year, getting to the final of all four Slams," she said.
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The win was worth US$1.7 million to Sharapova -- US$1.2 million for the tournament itself and US$500,000 for winning the run-up Open series.
Henin-Hardenne took defeat in the final of a major with grace.
"The best player won," the Belgian said. "Maria's a real fighter."
PHOTO: EPA
Sharapova recovered a service break early in the first set and broke again to claim the opener. She needed one final break to insure title success.
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