Madrid, November 12:

Justin Henin finished the toughest season of her career with one of her toughest victories.

That’s exactly how she would have scripted it. Henin rallied to beat Maria Sharapova 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 in the longest three-set final in the tournament’s history. It was also the top-ranked Belgian’s longest match at a tournament-record 3 hours, 24 minutes.

Henin became the sixth player to defend her season-ending championship when Sharapova netted her fifth match point.

Henin won her 25th straight match to close the season with a 63-4 mark that included a fourth French Open title and her second US Open trophy. Steffi Graf was the last player — in 1996 — to win those three titles in the same year. She also tied Graf — who closed 1989 with 38 straight wins after falling in the French Open final — by finishing the season unbeaten

after her semi-final loss at Wimbledon. Her 39th career title also made her the first female player to surpass $5 million in winnings in a season.

Henin saved five of Sharapova’s six break chances in the final set — and 14 of 18 overall — for her 10th title of 2007, making her the first player since Martina Hingis in 1997 to record double-digit victories in a season.