Wimbledon, July 8:

So much for Amelie Mauresmo’s reputation for getting tight and failing to win big matches.

Mauresmo rallied from a set down and held firm down the stretch to beat Justine Henin-Hardenne, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Saturday to win the Wimbledon title for her second Grand Slam championship. “I don’t want anyone to talk about my nerves anymore,” she said.

Mauresmo became the first French women’s singles champion at Wimbledon since Suzanne Lenglen won the last of her six titles in 1925. The top-seeded Mauresmo also stopped No 3 Henin-Hardenne from completing a career Grand Slam. The Belgian was trying to win the only major title missing from her collection.

It was the second Grand Slam final between the two players this year — and this time there was an outright winner. Henin-Hardenne retired at 6-1, 2-0 down at the Australian Open in January, handing Mauresmo her first major title.

After Henin-Hardenne hit a forehand into the net on the first match point, Mauresmo dropped to her knees on the grass and buried her face in her hands. After the handshake at the net, she climbed into the stands and shared a long, tearful hug with her coach, Loic Courteau.

Mauresmo won by playing serve-and-volley grass-court tennis. For a while, particularly in the second set, it seemed like a match no one wanted to win. Mauresmo has for years been burdened as an underachiever who tenses up and fades at crucial moments.

This time, Henin buckled and Mauresmo didn’t falter when the match was on the line. The Belgian appeared in control after racing through the first set in 30 minutes.

But her game dipped at the start of the second set and Mauresmo moved out to leads of 3-0 and 4-1.

On Friday, king of clay Rafael Nadal beat Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis 6-1, 7-5, 6-3 to become the youngest men’s Wimbledon finalist since Boris Becker in 1986. Nadal will attempt to dethrone Roger Federer as the undisputed superman of grass after setting up a dream Wimbledon final against the triple champion.