Henin-Hardenne savors first WTA Championships title and year-end No. 1

MADRID, Spain (AP) -- After watching three Grand Slam titles slip away, winning the WTA Championships to finish the season with a No. 1 ranking was the perfect finale for Justine Henin-Hardenne.

"I proved some things to myself at the end of the season and I'm No. 1, so today is as good as winning a Grand Slam," Henin-Hardenne said Sunday. "It was a tough challenge for me. I didn't really know what to expect when I got here."

The French Open champion cut short her recovery time from a muscle tear in her right knee just to compete in the season-ending championships for the first time since 2003.

"I came here saying we'll see just day after day, just live this moment right now, that's what I did great during the last few days and I probably never enjoyed my tennis like I did this week," she said. "It was amazing."

Henin-Hardenne was the fifth player to reach all four Grand Slam finals and the WTA Championships final in the same year, and the first since Steffi Graf in 1993.

Venus Williams, Taylor Dent to play for U.S. at Hopman Cup

PERTH, Australia (AP) -- Venus Williams and Taylor Dent will represent the United States at this year's Hopman Cup team tennis tournament.

The Americans will play Germany's Nicolas Kiefer and Martina Muller on Dec. 30.

Organizers said Thursday that South Korea was forced out of the tournament after Cho Yoon-jeong was injured in a women's practice match.

Australia and Russia will join Germany and the United States in Group A. Croatia, Czech Republic, Spain and the winner of the Asian Hopman Cup, being decided this week in Hyderabad, India, will play in Group B.

The tournament ends Jan. 5 and is one of a series of warmup tournaments ahead of the Australian Open, which begins Jan. 15 in Melbourne.

Blake's 'incredible year' caps a return from loss, illness

SHANGHAI, China (AP) -- Two years ago, James Blake was sitting at home recovering from illness and loss and wondering if he'd ever play tennis again.

On Sunday, the 26-year-old American capped the best year of his career by reaching the final of the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai, losing in straight sets to top-ranked Roger Federer 6-0, 6-3, 6-4.

"Obviously it's been an incredible year for me," said Blake, who entered the season-ending tournament ranked No. 8, but will finish the year at a career-high No. 4.

"Nothing I would have expected at the beginning of the year, especially nothing I would have expected two years ago. So I'm thrilled about that."

After the big year, he again recalled "a rough 2004." He fractured vertebrae in his neck, lost his father to cancer, and contracted Zoster, a shingles-like condition which affects hearing, sight and caused paralysis on one side of his face.

"It was probably three things that I would never wish on my worst enemy," Blake said.

"Those all made me question whether I'd ever play tennis again. So to be sitting on my couch dizzy and feeling like I couldn't get up to get anything to eat two years ago, to being No. 4 in the world now. ... It's something that I never thought was possible."

Now he's looking ahead, vowing to get stronger still in the offseason and take advantage of the better draws afforded by his higher ranking. He said age and experience have mellowed him and prepared him for the pressure.

"I'm proud to have done it," Blake said. "But I feel like I'm up to that now, being a little older, more mature, learning a lot from the guys who come before me, and I think I do have a chance at the Grand Slams."

When those chances come along, it's a pretty sure bet Federer will be on the other side of the net at some point.