After a year of illness and injuries, false starts and foiled comebacks, former world no. 1 Justine Henin-Hardenne reclaimed her rightful place at the top of women’s tennis this weekend. Playing in her first Grand Slam final since the 2004 Australian Open, the Belgian captured her second French Open with a 6-1, 6-1 win over an overwhelmed Mary Pierce on Saturday.

The final was the least compelling match of the tournament. The 30-year-old Pierce, who played her best tennis in five years to earn a chance at a second French title, performed miserably. The booming serves, blistering forehands, and precise returns on which she relied against the likes of Patty Schnyder and Lindsay Davenport were gone on Saturday, replaced by errors both physical and mental.

After winning the first game of the match, Pierce lost the next nine, winning just two points on Henin-Hardenne’s serve. In one stretch, she lost 14 consecutive points. So bad was Pierce’s day that several times she could not find the court on the easiest of shots, missing routine volleys and an overhead that was just crying out to be clobbered.

“I was thinking about too many things at the same time,” Pierce said. “I was trying hard to do things instead of just playing.”

Even at her best, Pierce had little chance of winning, yet she could have pushed the match to three sets, as so many lesser opponents did against Henin-Hardenne these past two weeks. The favorite suffered from a tight back and a strained hamstring the entire tournament, and admitted that her nerves often got the better of her in the early rounds. Her play often went from excellent to awful, and then back again.

So pronounced, and so inexplicable, was this habit that Henin-Hardenne looked a lot more like the true 10th seed, as was her spot in the draw, than the odds-on favorite who had won 17 consecutive clay court matches entering this tournament.

Lest we forget that the Belgian looked defeat in the eye in the first round against the nearly retired Conchita Martinez, despite winning the opening set at love.

No matter the opponent or the predicament, though, Henin-Hardenne persevered. This, she reminds us time and again, is her greatest skill. Yes, she brings more game to the court than any one woman on tour: a killer forehand, a beautiful one-handed backhand, crisp volleys, an effortless serve, and the some of the world’s best footwork and court awareness.

But Henin-Hardenne’s greatest gifts are her persistence and her resolute belief in herself. Even down two match points in her fourth-round contest against Russia’s Svetlana Kuznetsova, she seized upon her opponent’s nerves and steered her way into the next round.

Standing nearly 5-foot-6 and weighing only 126 pounds, Henin-Hardenne is a rare breed of player: small, yet capable of hitting with great pace; fast and exceptional on defense, yet more versatile on offense than any of her rivals. And she is always a joy to watch.

Since the days of Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert, women’s tennis has seen its share of monotony, but not when the dynamo from Belgium takes the court. In Henin-Hardenne, we have the power and sharp angles of modern tennis combined with the more versatile craftsmanship of years past.

Though Maria Sharapova may soon steal away the world’s no. 1 ranking, it will be a ranking in number only. Henin-Hardenne is once again the woman to beat, even if she never regains the top spot.

And she might not, at least not this year. On her first run to the top, Henin-Hardenne wore herself out, training too hard and playing too often. She says she is determined not to make those mistakes again.

“I’ve worked so hard and never stopped, in the last few years, never took a break more than two weeks,” she said. “You know, I’m not so tall, I’m not so strong, so I give a lot of energy on the court.”

Let’s hope she’s ready to give it her all once again in two weeks, when Wimbledon rolls around. Until then, Henin-Hardenne can sleep happily, another Grand Slam trophy in hand.