Justine Henin felt her second US Open title will silence the critics who regard her as a clay-court specialist.
World number one hails contribution of coach
Newly crowned US Open champion Justine Henin reserved special praise for her coach Carlos Rodriguez's role in her triumph at Flushing Meadows.
Henin cemented her status as world number one with a magnificent two weeks of tennis in New York that culminated with a 6-1 6-3 victory over Svetlana Kuznetsova in Saturday evening's final.
The Belgian, who also won the French Open earlier in the season, went through the entire tournament without dropping a set to claim a seventh grand slam title.
"Carlos has been the only one that told me every day, 'You can do it, you can be the number one player in the world.'," said Henin.
"Not a lot of people thought I could win this Open with the draw I had and I did it. It's amazing for me."
Improved
Henin also won the US Open four years ago, but feels she is now a much-better player on hard-courts.
"It's been good for me to win on another surface than clay this year," she added. "That proves a lot of things to myself.
"I'm a better player than four years ago, that's for sure
"I have four years more experience. I'm more mature. But my muscles feel older a little bit!"
Not machines
Kuznetsova, whose efforts at Flushing Meadows have moved her up to second in the world rankings, was gracious in defeat.
The fourth seeded Russian admitted her performance had been well below what was required to beat Henin.
"When she plays her best game I have to play my best game," she said. "I didn't play my best game so that's why I lost.
"We're not machines. We're players. We are humans. And she is also. She is number one now and I think she deserves it."
