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Williams wins first set of Australian final

Serena Williams won the opening set of her Australian Open final against Justine Henin 6-4 in 51 minutes.

Williams won the opening point of the match with an ace but struggled to hold her opening service game, saving two break points before finally wrapping it up after eight minutes.

Both players were suffering from nerves and the opening exchanges were littered with errors, including a routine forehand from Williams that bounced into the net and a wild return from Henin that caught the frame and shot into the night sky.

Henin was more comfortable on her opening serve, unleashing one delightful backhand winner, but Williams continued to struggle and was forced to save another break point before holding for a 2-1 lead.

Williams, dressed in a citrus-coloured outfit, overcame her shaky start to break Henin to love in the fourth game and grab the early advantage when the Belgian shanked a forehand wide.

The next two games went with serve before Henin finally capitalised on her chances and broke the American’s serve then held her own to draw level at 4-4.

Williams comfortably held her next game before breaking Henin to wrap up the set with the unseeded Belgian hitting the ball wide after it clipped the tape.