Serena Williams of the U.S. holds the trophy after winning her final match against Justine Henin of Belgium at the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Miami yesterday. - Reuters

KEY BISCAYNE, Florida (AP):

SERENA WILLIAMS survived a dismal start and erased two championship points in the second set to beat top-ranked Justine Henin 0-6, 7-5, 6-3 and win the Sony Ericsson Open yesterday.

"It's just not in me to give up," Williams said during the trophy ceremony. "I always keep fighting."

nothing new

The comeback was nothing new for Williams, who revived her career by winning the Australian Open in January for her eighth Grand Slam title. Once ranked No. 1, she fell to 140th last July because of long layoffs but will climb back to 11th tomorrow.

Williams closed out the victory with a service winner, accepted gracious congratulations from Henin and then waved her index finger for the cheering crowd, intent on returning to the top.

The match was 39 minutes old before Williams won a game, and Henin was twice one point from the title serving at 5-4 in the second set.

"I said, "I don't want to lose this fast. At least let it last an hour,"' Williams said.

Williams saved both points, including one where her return clipped the net cord, keeping her in the match by perhaps an inch (two centimetres).

Awkward tumble

Henin slipped and took an awkward tumble during that game, skinning her left knee, and lost the next six points. She fell again trailing 3-0 in the final set and remained seated on the sunbaked concrete for nearly a minute, as if debating whether to concede.

The feisty Belgian rose and rallied for three-all, before Williams began one final surge to earn her fourth Key Biscayne title.

Playing in only her seventh tournament in the past 18 months - and her first since Melbourne -Williams improved to 15-1 this year and 41-5 at Key Biscayne.

"I was making a lot of errors," Williams said. "Justine was moving up to the ball and blasting winners. I had to lift the level of my game and stop making errors."

Two first-time Key Biscayne finalists will meet for the men's title today: 29-year-old Argentine qualifier Guillermo Canas and 19-year-old Serbian Novak Djokovic.