Serena shakes off Henin to land fifth Aussie Open

 By MAX ORAM  2:01PM 30 JAN 2010 SERENA WILLIAMS beat Justine Henin 6-4 3-6 6-2 on Saturday to claim a fifth Australian Open and 12th Grand Slam title.

Williams, the world No. 1 and top-seed in Melbourne, was just too strong for wild card Henin who was bidding to match Kim Clijsters in winning a Grand Slam event at the first attempt on her return to the circuit after 20 months in retirement.

Henin, 11-2 at the start of the tournament, frequently racked up chances to break and even enjoyed a run of 15 unchecked points in the process of the second set.

But Serena, 3-1 at the beginning of the fortnight, held firm.

A three-set Serena success was 10-3.

Henin is a standout 7-4favourite though to win the second Grand Slam of the year in Paris in May.

Clijsters is 5-1 second-favourite and then it is 6-1 Serena with Paddy Power and 7-1 Svetlana Kuznetsova.

Boylesports are 11-1 about Victoria Azarenka but Paddy Power are as short as 15-2.

Hills report plenty of small money for Andy Murray ahead of Sunday's men's final but their big hitters sticking with Roger Federer.

Best prices on Saturday afternoonare 8-13 Federer (general) and 13-8 Murray (Sportingbet).

Read Saturday's Racing Post for Adrian Humphries's Australian Open men's final preview, prices and stats

Read Sunday's Racing Post for Dylan Hill's reaction to the Australian Open women's final and French Open prices

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