NEW YORK (AFP) -- Justine Henin of Belgium capped off a tremendous year by defeating Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-1, 6-3 to lift her second U.S. Open crown on Saturday.

The top seed took control of the final from the first exchanges, moving into an immediate 4-0 lead, and she gave Kuznetsova no chance to get back into what turned out to be a disappointing, lopsided final.
It was the 25-year-old Henin's second big win of the year after the French Open in June and the seventh Grand Slam title of her career.
En route, Henin ousted both of the Williams sisters, Serena in the quarterfinals and Venus in the semis, only the second time that had been done in a Grand Slam event.
She won the title without dropping a set.
""This one is maybe the most important one for me and the quality I played in the last few matches was amazing,"" she said.
""It was a tough draw and I had a lot of things to prove for myself and I did it. I didn't lose a set so it's just great what I did and I am really proud of it.
Henin went into the night-time final a hot favorite having won 14 of 16 previous matches against Kuznetsova. But the 2004 U.S. Open champion had won their last encounter in Berlin in May.
The 22-year-old Kuznetsova looked nervous at the start though and the slightly-built Henin pounced immediately, breaking her opening two serves to move into a 3-0 lead.
The Russian had a break point in the following game after two double faults, but could not convert it and Henin made her pay by extending her lead to 4-0.
Kuznetsova finally opened her account in the fifth game, but it proved to be a fleeting respite from Henin's assault as the Belgian won the next two games to pocket the first set in just 33 minutes.
Henin had to battle hard to win her opening serve in the second set and Kuznetsova held her own comfortably as the exchanges became more even.
But two games later, Henin grabbed the vital breakthrough capturing Kuzenetsova's serve for the fourth time after a marathon game of seven deuces to lead 3-1.
Henin staved off two break points against her serve to extend her lead to 4-1 and there was no way back for her demoralized-looking opponent.
The end came three games later. Henin had to save three breakpoints on her serve after double-faulting three times and she then clinched the title with an easy lob over Kuznetsova, who was stranded at the net.
The Russian had the consolation of knowing that she will rise to a career-best No. 2 in the world after the tournament.
""The match was much closer than the score for sure,"" she said