Former world number one Justine Henin heads into the Australian Open full of confidence as her latest comeback gathers momentum despite being on the wrong side of the ledger in Saturday's Hopman Cup final.
Henin and Belgian teammate Ruben Bemelmans were beaten 2-1 by the United States pairing of Bethanie Mattek-Sands and John Isner, despite the seven-times Grand Slam champion winning her women's singles clash in straight sets.
Henin went through the tournament undefeated in singles, claiming the scalps of world number 17 Ana Ivanovic, Alicia Molik, Sesil Karatantcheva and Mattek-Sands without dropping a set in her first matches since suffering a serious elbow injury at Wimbledon last year.
Although the 28-year-old was getting ready to fly to Melbourne when she found out Belgium had been promoted into the mixed teams final courtesy of an injury to Ana Ivanovic that forced Serbia out of the playoff, Henin saved her best for last.
The 2010 Australian Open runner-up -- in her first Grand Slam back from retirement -- is currently ranked 12th in the world and showed she was capable of going one better in Melbourne this year despite her injury problems.
Down two set points against Mattek-Sands in the first stanza, Henin reeled off the next four points to claim the set.
In the second set, Henin was down a break, but rattled off the last five games and won 18 of the last 19 points of the match to stun the American.
Henin said she became more aggressive with her play as the Hopman Cup progressed, and again stepped up her form when it mattered against Mattek-Sands.
"I just put the intensity up much more than the first (set)," she said.
"It was good to come back this way and to the finish the match with this confidence.
"It was important for me to raise the level, as I did.
"I have a lot of ambitions and want to get better and these matches I learned a lot of things."
Mattek-Sands was very impressed with the Belgian's form in the final and predicted a strong showing from Henin in Melbourne, where Serena Williams, who will be missing this year due to injury, beat her in last year's final.
"She's playing great," she said.
"She looks like she's fresh.
"She serves well, which I think is a big part of her game, and she's taking balls on the rise and not giving people a lot of time.
"I think she's looking really good."
Henin, who will round out her Australian Open preparation on the practice courts in Melbourne, said her elbow had come through the Hopman Cup well, although she's still not pain-free.
"I have to deal with it," she said.
"It's okay, I can play, but sometimes my focus is a lot on it."