Belgian comeback queen Justine Henin will take plenty of positives out of her loss to Serena Williams in the final of the Australian Open on Saturday night.
Henin almost replicated the feats of compatriot Kim Clijsters by winning a Grand Slam title on her return to the sport but fell to world No.1 Williams 6-4 3-6 6-2 in just over two hours in a topsy-turvy match.
Just getting to the final was a remarkable achievement for Henin, who spent 20 months out of the game after surprisingly announcing her retirement in May 2008 when she was ranked No.1 in the world.
She made her return to competitive tennis in January this year at the Brisbane International, where she went on to reach the final, and then repeated the dose at Melbourne Park in just her second tournament back.
While she was disappointed to lose the decider, she was delighted with what she has achieved over the past month.
"Of course disappointed, I mean, when you lose in the final of a Grand Slam, especially in three sets, and I got a few opportunities that I haven't been able to take," she said.
"But this feeling of disappointment cannot take advantage on all the things I've done in the last few weeks. And it's just more than what I could expect for. I just have to remember that."
"Even if it's quite soon after the match now, I'm sure there will be a lot of positive things I can think about in a few days. It's been almost perfect. Just the last step, I couldn't make it."
"It's mixed feeling at the moment. In a few hours I'm sure it's going to be much better."
The 27-year-old dismissed tiredness as a factor for her loss, instead pinpointing the second game of the third set as the decisive moment of the match. Henin had just won 15 straight points to break Williams twice, claim the second set and take a 1-0 lead in the deciding set.
She knew if she could keep the momentum going and break Williams again, the title would be hers for the taking. But the American stepped up to win six of the seven games and seal her fifth Australian Open title.
"The big opportunity in the beginning of the third set, I started to play much better at the end of the second, really aggressive," Henin recalled.
"She was under pressure. She served unbelievable in that game. I was up 1 0 in the third, and what happened if I could break her at that time. But she's a real champion. She plays the right shot at the right time. She served great at that time. After that, mentally was a little bit harder to stay in the match."
"So I wouldn't say physically. I'm tired, of course, especially now after the match. But for the rest, it was okay."
Henin has learnt a lot about her game in the past month and has plenty of ambitions for the remainder of the year. But she isn't getting too far ahead of herself as she knows that if she continues to work and improve, the rest will take care of itself.
"I learned a lot of things in the last few weeks. Many things were positive in my game, on and off the court. I think I really enjoyed every moment of it,'