Standing atop the battered earth of Roland Garros' main court, another trophy in her hand, Justine Henin realised that this title was so much sweeter than the rest.

Henin, the world's No. 1 player, won her fourth French Open title, her third in a row. Again, she won in straight sets, this time against the overwhelmed Serbian teenager Ana Ivanovic. But never before have the postmatch moments unfolded the way they did Saturday.

When Henin looked into the crowd, she saw more than just her coach, Carlos Rodriguez, and his family. For the first time in seven years, her brothers and sister were there, smiling at her.

"I looked at them, and just looking at each other, we understood a lot of things," Henin said after her match, adding that this victory was more emotional than the others because she could finally share it with her family.

Henin, who turned 25 last week, had been estranged from her family since 1999. For reasons they cannot explain, she drifted apart from them more and more as her tennis career progressed. But two months ago, after so many years apart, she got in touch with them.

Henin, an extremely private person, did not want to expound on that reconciliation with her father, Jose, her brothers David and Thomas, and her sister, Sarah. But David Henin, at 34 the oldest sibling, told the story.

In April, he had a serious car accident and was in a coma for two days. After hearing the news through Sarah, Henin traveled to Belgium to be by his side. It caused an avalanche of pent-up emotions, and the Henins realised that they needed to rebuild the family bond.

 "It was something horrible that turned into something good," said David Henin, a tavern owner, who had not spoken to his sister in seven years.

Since then, there have been daily phone calls and frequent visits between Henin and each member of her family. Their father did not come to Roland Garros because it was too emotional, Henin's brothers said.

Still, Henin knew her father was with her Saturday, watching the match on television from his small Belgian village. She said she felt her mother, who died of cancer when Henin was 12, watching and protecting her, too.

When addressing the crowd, Henin dedicated the victory to the members of her family and said that she had missed them.

 "It's been a huge step in my life in the last few months," she said later. "I was glad I could give them this victory because everyone suffered a lot from the situation in the last few years. And today, finally, we are united in this joy, and we can share this moment."

Coming into the French Open, Henin had been dealing with a difficult year. She had skipped the Australian Open after separating from her husband of four years, Pierre-Yves Hardenne. Then, in a swing of emotions, she regained contact with her family. She thought that might hinder her performance. But it seemed only to improve it.

"The whole tournament, she was just astonishingly good," Martina Navratilova said. "She just kept getting better and better. She's the best clay-court player by far."

Since the beginning of the year, Rodriguez said he had seen a drastic change in Henin. She was no longer the loner on the tour, the player who was proud of being in a cocoon. Over the two weeks of the French Open, she has gone to dinner with friends, shopped and spent time with her family.

Rodriguez said he had to hold her back. "I said, It's a new democracy, this overdose of communication and contentment," Rodriguez said. "It's like you couldn't eat sweets for a year, then I told you that you could eat whatever you want. She wants to give everything, talk to everyone.

"It's a huge difference. Now people can see what is behind the wall she had built; they can see what I saw in her when I started coaching her 11 years ago."

After the final, Henin milled around the players' lounge, hugging her brothers and cradling her 6-week-old niece, Kiara, in her arms. It was the perfect ending to a perfect two weeks.

"I've been a little bit surprised, because it's been hard for me, everything I lived in the last few months, ups and downs, good things, bad things," she said. "And then I realized that it's life. Life is ups and downs, and you have to accept it....