By Mike McIntyre

Diminutive Justine Henin has just one more step to take to match fellow-Belgian Kim Clijsters' remarkable comeback from last summer. Clijsters won a Grand Slam in just her third tournament back on tour at the U.S. Open in August. Henin is trying to one-up Clijsters, by accomplishing the same feat in only her second tournament back at the Australian Open on Saturday.

Clijsters was able to impressively win at Flushing Meadows by defeating not just one, but two Williams sisters. Henin only has to defeat one here in Melbourne, but that sister just happens to be the current world number one, Serena Williams.

While Williams appears to be bothered by injuries to her right quad and left knee, (that are both heavily taped during matches) she can never be underestimated, especially not in a Grand Slam final. That being said, Williams has been seeing twice as much time on court while entered in the doubles competition as well with sister Venus. The sibling duo won the doubles title on Friday.

Surprisingly enough, this will be the first Grand Slam final in which Henin and Williams have ever met each other. Despite that fact, the two have had numerous high-intensity clashes between them and it's fair to see these two are not exactly the best of friends. 

During a match at the 2003 French Open, with Williams leading 4-2, 30-love in the third set, Henin held up a hand to indicate she was not ready to receive serve. Distracted by the motion, Williams would drop the serve into the net. She would then proceed to lose the remaining four points in that particular game and eventually the match. Henin never indicated to the chair umpire that she made the gesture which would have allowed Serena to have another attempt at a first serve.

Afterwards, Williams said, "I was a little disappointed with her. It wasn't the turning point of the match, I should have still won the game. But to start lying and fabricating is not fair."

Fast forward now to 2010 and what exactly will it come down to between these two? Serena's big serve, Justin's elegant backhand, or will the winner be whoever is more mentally prepared on Saturday?

"Absolutely", Serena admitted in her most recent press conference. "I think that's a really good point. It definitely will be mental and who wants it more and wants the title more and who's willing to go the extra step."  

Henin echoed that sentiment, saying, "I think it's gonna be really mental. I mean, the one who will want it more will win probably. She served great, of course, in the last few matches, always on the important points. I know I'll have to be aggressive generally and use my qualities. I have the determination and the ambition, of course."

Any way you look at this match, I think it is almost a guarantee that it will go three sets. Williams leads their head-to-head meetings by a mere 7-6 margin. Emotional and physical fatigue could be a real issue for Serena while Henin on the other hand, cruised into the final with a 6-0, 6-1 victory over Jie Zheng. The potential for a great match looms large here - let's hope it can live up to the much anticipated hype.