TennisWorld number one Justine Henin began the defence of her WTA Championships title with a 6-1 7-6 win over Russian Anna Chakvetadze yesterday.

The 25-year-old Belgian top seed rattled through the first set in just 24 minutes, but had to resist a determined fightback by her opponent before winning her opening round robin match in the yellow group of the $3 million end-of-season tournament. The win extended Henin's winning streak to 21 matches.

"It's good to win the first match especially in a round robin," she said. "It is very important and gives me a lot of confidence."