Belgium lifted their first ever Fed Cup title today when teenagers Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin powered past Russia to win the World Final of women's team tennis.
Henin, 19, scored the first point when she blew Russian newcomer Nadia Petrova off the court 6-0, 6-3 in just 50 minutes, and not to be outdone Clijsters, 18, routed Elena Dementieva 6-0, 6-4 in just 49 minutes.
Russia's top player Dementieva, ranked 12 in the world, lost the opening set in just 14 minutes.
Clijsters continued the punishment in the second set breaking serve to go 3-2 and holding firm to score her fourth straight win this year over the Olympic silver medallist.
The 18-year-old Petrova, ranked 42 in the world, also had no answers for the Wimbledon finalist Henin's play leaving the court in tears after losing the first set in just 21 minutes.
She returned on court, three minutes later, wiping her eyes but after holding her serve for the first two games was broken again in the fifth giving Henin a 3-2 lead.
Henin, showing little signs of fatigue after her marathon 2hr 38min battle Saturday against Spaniard Conchita Martinez, rampaged past the Russian taking the set in 29 minutes.
"It's a great victory for a little country with two young players," said Henin.
"Yesterday was a lot more difficult and it gave me a lot of confidence mentally. I felt stronger. I was waiting for a difficult match and she gave me a lot of rope," said Henin.
Petrova, whose best previous performance was reaching the third round at the 2000 Australian Open, was overwhelmed in her first meeting with world number seven Henin, double faulting and commiting a string of unforced errors.
"I was ready to play but when I came out on the court it all went the wrong way. It just wasn't my day," said Petrova, blaming the fact that she did not have time to warm up properly because of the opening ceremony beforehand.
But she brushed aside suggestions that the inexperienced team would have been stronger if Anna Kournikova had been selected to play.
"She played last year and didn't win a single match. So I think it would have been the same story," added the Russian.
Russia had also been seeking a maiden win but had to settle for their second runner-up spot in three years after being defeated by the United States in Stanford, California in 1999.
With two top ten players in Clijsters and Henin, the Belgiums lived up to their favourite's tag in the absence of the United States, who withdrew citing security reasons.
But Henin did not believe that the withdrawal of two-time defending champions the United States took the shine off their victory.
"It would be great if they (USA) were here, but they weren't," said Henin. "We have two players who are five and seven in the world. We were favourites here but we still had to prove it."