Justine Henin receives the trophy from Mary Pierce after beating Ana Ivanovic in the French Open final at Roland Garros on Saturday. Henin won 6-1, 6-2. (AFP)

Paris: Justine Henin sat in her chair during a changeover, opened an envelope and pulled out a note bearing the word “Allez” — French for “Let’s go.”

When it comes to the French Open, Henin is fluent.

The Belgian claimed her third consecutive Roland Garros title, and fourth overall Saturday, taking advantage of 19-year-old Ana Ivanovic’s nervous play to win 6-1, 6-2.

Henin closed out the victory with a forehand volley, then flipped away her racket, buried her head in her hands, leaned on the net and exhaled.

“It’s surreal to win for the third time in a row,” Henin said. “I am struggling to take it in.”

She became the first woman since Monica Seles in 1990-92 to win three consecutive Roland Garros titles, and only the second since 1937.

Ivanovic, a Serb playing in her first Grand Slam final, started well before her play deteriorated. The first sign of trouble came when she awkwardly hit a serve 10 feet long, prompting groans from the crowd. She double-faulted to fall behind 3-1, and the mistakes came in flurries after that.

Ivanovic struggled in particular with her serve. “All of a sudden I started getting nervous, and my ball toss was going everywhere,” she said.

“I didn’t think about moving well or where I should play, and she could use that. “I was thinking more about the occasion than about my game. That’s what I was afraid of.”

Ivanovic committed 26 unforced errors to 13 for Henin and double-faulted five times.

The final was tight at the start. Henin trailed in each of the first four games, which took 24 minutes, but after taking a 3-1 lead she won 18 of the next 22 points.

Pumping her fist after nearly every point she won, Henin kept up the pressure in the second set with her vast repertoire, which ranged from delicate backhands to overhead smashes.

Ivanovic never overcame her nerves, framing consecutive shots during one rally in the final game. Henin aggressively closed out the victory two points later, belting a forehand into the corner and charging forward to finish off the tournament with a volley.

“She didn’t give me much of a window,” Ivanovic said. “She has been there before and has won Grand Slams. She knew how to deal with the nerves, and for me obviously it was the first time.”

Henin won the French Open for the first time in 2003 and now has six Grand Slam titles, moving ahead of Venus Williams and Martina Hingis. Among active women she trails only Serena Williams, who has won eight.

Henin has won all four of her French Open finals in straight sets, never losing more than eight games. She has reached the final of the past five majors she has played, but she missed this year’s Australian Open because she was separating from her husband.

Henin extended an Open era record winning streak of 35 consecutive sets at Roland Garros. She became the first top-seeded woman to win the title since Steffi Graf in 1996. The Belgian became the fifth woman since 1925 to win the French four times. Chris Evert leads with seven titles.

Henin won $1.34m, equal to the men’s champion. Ivanovic received $670,000.

DAY XIII RESULTS

Men’s singles semi-finals — Roger Federer (1, Swi) bt Nikolay Davydenko (4, Rus) 7-5, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (7); Rafael Nadal (2, Esp) bt Novak Djokovic (6, Ser) 7-5, 6-4, 6-2

Boys’ singles semi-finals — Vladimir Ignatic (12, Blr) bt Kellen Damico (10, US) 1-6, 7-5, 6-3; Greg Jones (5, Aus) bt Matteo Trevisan (1, Ita) 6-4, 6-7 (6), 10-8 tiebreak

Boys’ doubles semi-finals — Thomas Fabbiano (Ita)/ Andrei Karatchenia (Blr) bt Stephen Donald/ John-Patrick Smith (4, Aus) 6-2, 6-3; Kellen Damico (US)/ Jonathan Eysseric (2, Fra) bt Aljaz Bedene (Slo)/ Andrej Martin (Svk) 7-5, 7-6 (1)

Girls’ singles semi-finals — Alize Cornet (2, Fra) bt Ksenia Milevskaya (6, Blr) 2-6, 6-3, 7-5; Mariana Duque Marino (Col) bt Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (1, Rus) 7-5, 6-7 (0), 7-5

Girls’ doubles semi-finals — Sorana Cirstea (Rom)/ Alexa Glatch (US) bt Elena Chernyakova (Rus)/ Jessica Moore (Aus) 6-7 (5), 6-0, 10-7 tiebreak; Ksenia Milevskaya (Blr)/ Urszula Radwanska (3, Pol) bt Lenka Jurikova (Svk)/ Katarzyna Piter (Pol) 6-0, 6-3