Tennis US OpenFor the women, this year's US Open was all about taking advantage of the absence of Serena and Venus Williams.
Late on Saturday night, after Natalie Cole's live rendition of God bless America had somewhat incongruously preceded the all-Belgian final, it was Justine Henin-Hardenne, the French Open champion, who once again, as in the Paris final, proved herself physically and, above all, mentally superior to Kim Clijsters.
The Americans have had trouble grasping the fact that a country the size of Maryland could produce two grand slam finalists. "I know many of you out there don't even know where Belgium is," spouted a smug commentator on the ESPN sports channel. "Well, I can tell you it's just to the north-west of France." Part of the low countries it may be but not yet sunk.
Neither Henin-Hardenne, 21, nor Clijsters, 20, had previously captured much attention here. Henin-Hardenne, who won 7-5, 6-1, had never gone beyond the last 16 and Clijsters reached the quarter-finals in 2001.
Now they are numbers one and two in the world and it is only the vagaries of the women's ranking system, which puts as much emphasis on the bread-and-butter tour as the grand slam events, that keeps Clijsters top.
Not that this will trouble Henin-Hardenne. She has two major titles, the true benchmark of a player's quality, while Clijsters has none.
A year ago Henin-Hardenne almost wanted to run and hide from an American culture in which she felt uneasy and cramped. Now, after beating Jennifer Capriati in a semi-final which ranked among the all-time great encounters and then winning the title, she has both embraced America and been embraced by it.
As at Roland Garros, where she also lost the first all-Belgian final, the error-strewn Clijsters appeared overwhelmed by nerves, although the variety of Henin-Hardenne's game again emphasised the younger Belgian's one-dimensional approach and over-reliance on power rather than angles.
At 5-4, and with Henin-Hardenne apparently tiring after the huge exertions of the previous night, Clijsters held two set points. Henin-Hardenne responded with an ace and then forced Clijsters into an error.
"When you have to play a grand slam final, you cannot be tired," Henin-Hardenne said. "You have to give your best." Suffering from cramp in the latter stages of her semi-final, but aware of the criticism she had previously incurred for taking what were deemed to be "tactical" injury breaks, she refused to call for the trainer.
"I'm so happy, it's just amazing," she said. "It's a great confirmation for me after the French. It's amazing how things have changed in a year. I'm not afraid of other players any more because I'm powerful myself and everybody knows it right now."
