Henin-Hardenne, the French Open champion, gave Belgium a 2-1 lead in the final of the top team competition in women's tennis.

In a last-minute change, Italy replaced Flavia Pennetta, who has an injured wrist, with No. 33-ranked Mara Santangelo to face No. 98 Kirsten Flipkens in the final singles match. The best-of-five format concludes with a doubles match.

On Saturday, Henin-Hardenne struggled past Pennetta 6-4, 7-5 and Schiavone overwhelmed Flipkens 6-1, 6-3.

Belgium is seeking its second Fed Cup title in five years while Italy has never won the trophy.

For the second straight day, the No. 2-ranked Henin-Hardenne needed to rally in the second set. This time, she won six of the last seven games against an opponent who was under heavy pressure and facing a partisan crowd of 6,000 at the Spiroudome's indoor hardcourt.

The two-hour match in the stifling arena appeared to take a lot out of Henin-Hardenne. Apart from needing eye drops to treat an irritation, a trainer had to treat her right leg.

She didn't rely on the touch of her backhand so much as sheer willpower that the 14th-ranked Italian could not equal.

Schiavone's main problem were untimely rushes to the net, where she was beaten time and again. Henin-Hardenne had most trouble getting the ball in play, dropping her first serve to less then 40 per cent at one stretch.

In the second set, Schiavone broke to go up 4-1 as Henin-Hardenne's backcourt game became increasingly erratic. Schiavone twice had a chance to move in front 5-2, but Henin-Hardenne drew to 4-3. The Italian then served for the set. It was only then that Henin-Hardenne was at her best, exploiting every error by her opponent to win the match.