THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
DOHA, Qatar -- American Venus Williams won the WTA's Sony Ericsson Championships by defeating Vera Zvonareva 6-7 (5), 6-0, 6-2 Sunday in the final of the season-ending event.
The Wimbledon champion took command in the last two sets with powerful serving, smashes and aggressive ground strokes against her Russian opponent.
Zvonareva became increasingly frustrated and collapsed to the ground when Williams broke in the final set to take a 3-1 lead.
"I'm so excited," Williams said. "That was a hard-fought match, every point, right down to the end."
Williams' ranking improved from eighth to sixth, while Zvonareva moved from ninth to seventh. The two were the lowest-ranked players at the event.
Williams lost the first time they played in the fourth round of the French Open in 2003, but she now holds a 6-1 head-to-head record over Zvonareva.
Zvonareva surged to 5-2 in the first set, and then led 5-3, 40-0. But she was unable to convert a total of four set points in that game, and Williams won it on her second break point. Zvonareva fell behind 1-5 in the tiebreaker, but fought back to take it on her fifth set point when her backhand slice clipped the net cord and dropped onto the other side of the court, out of Williams' reach.
The Doha tournament featured eight players divided into two groups, with the top two in each group advancing to the elimination stage.
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