Local favourite Amelie Mauresmo capped a glorious return to the winner's circle against one of the hottest players on the WTA tour on Sunday, beating Elena Dementieva to win the Paris Open.
The Frenchwoman, who dropped to 24th in the WTA rankings after reaching top spot in 2004, edged through the Russian third seed 7-6, 2-6, 6-4 after battling for two hours and 38 minutes.
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Amelie Mauresmo of France celebrates with the trophy during the awarding ceremony after winning the final match over Elena Dementieva of Russia in the Paris Open tennis tournament in Paris, France, Feb. 15, 2009. Mauresmo won the match 2-1. [Xinhua]
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"I'm just happy that it finally showed after a couple of years of struggling," Mauresmo said. "During the last few months in practice I could see there were some great moments, but it was only showing in matches now and then.
"I didn't know when my consistency at this level was going to happen again, or if it would.
"When you look at the field and all the great players that were here in Paris, I'm very happy and very proud about this week," she added.
The opening set was tense and Olympic champion Dementieva was the first to hold serve to open a 4-2 lead.
Eighth seed Mauresmo, who won the tournament in 2001 and 2006, frustrated the Russian when she broke back in the 10th game and forced a tiebreak.
The Frenchwoman saved a set point before prevailing 8-6 on her second chance with a service winner.
She went on to break in the first game of the second set but Dementieva lifted her game and the 27-year-old Russian won five games in succession to level the tie.
With the backing of a 4,000 crowd, Mauresmo broke twice in the decider as Dementieva, who won the Auckland and Sydney tournaments this year, made a series of unforced errors.
The Russian pulled a break back but Mauresmo clinched victory with a service winner before bursting into tears.
"The level of our match was just incredible," Dementieva said. "The whole week, Amelie was playing very solid. She really picked up her game and played her best, especially today.
"It was a really impressive win for her today. I'm just very glad for her. She has had some difficult times with all of those injuries, and it's really great to see her win here, especially at home."
