Williams wins in New Haven

Venus Williams beat top seed Lindsay Davenport 7-6 6-4 on Saturday to remain unbeaten in the three years she has competed at the Pilot Pen WTA event.

The one hour 25-minute victory was the perfect confidence builder for Williams as she prepares to begin the defence of her U.S. Open title at Flushing Meadow next week.

Bright sunshine meant both players struggled with their serve at one end of the court and the eight double-faults from Davenport and seven from Williams did not accurately reflect the standard of play.

Although many of the points were short, as each player failed to make their returns, there were plenty of long baseline rallies to thrill a record crowd.

Third-seeded Williams was the more adventurous and came to the net several times to fire winning volleys, but she failed to dominate a persistent Davenport.

It was Davenport who took the lead, breaking as Williams served up three double-faults in the opening game, but Williams immediately levelled and both players then held serve with ease until the tiebreak.

Davenport held a set point at 6-5 before netting a double-handed backhand, but the same shot down the line from Williams at 7-6 sealed the set.

Williams twice threatened to take the lead in the second set, holding two break points to lead 1-0 and another two at 2-2 before Davenport had two break points for a 5-3 lead.

But it was Williams who finally made the vital breakthrough. At 4-4 the ball clipped the net cord and the resulting exchange at the net led to Williams hitting a reflex backhand volley to break and serve out for the match.

"I guess when it mattered I was able to get the point," said Williams. "Normally you don't want to play so many in such a short time period, but it happens and I won the tournament."

Williams's victory was her third over a top 10 player in a little over 24 hours. On Friday afternoon she beat Justine Henin in a rain-delayed quarter-final, and on Friday night she overcame second seed Jennifer Capriati in the semis.

"It was a challenge for me, physically but mostly mentally, and I feel great to come out the winner because I didn't play any pushovers," said Williams.

"It feels nice to have beaten some great players and come out of it alive. This week was very tough with all the top players here and it was a real challenge for me to stay focused the whole time."