Local favourite Amelie Mauresmo confirmed her return to form when she beat Russian third seed Elena Dementieva 7-6 2-6 6-4 to clinch her third Paris Open title on Sunday. The Frenchwoman, who dropped to 24th in the WTA rankings after reaching top spot in 2004, ended a two hour-38-minute contest on her second match point.
In a tense opening set, Olympic champion Dementieva retrieved her opponent's groundstrokes like clockwork and she 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 after 76 minutes.
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.
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