Mauresmo Downs Dementieva To Clinch Paris Open

The Frenchwoman saved a set point before prevailing 8-6 on her second chance with a service winner after 76 minutes.

Local favourite Amelie Mauresmo confirmed her return to the higher echelons of the game 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, 24th in the WTA rankings after reaching top spot in 2004, ended a two hour 38-minute contest on her second match point.

"I have had hard times. I did some soul searching by the end of last year and there is a new dynamic, a good preparation during the winter," Mauresmo, who had not won a tournament since claiming the Antwerp Diamond Games in 2007, told reporters.

"My goal was to win a tournament this year. The first set was very tough physically.

"In the second, I did not panic, I was not stressed at all. I knew I had what it takes to win this match."

Dementieva said: "It was a very good, very close match. And Amelie played really well. She was very aggressive at the net. Serving very well.

"Of course I made some mistakes but we played for 2-1/2 hours but I have tried very hard. But she was just better than me."

In a tense opening set, Olympic champion Dementieva retrieved her opponent's groundstrokes with relative ease 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, who benefited from Serena Williams's withdrawal in the semi-final, 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.