Amelie Mauresmo fought back from a set and a break down to win her second consecutive Rome Masters title by beating eighth seed Patty Schnyder 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 in Rome on Sunday.
It was a well-deserved victory for the 25-year-old Frenchwoman, who became the first champion to successfully defend the title since Conchita Martinez in 1996.
"I'm very proud of doing that because it's a big tournament and a very strong draw and I came here not really having a good rhythm on the clay courts," said Mauresmo, who fell at the quarter-final stage of last week's claycourt event in Berlin.
She will now try to carry her form into the French Open, which starts on May 23.
Mauresmo has often let the pressure of being the home favourite get to her in Paris, where she has never progressed beyond the quarter-finals, but she could not resist looking forward to the Grand Slam event.
"If I play like this, I'll have a good chance," she said. "I came here relaxed and now here I am with the trophy on the last day. Maybe I should do that everywhere I go."
Mauresmo's impressive record in Rome meant she went into the final as favourite.
The Frenchwoman was contesting her fifth final in six years, while Schnyder's best previous result had been a semi-final back in 1997.
Mauresmo had also won six of their last eight meetings, though the left-handed Schnyder had been in superb form all week, shattering Maria Sharapova's hopes of claiming the world number one spot when she defeated her in the semi-finals.
From the start Schnyder used the same tactic that had worked so effectively against the Russian, varying the pace and spin on her shots, making it difficult for her opponent to settle.
EARLY MISTAKES
Mauresmo's usually reliable groundstrokes flew long and wide, allowing the Swiss to break in the third and seventh games and claim the first set.
"I started the match so badly, I didn't know what I had to do to come back," admitted the second seed.
"I wasn't moving well and I was making too many mistakes early in the points.
"She was playing really well, putting different kinds of spin and slice on the ball. I wasn't expecting her to play that kind of game."
The second set went with serve until the fifth game, when Mauresmo netted the simplest of volleys to give Schnyder a breakpoint, which she converted with a great wrong-footing pass.
Gradually, however, Mauresmo hauled herself back into contention, hitting aggressively to pull back the break.
A bad-tempered discussion with umpire Romano Grillotti over whether a Schnyder first serve had landed wide failed to halt her new-found momentum and she fired a forehand down the line on the way to breaking for a 5-3 lead to level the match.
Mauresmo finally seized control of the contest in the fifth game of the decider.
At 0-40 down, Schnyder pulled out three deep first serves to haul herself to deuce, but could not fend off the fourth break point as her opponent whipped a serve return down the line.
The second seed then served out to win.
"In the end she was too strong," admitted Schnyder, who consoled herself with fact that her run in Rome plus a semi-final in last week's claycourt event in Berlin had lifted her back into the world's top 10 for the first time since 1999.
"She was running well and keeping me off the baseline with her groundstrokes. She deserved to win. I hope she does well in the French."
