American teenager Serena Williams clinched her first WTA Tour title when she beat France's Amelie Mauresmo 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 in the $500,000 Paris Open final on Sunday.
The 17-year-old Williams appeared too strong for a tired-looking Mauresmo who made it to the final by winning tough matches against Swiss world No. 1 Martina Hingis and Belgium's Dominique Van Roost.
The tall American dominated most of the match thanks to her powerful backhand and wrapped up the final set tie-break 7-4 when Mauresmo hit the ball wide.
"That's my first title. It was a great match for me and I played very well today. It's fantastic," Williams said.
Mauresmo said she felt "a little bit tired" after her previous two matches.
"Serena produced brilliant tennis today. I tried everything but she was stronger than me in the tie-break even if it was very close," she said.
16-year-old Serena Williams who won the crowd's attention, drawing gasps from fans as she slammed serves and backhand returns past Van Roost, a Belgian ranked 14th in the world -- 13 spots higher than Williams.
One usher on center court warned a journalist watching the match: "This is not foryour eyes. This is carnage."
Williams allowed Van Roost to win just four points in her first five service games. The American teenager moved about five feet inside the baseline on Van Roost's second serves, intimidating the Belgian into six double faults.
It is just Williams' second tournament on clay. She lost to her sister in the quarterfinals of the Italian Open earlier this month. "A lot of people say you have to rally on the clay," she said, "but I think it's really exaggerated what they say. I don't feel my game has to change at all on the clay."
Sanchez Vicario, a two-time French Open champion, said she must be patient against the powerful Williams. "I will have to keep her on the run, so she does not have a chance to hit the ball hard," the Spaniard said. "Here, the points are a little longer."
@1998 Associate Press
This is not the entire article. I only post the section of the article that focused on Serena. The entire article can be found at the ESPN Sportszone website.