Davenport claim Amelia Island title
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-04-11 08:56

World number one Lindsay Davenport defeated Italy's Silvia Farina-Elia 7-5, 7-5 to win her second straight title in the 585,000-dollars (454,000 euros) WTA tournament here.

World number one Lindsay Davenport, seen here March 2005, defeated Italy's Silvia Farina-Elia 7-5, 7-5 to win her second straight title in the 585,000-dollars WTA tournament. [AFP]

Also the champion in 1997, Davenport joined Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert, Steffi Graf and Gabriela Sabatini as the only three-time winners of the clay court event.

The top-seeded American, playing in her fifth final of the year, captured her second title of 2005 after a triumph in Dubai last month.

"This is a huge win," Davenport said. "Whenever I can win on clay against a really tough opponent, it gives me a lot of excitement."

Davenport won the final three games of the match, breaking Farina-Elia twice in the process. But she said her veteran opponent made things difficult.

"I really felt I was being forced into all sorts of errors," Davenport said. "She would get balls back, and then she would play really well on the offensive. She was mixing it up well with hard shots and drop shots and angles. I felt like she was the reason I didn't play my best."

Farina-Elia, who was playing in her 13th final, remains in search of her fourth career crown to go with three straight titles at Strasbourg from 2001-03.

"I really fought hard today," the 32-year-old said. "I think I played my best game. I did what I could today, but Lindsay came up with unbelievable points at very important moments. Every time I had break points, she came up with an ace."

Davenport claimed the 47th title of her career, and the 93,000-dollar first prize made her the first player to top the one million-dollar mark in prize money in 2005.

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