Williams beats Davenport to win in Australian Open

Serena Williams beat top-ranked Lindsay Davenport 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 in an all-American final to win the women's singles title at the Australian Open championships in Melbourne on Saturday.

Williams ended an 18-month drought to capture her seventh Grand Slam singles title. She last won in Melbroune Park two years ago by beating her sister Venus in the final.

The seventh-seeded Williams, who fended off three match points in her semi-final win over fourth-ranked Maria Sharapova on Thursday, won 10 consecutive games to end the second set and race through the third against Davenport.

It was Williams' first Grand Slam title since Wimbledon in 2003.

Her best result last year was the final at Wimbledon, where she lost to Sharapova.

Davenport, who won the last of her three Grand Slam titles in Melbourne in 2000 and hadn't been in the final of a major since the 2000 U.S. Open, won only eight points in the third set.

Australia's Lleyton Hewitt reached Sunday's men's final with a 3-6, 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-4), 6-1 win over second-ranked Andy Roddick on Friday.

Hewitt will play Marat Safin, who is in his third final in four years at Melbourne Park but is yet to win one, after the Russian ended Roger Federer's 26-match winning streak in the semifinals.

Source: Xinhua