Davenport dethrones Sharapova again

Top-seeded Lindsay Davenport won the Zurich Open for the fourth time on Sunday, beating Switzerland's Patty Schnyder 7-6 (7-5), 6-3.

With the victory, Davenport - who will return to the world number one spot when the rankings are published on Monday - gained revenge for her defeat in the 2002 final, when she lost to Schnyder in three sets.

America's Lindsay Davenport - a winner of this tournament on three previous occasions - faced Patty Schnyder of Switzerland in the final of the Zurich Open on Sunday (October 23).

Davenport, who made 23 unforced errors in winning the first set, took the tie-break as Schnyder played a poor forehand which ended in the net.

The two players exchanged breaks at the start of the second set.

Schnyder moved to a 3-1 lead but that was the signal for Davenport to go up a gear and win five games in a row to close out the match and reclaim the world number one spot when the rankings are published on Monday.

Afterwards, Davenport was asked how it felt to be playing in front of a crowd which wanted her to lose.

"I think that gave me some level of excitement. I think it's not too often that you have a respectful crowd but a partisan crowd at that and I think it probably pumped me up a little bit. We've played a lot of times, she's a difficult opponent to play, she changes the speed of the ball, and she makes me run, hits angles and is a 'leftie'. So, it presented some different challenges from what I normally face." New world number one Lindsay Davenport.

It was the sixth title of the year for Davenport, whose three previous matches all went to three sets.

The American saved two match points in her second-round match against Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova.