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The Ericsson women's final was more exciting than the men's. Venus Williams fought off eight championship points before edging past Jennifer Capriati 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7-4).

Capriati thought for a moment she had won the match on her seventh championship point, when she hit a backhand passing shot down the line on a fairly easy opening, but the ball landed several inches long. That was her last good chance. She double faulted on her eighth match point, then her game suffered from discouragement as Williams won the following game to set up the tiebreak. Venus jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the tiebreak before Jennifer put a few more points together, but Venus took the final point with one of her many strong serves.

Venus and Jennifer are both known for powerful, aggressive play, and Venus is widely considered to have exceptional court speed, but Jennifer showed terrific quickness, too. Both players worked the angles well. On average, Capriati hit deeper than Williams, but Williams used a heavier topspin. Venus also came up with some delicate drop shots at crucial moments.

Even though Venus has been a top performer at the Ericsson, having won the title in 1998 and 1999, most of the crowd was clearly behind Capriati, especially at the end. This might be attributable to Capriati's comeback story, or it could be a carryover from the recent controversy about Venus's last-minute withdrawal from her semifinal against her sister Serena at Indian Wells in mid-March. Venus did not seem to notice, though, as she celebrated a hard-won championship that propels her to the number two ranking on the WTA Tour, behind Martina Hingis.

Although Venus is statistically still at number two, is she really the top player in women's tennis now? Join our forum discussion.

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