Bali, September 18:

World No 2 Lindsay Davenport won the Wismilak International final on Sunday after overpowering Francesca Schiavone 6-2, 6-4. The top-seeded Deventort easily took the first set after immediately breaking Schiavone’s serve, but was made to work harder in the second against the fourth-seeded Italian. Schiavone again lost her opening service game in the second set. But she broke back to level at 3-3 and looked threatening for several games, in part because of errors on Davenport’s forehand. But Davenport upped her game when it was most needed. A fluffed drop shot gave the 29-year-old a crucial break point at 4-4, which she won when Schiavone hit an easy forehand long.

The Italian had a chance to level the score in the next game but fired the ball into the net. Davenport then served out to win the match. It was the American’s first appearance at the Bali tournament. Meanwhile, top-seeded Rafael Nadal of Spain rallied to win the China Open on Sunday, defeating the number two seed Guillermo Coria of Argentina in the final 5-7, 6-1, 6-2. Nadal, the French Open champion, lost his service game twice as he dropped the first set, but then turned on the jets in the second, sprinting to a 5-0 lead before Coria could answer back. He was aided by poorly timed mistakes on Coria’s part, including a double fault on break point that put Nadal up 2-0.

As Coria crumbled, Nadal turned up the heat with booming serves and crushing shots down the line. Coria, in his semi-final match against Sweden’s Thomas Johansson, came back from three match points against him to win in the end. But he couldn’t pull off the seme feat in Sunday’s final. Nadal just needed just one match point, which Coria hit long. It was Nadal’s 10th title of the season. The China Open women’s tournament kicks off on Monday and features Venus and Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova and Lindsay Davenport. All four have first round byes, putting them directly into the second round which will be played mid-week.