Venus Williams rallied to win the WTA's Sony Ericsson Championships for the first time, defeating Vera Zvonareva 6-7 (5), 6-0, 6-2 Sunday at the season-ending event. The Wimbledon champion found her rhythm and took command in the last two sets with powerful serving, smashes and aggressive groundstrokes against her Russian opponent. “I'm so excited,” Venus said. “That was a hard-fought match, every point, right down to the end.” Venus won $1.34 million at the event, which for the first time offered the same prize money as the men at the ATP's season-ending Masters Cup in Shanghai. The first lady of Qatar presented the trophy to Venus, shaking her hand and kissing her on both cheeks. Sheika Mozah bint Nasser Al-Misned wore a traditional black head scarf and robe. “Thanks to your Royal Highness for coming. Wow!” Venus said. The two were the lowest-ranked players at the event, which featured the top eight players in the world. “I know I can go higher” in the rankings, said the 28-year-old Venus, a former No. 1 who defeated top-ranked Jelena Jankovic in the semifinals. Zvonareva became increasingly frustrated and collapsed to the ground in tears when Venus broke her in the final set to go up 3-1. Venus, who lost in their first meeting at the 2003 French Open, now holds a 6-1 record against Zvonareva. “She stayed aggressive,” said Zvonareva, who qualified for the championships in 2004 but did not win a match. “In the second and third, she was dictating.” Zvonareva surged to 5-2 in the first set, and led 5-3, 40-0. But she was unable to convert four set points in that game, and Venus won it on her second break point. In the tiebreaker, Zvonareva fell behind 1-5, but rallied to win it on her fifth set point when her backhand slice clipped the net cord and dropped over. Venus qualified for the championships for the eighth time since 1998. She had reached the semifinals twice and withdrew five times because of injuries and illnesses. “It was missing, this one,” Venus said of the WTA Championships title. She has won 39 Tour singles titles. Venus' career earnings rose to $21,921,346. – AP __
