Auckland, New Zealand (SportsNetwork.com) - American Venus Williams came back from a set down to beat Caroline Wozniacki in Saturday's title match of the ASB Classic.
The third-seeded Williams defeated Wozniacki, the top seed, by a 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 margin. Williams had never lost a set in five previous meetings with Wozniacki.
"In the first set she was serving so well," said Williams. "She had an amazing first serve percentage, all those amazing passing shots, even her mis-hits were too good. But I just tried to stay level-headed in the second set and focus on holding, and cut down on my unforced errors too, and it worked for me today."
Williams was last year's Auckland runner-up, dropping a 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 decision to Ana Ivanovic. The 34-year-old Williams went 1-3 in finals last year. After the loss to Ivanovic in Auckland, she beat Alize Cornet in February for her lone title of the season in Dubai, then lost finals last summer in Montreal and Quebec City.
It was Williams' 46th WTA title.
"It's a wonderful way to start the year," Williams added. "Last year I started the year with the (Auckland) final and went to play a few more finals in the year and had a great year, so I'd like to take it that much further this year as well."
Wozniacki reached three finals in 2014, winning in Istanbul last July for her lone title of the year. She then lost consecutive finals in September, first falling to Serena Williams in the U.S. Open before losing to Ivanovic in Tokyo two weeks later.
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