Venus ends title drought with Luxembourg crown

Luxembourg, Luxembourg – Former world No. 1 Venus Williams ended the longest title drought of her career with a victory over Romanian Monica Niculescu in Sunday's final at the Luxembourg Open.

Williams handled Niculescu 6-2, 6-3 to capture her first title since winning at Acapulco in February 2010.

The 32-year-old Williams now has 44 singles titles overall.

"Coming to the tournament this week I was just trying to play well," Williams said. "I didn't know if I could win this event, so to stand here as the winner is a wonderful way for me to end the year, and it really makes me look forward to next year as well."

Niculescu appeared in her second career final. She lost to Victoria Azarenka at the Luxembourg final last year.

Williams and Niculescu met for the first time Sunday.

With the win, Williams collected $37,000.