Venus crowned Korea champ

Top seed Venus Williams overcame a mid-match slump to beat Maria Kirilenko in the final of the Korea Open in Seoul.

American eventually topples gallant Russian

Top seed Venus Williams overcame a mid-match slump to beat Maria Kirilenko in the final of the Korea Open in Seoul. The Wimbledon champion recorded 11 double faults but claimed her third title of the season as she outlasted the resilient Russian 6-3 1-6 6-4. Williams broke her opponent's serve in the opening game but a series of unforced errors allowed Kirilenko to level 2-2. In all, there were six breaks of serve as Williams eventually took four of the next five games.

Double faults

The American began the second set in similar fashion, but more unforced errors and five double faults allowed Kirilenko to win six games in succession to square the match. The Russian fourth seed edged ahead 3-2 in the decider but Williams survived a marathon sixth game on her own serve, and swiftly claimed a decisive break to lead 5-3. Kirilenko dug deep once again but last week's Kolkata winner could not repeat the feat as Williams came through in two hours, 21 minutes.