Seles storms to Rome victory

Seles has not won a Grand Slam for four years

M Seles (USA) 5 bt Amelie Mauresmo (Spa) 12 6-2, 7-6 (7-4)

Monica Seles won her second Italian Open title in ten years on Sunday suggesting she is ready to challenge for her first Grand Slam title in more than four years.

Seles beat the 20-year-old Frenchwoman, 6-2, 7-6, finishing off the match by taking the tiebreaker 7-4.

Mauresmo, a new hope for her countrymen in the upcoming French Open, kept pace with Seles' searing groundstrokes, but committed too many errors on key points as both players battled a swirling wind.

Amelie Mauresmo is a new hope for her countrymen

Seles twice served for the match at 5-4 and 6-5, but Mauresmo broke back, before hitting an overhead long on match point.

After the match, Seles said: "It was nerve-wracking, it's truly amazing."

Seles' performance this week on Rome's red clay has conjured up memories of her only other title at Foro Italico a decade ago, when she beat her idol, Martina Navratilova in the final.

The then-16-year-old Seles followed that with a French Open win a month later - the first of eight Grand Slams in a 30-month stretch.

Since she was stabbed by a fan during a tournament in Germany she has added only one other Grand Slam title - the 1996 Australian Open.

It was Seles' third tournament win this year and took her career haul to 47 WTA titles.