Doha: Venus Williams defeated Russia's Vera Zvonareva 6-7, 6-0, 6-2 on Sunday to win the season-ending WTA Championships.
It was the first time the American had won the event after she reached the semi-finals in her previous two appearances.
She retired injured on the second occasion, in 2002, and qualified but failed to play because of injury on five other occasions.
Venus, who went undefeated in her five matches this time, earned $1.34 million dollars, allowing her to overtake Martina Navratilova for fourth place on the list of top prize money earners in women's tennis.
Zvonareva received $715,000.
It was her third title of the year, following victories at Wimbledon and Zurich.
The American began sluggishly and dropped her serve in the second game when she double-faulted and then made a backhand error.
Zvonareva, after saving two break points in the next game, at first showed no sign of relinquishing her advantage, making few unforced errors to build a 5-2 lead but Venus gradually raised her level.
Zvonareva failed to convert four set points and was unable to serve out the set at 5-3 before a netted backhand gave Venus a vital break and eventually a first-set tie break.
The Russian fell 5-1 behind in the opening set decider but Venus dropped both her serves when leading 5-4, one with a double-fault, and Zvonareva took the tiebreak 7-5 when her backhand clipped the netcord and fell in her favour.
Her intensity then faded and Venus's greater strength and versatility dramatically swung the match her way.
Zvonareva, who had played every week since September's US Open in a bid to qualify for the event, clearly had nothing left to give as she won just two more games.
She briefly recovered a break at 2-0 down in the final set but Venus regained her advantage immediately to leave the Russian lying on the court in tears of frustration.
Venus then went on to break again in the last game, closing out the two hour 10-minute match with a forehand winner.
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