Mauresmo's secret conquers Capriati

Amelie Mauresmo seems to have discovered the secret to success against Jennifer Capriati. The seventh-seeded Frenchwoman made short work of Capriati, the No 2 seed, here yesterday, winning 6-4, 6-1 in the final of the Rogers AT&T Cup.

It was Mauresmo's second successive defeat of Capriati, having lost their previous three meetings. The Frenchwoman also had a straight-sets win in the Wimbledon quarter-finals and their career head-to-head stands at 3-3. The victory brought Mauresmo's eighth tour title and her second this year, having won the Dubai event in February.

The crucial game in the first set came at 4-4, when Mauresmo won two points on serves Capriati had argued were out and took a 5-4 lead. The Frenchwoman then took the set by breaking Capriati's serve when the American hit a backhand wide. In the second set, Mauresmo broke again to go ahead 3-1, and once more for a 5-1 lead, then served out the match.

Capriati, the reigning Australian Open champion, was competing in her first final since the Nasdaq 100 Open at Miami in early April. When the top seed and defending champion, Serena Williams, pulled out of the event on Tuesday with a knee injury, Capriati became the favourite in this warm-up tournament before the US Open, which starts in a week's time. But she finished as the runner-up here for the second straight year and the third time time overall. Capriati did win the title in 1991 – as a 15-year-old.

Capriati, the world No 3, had reached her first WTA final in more than four months with a victory over Jelena Dokic. Capriati was leading the third-seeded Dokic 7-6, 4-0 when the Yugoslav had to retire because of a hamstring injury. Mauresmo defeated the Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova 6-2, 7-6 in the other semi-final.