Amelie Mauresmo out-fought Sandrine Testud 6-4 7-6 (7-3) in the all-French final at the Dubai Women's Open for her seventh WTA title.

The clash was just the fourth all-French singles final on the WTA Tour.

Mary Pierce defeated Testud in straight sets in the last such matchup at Linz, Austria in October 1999.

Mauresmo triumphed over her Fed Cup team-mate for the first time in three career meetings on the WTA Tour.

Testud had posted victories in the second round at San Diego in 1999 and in the opening round at Munich in last year's season-ending Sanex Championships.

Ranked 10th in the world entering this week, third seed Mauresmo finally managed to beat a fellow top-10 player, prevailing over world number six Monica Seles in the semi-finals.

In her previous outings in 2002, Mauresmo had failed to overcome current world number nine Serena Williams in the quarter-finals at Sydney and eventual champion Jennifer Capriati in the quarter-finals at the Australian Open.

The 22-year-old also stumbled against world number one-elect Venus Williams in the semi-finals of her last two events at Paris and Antwerp.

A resident of Bornel, France, Mauresmo won her first WTA title in more than nine months, having struggled with various injuries during the latter half of 2001.

Testud, seeded fourth, fell short of winning her first title since September at Hawaii.

The 22-year-old upset top seed Venus Williams in the semis.

A native of Lyon, Testud had not advanced past the quarter-finals in her previous five tournaments this year.