Elena Dementieva captured her first career title as she came from behind to beat second seed Lindsay Davenport in the final of the Bausch & Lomb Championships in Florida.

The 21-year-old Russian dropped the first set and trailed 2-4 in the second before pulling out a 4-6 7-5 6-3 triumph over the former champion.

"It feels amazing, like a dream come true," said Dementieva, whose first triumph in four final appearances on the WTA Tour was worth 93,000 US dollars. "I was waiting for this moment."

In the decisive set, the 10th-seeded Russian broke in the eighth game and served out the match at love.

"With the player she beat today, that's a great first tournament win for her," Davenport said. "I had a good week, but she also played really well this week with some big wins.

"She just played a great match today."

Dementieva recorded 43 winners, two more than her opponent.

"To beat Lindsay, you have to be aggressive, you have to hit winners," Dementieva said.

Davenport appeared tired at the end of the second set and totalled 42 unforced errors, compared to 26 for Dementieva.

Dementieva's week-long run was impressive, featuring victories over eighth seed Amanda Coetzer, fourth seed Daniela Hantuchova and top seed Justine Henin-Hardenne.

She will move up six positions to 15th when the new rankings are released Monday.