Ai Sugiyama of Japan captured the Uncle Tobys Hardcourts tennis tournament the way she played it throughout - by rallying from behind.

Sugiyama, the top seed, defeated second seed Nadia Petrova of Russia 1-6 6-1 6-4 to earn her second tournament title here and sixth overall.

It marked the second time in three months that Sugiyama, now ranked 10th in the world, beat Petrova in a final.

Petrova, who has yet to win on tour, also lost to Sugiyama in Linz in October.

Sugiyama, who also needed three sets to get through the quarter-finals and semi-finals, rallied from a 4-1 deficit in the third set.

"I don't know how I got through but I never give up," said Sugiyama, who won here in 1998 and reached the finals the previous year.

"My tennis wasn't there but my mental (approach) was."

Petrova needed the trainer midway through the third and said the injury occurred in the second and grew worse after a series of long rallies.

"As soon as I had to reach for any ball it was really painful," she said.

Sugiyama began play this week ranked 12th in the world.