Amelie Mauresmo saved a championship point and prevailed in a third-set tiebreaker to defeat fifth-seeded American Jennifer Capriati in a thrilling Italia Masters final on Sunday.

The in-form French player rallied for a 3-6 6-3 7-6 (8/6) victory to win her second straight tournament.

She joined Steffi Graf (1987) and Monica Seles (1990) as the only women to triumph at Berlin and Rome in the same year. Graf and Seles went on to win the French Open, which begins May 24, in those years.

"I'm going to try to keep everything in my head - everything that I've had to deal with over the last two weeks," said second seed Mauresmo.

"It will come in handy when things aren't going well at Roland Garros. There are bound to be some low points."

The two-and-a-half-hour match at this £700,000 event was filled with lengthy rallies, highlighted by powerful forehands from Capriati and Mauresmo's breathtaking backhands.

The 24-year-old Mauresmo faced a match point on her serve at 5-4 in the third set, but Capriati smashed a forehand long.

Trailing 7-6 in the tiebreaker, the American hit a backhand long on Mauresmo's second match point to hand her opponent her first tournament victory here after three appearances in the final.

Mauresmo, who missed two months earlier this year with a torn back muscle, pocketed £100,000 for her 12th career title.

She defeated Capriati for the second week in a row and the seventh time in 11 lifetime meetings.

The 28-year-old Capriati was in her first final since winning at New Haven last August.

The former world number one appears to be back on track after aggravating a degenerative back condition last November and missing the first month of the season.

"I feel as if my game is good enough to beat anyone," said Capriati.