Top-seeded American Lindsay Davenport made her initial appearance at the US$1 million Dubai Women's Open a triumphant one.

Davenport picked up her first title of 2005 and the 46th of her career Saturday, posting a 6-4 3-6 6-4 triumph over unseeded Serbo-Montenegrin Jelena Jankovic.

The 28-year-old Davenport, who improved to 14-2 this year, did not have an easy first time here, being forced to play three sets in both the semi-finals - a win over Patty Schnyder - and the finals.

In picking up 159,000 for the victory, Davenport also continued to inch closer to the 20 million in earnings mark.

Jankovic, who had an early break in the third set and three more break points late in the match, continued her charge up the charts.

After picking up her first career victory in August, Jankovic has risen more than 40 spots on the singles' rankings.

She began this tournament ranked 28th in the world but lost to Davenport for the third time in as many matches.

Davenport, who reached the final in three of the four events she has entered this year, has been ranked No. 1 since October 18 and has spent 58 weeks overall as the top-ranked player.

Jankovic, 20, advanced to the finals when No. 2 Serena Williams was forced to withdraw from their match with a right shoulder tendon strain.

It marked only the fourth time in Williams' career that she was forced to retire from a match.