Nadia Petrova clinched her third straight claycourt tournament with a 4-6 6-4 7-5 victory in the final of the Qatar Telecom German Open in Berlin.

The second seed from Russia outbattled Justine Henin-Hardenne in a match lasting two hours 48 minutes.

It was only Petrova's second victory in 10 attempts against the third seed from Belgium, including a 6-3 4-6 6-3 loss in last year's final here.

"I don't know what to say," Petrova said. "My legs were tired, my back began to hurt in the second set and I had problems serving. All I could do was fight."

Petrova has won her last 15 matches, including American claycourt titles at Amelia Island and Charleston and will move up to third in the world rankings, ahead of countrywoman Maria Sharapova.

"It's a great feeling," Petrova said. "I'm really comfortable out there and have being playing very consistent for some months now, which gives me a lot of confidence.

"Hopefully, I can get to the top - that is a big dream of mine."

Henin-Hardenne had been 24-1 all-time - including 20 consecutive victories - at this event, having won here in 2002 and 2003 before missing the tournament in 2004 with a viral illness and returning last year to lift the trophy.