American Lindsay Davenport will be entering the US Open with momentum - and another title - in addition to the world number one ranking.

The top-seeded Davenport defeated second seed Amelie Mauresmo, of France, 6-4 6-4 on Saturday in the final of the Pilot Pen Tennis hardcourt tournament.

It was the third title this year and 48th career for Davenport, who reclaimed the world's top ranking from Maria Sharapova with a 6-3 6-3 triumph Friday night over another Russian, Anna Chakvetadze.

Sharapova had surpassed Davenport for the top ranking on Monday. As a result, she is seeded first and Davenport second for the US Open.

Davenport began the final by breaking Mauresmo and saved several break points in the eighth game en route to taking the opening set, 6-4.

The American broke in the third game of the second set and held thereafter, ending the match when Mauresmo hit a backhand well short of the net. Davenport had been in four previous finals here, losing them all.

"Normally you don't want to give yourself that many chances 'til you win it," Davenport said. "I kept coming back here, kept always struggling in the finals. And today I was happy, finally, after all these years, able to pull it out."

Davenport had missed nearly the entire hardcourt season with a lower back strain suffered in a loss to Venus Williams in the Wimbledon final on July 2.

"I'm happy and amazed that I'm sitting here winning," Davenport said. "You never know what to expect when you come back. I'm really happy I got the matches in, (but) I still think there's a lot of things I would like to improve on before the US Open, but to sit here with a title is pretty rewarding."

Mauresmo, who was aiming for her third tournament win this year and 18th career, has lost 10 of their last 11 meetings after winning their first two encounters. She slipped to 0-4 against Davenport here.

She is seeded third at the US Open.