Marion Bartoli defeated Wimbledon finalist Venus Williams 6-2 5-7 6-4 to win the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford.

The 24-year-old Frenchwoman, seeded eight, won her fifth and biggest Sony Ericsson WTA Tour title by prevailing in three sets against the second seeded American.

Williams, who had won this event twice, was out of sorts through the first set and a half of the final, losing the first set and falling 5-3 behind in the second before finding some form with four straight games.

However, Bartoli - who saved two match points in her semi-final defeat of Jelena Jankovic - regained her composure before winning the contest in two hours and 43 minutes.

She said: "It was really hard mentally to win the second set, because it was getting tighter and tighter. When I served for the match, she sensed I was tight, and she started coming up with big winners.

"I just tried to stay positive and focused in the third set. We had some great rallies in the third set. It was so hard to win the last game. The only chance to win that was to take my chances, because otherwise Venus wouldn't give me anything. I gave everything I had today."