Jelena Dokic of Yugoslavia captured her first career WTA Tour title on Sunday with a 7-6 (7-3) 6-1 victory over fourth seed Amelie Mauresmo of France at the Italian Open.

Seeded 14th, the 18-year-old Dokic played in her first final against the hottest player on the tour, who defeated her in their first meeting last year at Moscow and became the youngest singles winner this year at 18 years, one month and eight days.

"Winning in Rome is great for a first title," she said.

"I'm so happy. I don't think it's sunk in yet. It's going to take a few days."

Dokic broke Mauresmo to go ahead 6-5 in the first set, but the Frenchwoman returned the favour in the next game.

But, Dokic maintained her composure and outplayed Mauresmo in the tiebreaker.

"It was very close in the first set, and as soon as I won it, I played even better and my confidence grew more," Dokic said.

"I wanted this title and I was there fighting every point and maybe that's what made the difference."

Dokic took command in the second set and cruised to her first career championship as Mauresmo struggled to compete in what turned out to be just her third defeat of the year and first to a player ranked lower than the top five.

"I was a little bit tired, and losing the first set was very tough mentally and physically," Mauresmo said.

"She felt that and took the opportunity. Maybe I wasn't as aggressive as I should have been, but I'm still satisfied with the tournament, especially yesterday's win, and I feel I've had good practice for the French Open."

Mauresmo, who eliminated Martina Hingis in Saturday's semi-finals, leads the Tour with four titles this season.

Despite the loss, she will improve to fifth in the WTA rankings.

The triumph means Dokic will break into the top 20 for the first time in her young career when the rankings are released on Monday.