Top seed Lindsay Davenport warmed up for next week's US Open with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Amelie Mauresmo in the final of the New Haven Open in New Haven, Connecticut, on Saturday.
The American, who will regain the world number one ranking from Russian Maria Sharapova on Monday, won the title for the first time having lost in the final on four previous occasions.
"I didn't think either of us played that well in the first set," Davenport told reporters.
"But I played a lot better in the second set and I am very happy to win the title.
"I didn't know what to expect coming back after my injury, but to win the title without playing my best gives me a lot of confidence going into the US Open."
After losing the Wimbledon final to Venus Williams, having held a match point, Davenport suffered a back injury and pulled out of her opening match at the WTA event in Stanford at the beginning of August.
Davenport lost her world number one ranking to Sharapova last week, but seems to have completely recovered from her injury and moved well against Mauresmo.
The Frenchwoman took almost three hours to win her semi-final against Spaniard Anabel Medina Garrigues on Friday, and though she competed well, was unable to overpower Davenport.
The American broke in the first game of the match and, although second seed Mauresmo broke back for 3-3, the American broke again in the next game and held on to win the set.
GOOD WEEK
A series of crunching baseline winners gave Davenport an early break in the second set and she went on to claim her third title of the year, the 48th of her career.
She won the US Open in 1998 and has reached at least the semi-finals in seven of the past eight years.
"It's been a really good week overall," Davenport said.
"Last year [after winning four straight hard court titles] it really seemed like everything was going to go my way at the US Open but it didn't happen.
"This year, I really don't know what to expect. I know there's a lot to improve but I feel good, I'm playing well and I love it in New York."
Mauresmo said she had felt tired after her epic win over Medina Garrigues but was honest in defeat.
"I think I recovered well physically, but she just played a bit better than me today," she said.
"Two things she did better than me today -- serving and returning. That's what the difference was. 6-4, 6-4 is close but not close enough."
Sunday's men's final will be between Spanish fifth seed Feliciano Lopez and home favourite James Blake.
Lopez saw off fellow Spaniard and fourth seed David Ferrer 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 to reach his first final of the year.
Blake, a wildcard entry who reached the final in Washington earlier this summer, outlasted Romanian Victor Hanescu 7-6, 6-7, 6-1.
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