Aravane Rezai defeated Venus Williams 6-2, 7-5 in one hour and 41 minutes at La Caja Magica to win Madrid Open, her third and biggest Sony Ericsson WTA Tour title. She won in Bali and Strasbourg last year.

On her way to title, Rezai knocked out Justine Henin in the first round and Jelena Jankovic in the quarterfinals. This is the first time she has beaten two Top 10 players (Jankovic, Willaims) in the same week.

"I had my tactics ready and it worked today. I just needed to stay very calm, focused and lucid to play against Venus," Rezai said. "I played very well the whole week. I'm very proud of myself. It was a tough tournament - everyone was here - but I believed in myself. It's the best week of my career."

Venus, who had a 12-1 record on clay coming into the match, was looking for the 10th clay court title of her career. Venus is currently second among active players on that list with nine (Henin has 13) but she does lead overall career titles with 43 (Henin is second with 42).

"I had some opportunities, but she played really well. When someone plays that well you have to give them credit," Williams said. "Sometimes you run into a player who's red hot. They hit every shot, they don't miss. All the credit to someone who can play like that."

She secured a return to No.2 on the new rankings and will have a chance to become No.1 after the French, depending on how she does there compared to current No.1, her sister Serena.

"My goal was to win both titles, but this has still been a great week. I definitely feel confident in my game and want to push forward to the next tournament."

Aravane Rezai stuns Venus Williams to win Madrid Open