France's No. 2 Aravane Rezai won the second edition of the Collector Swedish Open Women by defeating Gisela Dulko from Argentina 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 on Saturday.

After having dismissed Lucie Safarova Friday afternoon to reach the final of the Collector Swedish Open Women, Aravane Rezai explained partially why she had been playing her best tennis all week.

“This is a great place, the public is great, and when you feel you are at home, you always play well.”

Throughout the week, the French champion couldn’t hide her enthusiasm to discover the capital of Swedish tennis. No wonder then that she found the resources to capture here her second title of the year, and the fourth of her career on the WTA Tour.

Yet in a final that lasted 2 hours and 17 minutes, under a very hot sunny day, Rezai went through all kinds of emotional states before she proved able to dictate her will to a determined Gisela Dulko. For Dulko’s game is tricky. From moon balls to low slices, the Argentine worked hard at defending beautifully and trying to destabilise Rezai, and she almost succeeded. But Rezai’s will was too strong, and her self confidence not very easy to undermine.

Rezai won the first set 6-3 in 36 minutes, then went on to recover from a break down in the second set to find herself holding two points for a 4-2 lead. Yet Dulko didn’t want to go down without giving it all she had. In the next game she broke Rezai after she was down 40-0, as she went on to capture the second set 6-4.

In the third set, Rezai looked like a sure winner when she went up 4-0 overpowering Dulko with dynamite groundstrokes. But instead of keeping her focus, she released her concentration, allowing Dulko to come back in the match, serving to level it at 4 all. Rezai broke again to find herself serving at 5-3. She even offered herself two match points, but her serve gave up on her as four points and two double faults later Dulko was back serving at 4-5. Once again however, Rezai through all she had left in the tank to aggress her opponent and finally secure the title with a slice backhand of Dulko landing into the net.

This is Rezai’s second title of the year, and the fourth of her career.

“She made it difficult for me with her game, but playing my best tennis isn’t the most important. What I wanted was to win” said Rezai who admitted feeling scared when she missed out her chances to finish the match at 5-3 in the third set. “Each one of my titles is different, and they all mean a lot to me. This week I proved I could be very consistent, and that I am on the right path.”

For Dulko however, this wasn’t to be an all-bad day. Pairing with her friend and semifinal victim, Flavia Pennetta, she found the resources to capture the doubles title, defeating the Czech pair of Renata Voracova and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova  7-6(0), 6-0.