Crushing win as Williams nears prima donna status

In one of the noisier women's finals, although one singularly lacking in subtlety, Venus Williams crushed France's Mary Pierce 6-4, 6-2 to win her first Italian Open title at the Foro Italico yesterday afternoon. With this victory came clear signs that the 18-year-old American's first Grand Slam title may be realised next month at Roland Garros.

Two years ago, when Williams made her clay-court and Grand Slam debut in the French Open, she was raw and gangly, hitting the ball with tremendous natural power but frequently finding herself mystified by the bounce and the way the surface moved under her feet.

She has learned quickly since that second-round defeat. Last year, in her first appearance at the Italian Open, Williams lost the final here against Switzerland's Martina Hingis; this time she defeated Hingis, still the world number one, in Saturday's semi-final 6-4, 1-6, 6-4. Pierce, suffering from an injured left leg, was able to offer only spasmodic resistance.

The final was pretty much a repeat of the previous week's in Hamburg, when Pierce lost 6-0, 63 to the American, who thereby captured her first WTA Tour clay-court title.

That she has now won two titles back-to-back on this surface, allied with her hard-court victory in the Lipton Championships over her younger sister Serena, has made her the most dangerous player on the circuit this year, even though she remains ranked at number five behind Hingis, Lindsay Davenport, Monica Seles and Jana Novotna.

"There is no clear favourite for the French Open," said Pierce, but all the top players know that in this form, Williams will take some stopping. Her confidence is high, her appetite for success at Grand Slam level voracious.

So far, she has somewhat underachieved at the highest level, particularly after reaching the final of the US Open in 1997, which she lost to Hingis. Since then, in five Grand Slam attempts, she has never failed to reach the last eight, but has never gone beyond the semi-finals.

As much as anything this relative failure, given her exceptional talents, may be put down to a genuine lack of experience. Whether nerves are a significant factor only time will tell.

Pierce, the Italian champion two years ago, attempted to out-slug the American, but had to call for the trainer and have her thigh strapped after only three games of the first set. Thereafter she produced many shots of searing velocity, but was never able to match Williams's consistency.

The Italian Open is infamous for the near-continuous warble of mobile telephones during play. Yesterday they were almost drowned out by a particularly noisy plane trailing advertising material for the local elections, two helicopters and a rogue loudspeaker that blew its top.

Add to this a swarm of bees that caused a mild panic in the upper tiers, together with the chants of the Lazio and Bologna fans down the road in the Olympic Stadium, and this was certainly an eventful match, even if the tennis largely played second fiddle.

No doubting the Queen bee, though.

Marcelo Rios's 6-7, 7-5, 5-7, 7-6, 6-2 victory over Mariano Zabaleta at the German Open brought him his first title for seven months and a great sense of relief at having done it in a contest so spectacular that everyone rose to applaud him.