(Reuters) - Madison Keys overpowered Caroline Wozniacki 7-6(5) 6-3 to win the Charleston Open and defeat the former world number one for the first time on Sunday.
The win, on clay court, broke a nearly two-year drought for the eighth seeded American, who claimed her fourth career title.
Her previous two losses to Wozniacki had been on hard courts when Keys failed to win a set.
The big-serving Keys trailed 5-6 in the opening set before forcing the tiebreak, which remained close until 4-3 when the fifth-seeded Wozniacki double faulted.
Keys won the next point but twice had backhand errors to allow Wozniacki to pull within 6-5.
A backhand down the line enabled Keys to finally claim the set.
Keys broke Wozniacki in the sixth game of the second set to go up 4-2 and when she made it 5-2 that all but clinched the match.
(Reporting by Gene Cherry in Raleigh, North Carolina, editing by Pritha Sarkar)