ANTWERP (Belgium), Feb 17: World number two Venus Williams, a last-minute replacement in the tournament for her injured sister Serena, beat second-seeded Belgian Justine Henin 6-3 5-7 6-3 to win the Antwerp Open on Sunday.

The top-seeded Williams is now in a good position to claim the world number one spot for the first time by edging out Jennifer Capriati who currently tops the rankings.

In Marsille (France), Sweden’s Thomas Enqvist won the Marseille Open for the third time beating Frenchman Nicolas Escude 6-7 6-3 6-1.

The first set was perfectly balanced, with both players hitting a number of aces but struggling to break serve, and Escude clinched the tie-break with some sharp volleys.

The second set was shaping up the same way until the seventh game, when the Frenchman double-faulted twice to gift Enqvist a break point, which the Swede took before sealing the set.

Escude was unable to threaten Enqvist again, and the Swede, who also won the tournament in 1997 and 1998, breezed through the deciding set as his opponent made a string of unforced errors.

In Doha, former world number one Monica Seles defeated fourth seeded Tamarine Tanasugarn of Thailand 7-6 (8-6) 6-3 to clinch the Qatar Open.—Reuters