Despite a a three-hour rain delay, the champions were crowned today in the Toronto gloom. Serena Williams improved on her Canadian Open runner-up showing of last year, and finally solved her Jennifer Capriati problems in today's final. And the doubles pair of Kimberly Po-Messerli and Nicole Pratt, forced to play on Court One because of the rain delay, sadly had to savour the doubles championship in front of a minuscule crowd.

Serena Williams (4) def. Jennifer Capriati (1), 6-1, 6-7 (7-9), 6-3
Final
Previous head-to-head: Capriati leads 4-1

Jennifer Capriati is one of those few players who could have said before the match that she had Serena Williams's number, having beaten the younger Williams sister in their last four meetings. In their most recent meeting, at Wimbledon this year, Serena had a queasy tummy, apparently victimized for the third time this year by food poisoning. "I think I had a weak immune system," said Williams of her churning stomach. Earlier, in March, Williams appeared hobbled by a thigh injury in a semifinal loss to Capriati. In between those occasions, Capriati handed an error-prone Williams yet another setback in the French Open quarterfinals. At that time Serena said she was fine physically and well-prepared, and simply lamented, "I honestly think I have bad luck."

Now in Toronto, Serena Williams says she is healthy and her digestive problems are in the past. "I'm in good health this time," said Williams last night, "and I'm really excited going into this." Both healthy and lucky today, Serena Williams rode her powerful serves and forehands as well as her eager motivation to her second title of the year.

We woke up to heavy rain in Toronto this morning, but by noon the downpour had subsided and the courts were finally dried to allow the match to start under gloomy skies at 1:35 pm, about 30 minutes later than scheduled. The golden-haired Williams, who has had a different outfit for each match, today was attired in a sleeveless yellow dress with a black swirly pattern on the back and matching yellow shoes. Capriati was wearing the more utilitarian two-piece outfit she has donned for each of this week's m atches, a sleeveless and predominantly white top and white shirt. There was a little midriff space between the two parts of this costume.

First set steamroll:

In the first game of the match Capriati got something Monica Seles went without during the entire evening yesterday: a break point on Williams's serve. Two, in fact. Williams served her way out of trouble to hold, and then proceeded to worry Capriati's serve with two break points of her own. Capriati finally dodged the bullet after three deuces, when a Williams forehand return just missed the sideline, the lineswoman receiving a displeased stare from Serena. This was the first of many displeased stare s both players were to aim at lines judges today.

That was the last game Capriati won in the set, however. Capriati was getting more serves back in play, and using her speed to reach more of Williams's heavy shots, than Seles did last night. This meant longer rallies, but these rallies would more often than not end in a Capriati error, or on an impressive Williams forehand. With Jennifer accumulating groundstroke errors and having difficulty with Serena's kicking second serves, and a controlled Williams not missing much, the rest of the set was no con test. After 31 minutes, Williams locked up the 6-1 lead on her second set point, with her fifth ace.

Second set theatrics:

Many of the seats had been unoccupied at the start of the match, but by now the late-arriving fans had pretty much filled the stadium. The skies, unfortunately, were also getting darker. Capriati was surely praying for two things: to win a game, and a rain delay to help change the momentum. She got the first wish in the opening game, finally holding serve. And the inevitable rain finally arrived at 1-1, deuce. At 2:07 PM, chair umpire Anne Laserre-Ullrich officially suspended play and sent the player s back to the locker room.

The afternoon wore on, and the rain fell pitilessly. At 3:30 it was announced that a decision would be made in the early evening as to whether we would continue to wait it out, or postpone the restart until Monday at 11:00 AM. Reporters with long memories (okay, the geezers) drank coffee and reminisced about 1979 and 1980. In both of those years, the Toronto final had to be delayed until Monday because of rain.

At 4:25, murmurs were heard that the skies were clearing and the blowers were drying off the court. We timidly poked our heads out of the media tent and, sure enough, the rain had stopped and the blowers could clearly be heard blowing. The players came back on court, and after a three-hour delay the players resumed hostilities at 5:10.

Capriati decided to put on a cap now, but it wasn't very lucky at first. She dropped her serve on a double-fault at 3-3, 15-40, and Williams took a crucial 4-3 lead. Serena had been pretty silent to this point, but here she decided to go to the grunt. She took a 30-15 lead on a 181 km/h ace, but then threw away her commanding position with two forehand errors and a forehand volley pushed wide on break point. Jennifer was back even at 4-4.

Williams broke a wobbly Capriati again at 5-5, however, earning herself a chance to serve for the match at 6-5. Williams started the game poorly with a forehand error, and found herself down 0-40. She saved three break points, but not the fourth. With advantage Capriati, Serena, in an attempt to track down a defensive lob, loses her footing ? she recovers, but can't sprint over to her left in time to track down Jennifer's reply.

So it's 6-6, and tie-break time! It was not the best-played tie-break in tennis history, but certainly fertile in emotion.

• JC serving: service winner. 1-0 Capriati
• SW: Williams finishes a dominant baseline point with a forehand winner. 1-1
• SW: One of the best points of the match, an up-tempo 15-stroke rally, ending in a Williams error. 2-1 Capriati
• JC: Capriati unleashes her money shot, the forehand cross-court winner. 3-1 Capriati
• JC: A fan yells, "Come on, Serena, grunt!" She does. She dumps a grunting drop shot into the net. I muse aloud that Serena should consider discarding the grunting drop shot from her repertoire. "Not a high-percentage shot," laughs the reporter next to me. 4-1 Capriati
• SW: Williams service winner. 4-2 Capriati
• SW: Capriati returns a 185 km/h serve. The surprised Williams hits her forehand reply long. 5-2 Capriati
• JC: A fine Williams backhand paints the line. 5-3 Capriati
• JC: Second serve is returned by Williams. Capriati does not play the ball, thinking it was a let serve. I thought I heard the ball tick the tape, and so did most of the fans, judging by their howling. But the point stands, despite Capriati's bitter protestations. 5-4 Capriati
• SW: Willliams service winner. 5-5!
• SW: A 191 km/h serve is called out. Williams disagrees with the call. Second serve, Williams hoists a forehand wide. 6-5 Capriati, set point #1.
• JC: Capriati nets a routine forehand. 6-6!
• JC: Williams hits a forehand winner, and delivers an emotive double fist-pump in her mother's direction. 7-6 Williams, match point #1
• SW: Capriati cracks two risky forehands, putting Williams in trouble, and finishes the point with a down-the-line forehand winner. 7-7, and a nice save by Jennifer.
• SW: A Capriati backhand appears long. Williams doesn't play it. There is no call. Williams drops her racquet and screams at umpire Anne Laserre-Ullrich, but no overrule is forthcoming. Serena said after the match, "My dad always told me to play every ball, and I didn't listen." 8-7 Capriati, set point #2
• JC: A Williams forehand return is pushed out. Capriati wins the very eventful tie-break 9-7 and levels the match, much to the delight of the many fans who wanted a third set.

Third set comeback:

After all that second-set drama we wondered how Serena would react. She had failed to serve for the match at 6-5, and then lost a match point in the breaker. Capriati came out for the third set on fire. She broke the serve in the first game, again surprising Williams by returning her powerful first deliveries, and held at love to take a 2-0 lead. Capriati had really picked up her baseline game, and it was hard to believe this was the same player who laboured so badly in the early going. But Williams reacted well. At 1-2 down, she was slapping her thigh, anxious to break back. Serena put Jennifer in trouble, and levelled the set at 2-2 on a Capriati forehand error.

Both players survived difficult holds and battled through intense baseline points to 3-3. Here Serena held easily with some devastating serving, and it was up to Capriati, serving at 3-4. The early evening was upon us, and the lights were on. 15-15: Williams punishes a weak second serve with a winning backhand. At 15-30, a huge point: Williams goes to the net for one of the few times in the match, and Capriati hits a strong forehand pass which is met with a splendid lunging Williams volley. 15-40: do uble fault! Williams has the 5-3 lead and will serve for the match.

Williams attempts to close out the match in style, bringing back the grunt and going for all-out winners. Not a good idea, as she suddenly finds herself down 15-40. She shelves the grunt and serves her way back to deuce. At the second deuce Williams hits a 181 km/h service winner down the middle. Match point #2, her first since the second set. Another booming and non-grunting serve does the trick. Serena, unable to put the match away in the second set, does the job this time! Make the final: 6-1, 6-7 (7-9), 6-3, in 2 hours, 1 minute. Serena, overjoyed and surely relieved, waves to the crowd and smiles excitedly before doing a dance step of some sort.

The ever-popular trophy presentation:

Capriati accepts the runner-up cheque. She thanks the fans for staying despite the rain. "I gotta give all the credit to Serena, who played great today." After thanking the sponsors and volunteers, she doesn't miss a chance to get in a dig at the lines judges, clearing her throat loudly after thanking them. The crowd, who didn't think the officials were very good either today, gets a laugh out of this.

Williams accepts the hefty winner's cheque, and we notice that her golden braids are about waist-length when they are untied. She thanks her God, Jehovah, as is her custom, and her mother Oracene, who has been coaching her this week. "And thanks to Jennifer for giving a great match for the fans," she adds thoughtfully. Serena's turn to draw chuckles comes when she thanks one of the sponsors, AT&T Canada. "I give a little too much money to AT&T every month," she laughed, referring no doubt to her const ant calls to Venus when they are separated.

Post mortem:

Capriati, who waged a strong comeback but wavered in the key moments of the third set, was less than pleased about the officiating. But she admitted the peculiar line calls went both ways. "And that's not what made me lose the match." Like Seles last night, Capriati marvelled at Williams's potent serve. "She served really well, that was probably the difference." Jennifer also admitted that her nervous play late in the match was costly: "I had a little bad game in the third set that gave her that brea k," she lamented. And Capriati also noted that her slow start put her behind the eight ball today, suggesting that the delayed start caused by the wet weather affected her. "We didn't have a warmup to start with?. It was almost like a warm-up too, that first set."

Serena Williams, the first black champion in the long history of the Canadian Open (men or women), was clearly elated at her win. Not only because it was an improvement from her runner-up finish in Canada last year, or because she broke a four-match losing streak against Capriati, but particularly because she was starved for a title. Serena had not won a tournament since Indian Wells in March. "I really needed the win. I needed the win," she repeated for emphasis.

Perhaps this freshness and eagerness was what separated Williams from the rest of the field this week. She was not burned out from overplaying in the California events, as Seles may have been and as no-shows Hingis and Davenport certainly were. Nor was she rusty from delaying her hard-court début until this week, as Euro-disappointments Mauresmo and Hénin appeared to be. And assuredly, Williams was very, very hungry for success in Toronto.

So now it's on to the U.S. Open for Serena Williams, where she likes her chances. While Williams admits that there is still room for "a ton of improvement," she feels she is a much better player than the Serena who won the Open in 1999 at age 17. "I'm stronger, older, mature, and seem to understand things more." Capriati, while duly impressed with Williams today, refused to label Serena the U.S. Open favourite because of her win here. "A Grand Slam is a different ball game," Jennifer observed.

On thing is for sure: we can expect to see Serena back in Canada to defend her title in Montreal in 2002. Perhaps she will have some unexpected company: her sister Venus (they rarely play in the same tournament, with the exception of the Grand Slam events). "We're both thinking about going to Montreal now," Serena revealed. She says she is pleased by the warm reception she got in Montreal last year and in Toronto this week, and she probably has reason to be. At present, many of her own country's fans a ppear to prefer the likes of Capriati and Davenport to the controversial Williams sisters.

Kimberly Po-Messerli / Nicole Pratt (5) def. Tina Krizan / Katarina Srebotnik (9), 6-3, 6-1
Final

Po-Messerli's nice season in doubles continues: the American has won a title and reached three other finals as the partner of French ultra-veteran Nathalie Tauziat. Nathalie elected not to come to Toronto this year, so Po hooked up with the Aussie Pratt, who is currently ranked 35th in doubles. Po is 5'3" (1.60 m), while Pratt towers over her at 5'4" (1.63 m). Pratt has played with a collection of different partners this year, not all at the same time of course. Among her partners have been Meghann Sha ughnessy, Elena Tatarkova and Patricia Tarabini.

Sadly, we missed this match. So did just about everyone else. Because of the rain delay, the doubles final was played concurrently with the end of the women's final on court one. One shudders to think of the small crowd that must have watched this title match.

But hey, congratulations anyway to Kim and Nicole!