Justine Henin avenged last year's Wimbledon final defeat when she beat Amelie Mauresmo to keep the Eastbourne International title on Saturday.
In a thrilling and closely fought final, the Belgian world number one defeated Mauresmo 7-5, 6-7, 7-6 on the Eastbourne grass.
The final between the top two seeds was an indicator of form for Wimbledon, which starts on Monday and which is the only Grand Slam title to elude Henin.
Both women came through the Eastbourne draw without dropping a set and only Henin's greater consistency allowed her to beat the French world number four in the final.
French Open champion Henin came back from 4-1 down in the first set to level at 5-5 and then break Mauresmo, who was struggling with her first serve in the windy conditions, to love.
Henin, who beat Russian Anastasia Myskina to win last year's final in this seaside resort, wrapped up the set with an ace and an early break put her 2-1 up in the second set.
Midway through the set, Mauresmo, who beat Henin in three sets in last year's Wimbledon final, began to turn the match around.
She broke back for 4-4, hit two aces in the next game and stayed with Henin as the set headed for a tie-break which she won 7-4.
In her first four service games of the deciding set, Mauresmo dropped only one point and she broke Henin in the fifth game with a forehand winner.
Henin, who has looked perfectly at home on the grass all week after making a swift and smooth transition from the Roland Garros clay, broke back for 5-5 and another tie-break beckoned.
The Belgian, helped by an opening double fault from Mauresmo, was soon 4-0 up and got to matchpoint at 6-2. Mauresmo then put a forehand into the net to concede defeat in two hours 37 minutes.
Mauresmo, who played with her right thigh strapped up as a precautionary measure, blamed her lack of consistency for the defeat.
"Not enough first serves in, definitely," she told a news conference. "And a few volleys here and there that I had the chance to put away and didn't."
However the week at Eastbourne, where she lost her opening match last year, had given her confidence for Wimbledon, she said.
"Overall, considering the wind, I thought it was a good match," she said. "I am definitely now looking forward to next week."

Murray confident
British number one Andy Murray said he would make a final decision on his fitness for Wimbledon on Monday but was confident of playing, adds Reuters from London.
The 20-year-old Scot, seeded eighth for the grasscourt Grand Slam, missed the French Open and Wimbledon warm-up events because of a wrist tendon injury sustained in Hamburg in May.
He said he had made good progress in the last few days and expected to be ready for his first-round match against Ecuador's Nicolas Lapentti.
"I've been playing some sets in the last few days and haven't had any bad reactions on my wrist. It's been getting better every day," Murray told reporters after practising at the All England Club on Saturday.