Top-ranked Lindsay Davenport got off to another strong start on clay, beating Silvia Farina Elia 7-5, 7-5 Sunday to win the Bausch & Lomb Championships for a second consecutive year.

Davenport, whose powerful serve offset several errors, joined Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert, Steffi Graf and Gabriela Sabatini as the event's only three-time winners.

Davenport trailed 5-4 in the second set, but broke Farina Elia twice to capture her 47th career singles title. She took advantage of four unforced errors by the 32-year-old Italian to even the set at 5, then held serve to move ahead 6-5.

Davenport missed her first chance to clinch the match when Farina Elia reached a crosscourt drop shot and returned it to an open court.

But Davenport bounced back two points later with a forehand winner that landed just inside the end line.

Davenport won a crystal bowl and $93,000 to go along with her title at the tour's first clay-court event of the year.

She also became the first player this season to accumulate more than $1 million in prize money.

The 28-year-old Californian will play two more tournaments - the Family Circle next week in Charleston, S.C., and the Fed Cup the following week - then take time off before heading to the French Open in late May.

Davenport, who has typically been better on hard courts than on clay, hasn't reached the quarterfinals at Roland Garros since 1999.

She won the Bausch & Lomb in 1997 and again last year, but neither clay-court victory helped much at the French. She was eliminated both years in the round of 16. 

(Agencies)