(CNN) -- Venus Williams claimed the 42nd title of her glittering career as she successfully defended her Dubai Tennis Championship crown on Saturday. The American defeated fourth seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 6-3 7-5 in the final, having also won their only previous encounter at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The victory lifted Williams into 11th place on the all-time list, moving her one title ahead of the recently-returned Justine Henin to make her the most successful player currently active on the WTA Tour. The former world No. 1, seeded third in the absence of her top-ranked younger sister Serena and No. 2 Dinara Safina, won the opening set in controversial circumstances with the only break after using the Hawkeye system to challenge a line call on Azarenka's second serve at 3-2.
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Venus Williams claims 42nd title of her career, defending Dubai Tennis Championship crown
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American third seed defeats Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 6-3 7-5 in final
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Victory lifted Williams into 11th place on the all-time list above Justine Henin
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Maria Sharapova claims her first title of 2010, beating Sophia Arvidsson in Memphis final
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