BEIJING, Sept. 23 (Xinhua) -- Hungarian prospect Agnez Szavay was at the peak of her game as she rallied to sweep past second-seeded Serb Jelena Jankovic in a thrilling final at the Tier II China Open to take her second title in career on Sunday.

    The 18-year-old sixth seed came back from one set and 5-1 down to beat world number three Jankovic 6-7 (9-7), 7-5, 6-2 in three hours and will chalk up her career top 20 debut on the WTA rankings to be released on Monday and 88,265 U.S. dollars as well.

Hungary's Szavay jubilates after the final of women's singles at 2007 China Open in Beijing, capital of China, September 23, 2007. Szavay claimed the title after defeating Serbia's Jelena Jankovic 2-1.(Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    "My neck became stiff from the second set and then my shoulder," said 22-year-old Jankovic with a disappointed face, "I still had chances to win the set but I just did not do the right thing and made many mistakes."

    "The third set was a disaster, it went to a different derection. I lost my energy and I wish I was not there.

    Jankovic, who has played 24 tournaments so far, admitted that she was very tired in the match and at the end of the season, vowing to cut half tournaments off her next year's season.

    "I played so many matches this year, and it is good that I did not have too many injuries, but now I feel very tired and not in best form like at the beginning of this season. I will cut half off next season's schedule, and I am really looking forward to it."

    Jankovic, who halted this year's most gripping comeback of new mother Lindsay Davenport in the semifinals on Saturday, seemed to be on course for another easy victory after breaking her opponent's second service game in the opening set, but the Hungarian proved she had something in her game by breaking back in a much harder next one that saw nine deuces.

    The competition then became tighter as both of the players, neither of whom has dropped a set en route to reaching the championship round, held serve with sizzling ground strokes and strong resilience until the match was forced into a tie break.

    Szavay again found his range in the tie break to storm to 5-0 with a string of fine returns, but Jankovic raised her game just in time to win six out of the next seven points, holding off two set points and pulling within 6-6.

    After fighting off the third set point, Jankovic never hesitated to win the gruelling tiebreak at 9-7.

    The Jankovic train seemed to be getting back on winning track early in the second set as the Serb notched up two breaks to romp to 5-1.

    While a ruthless Szavay, who stayed in calm and showed few signs of vulnerability, took six games in a row to pull one set back.

    After that, though the Serb continued to battle, Szavay was always in control and she broke three times in the final set to win one of the toughest matches in the rocketing year.

    "It was the biggest success (to beat the world number three), I feel great, but it was no secret, I also felt tired at the end but I just play my game and try to hit the ball correctly," said Szavay, who has already notched up two top ten victories ahead of Jankovic clash.

    "I am glad that I could finally turn the match from the bad position," added the staid promising star, who in Jankovic's eyes is of "huge potentials".

    Szavay came into Beijing with a meteoric boost on the rankings in recent months, cracking the top 100 after Roland Garros and working all the way up to No. 23 in the short 14 weeks, a stretch highlighted by winning her first tour singles title at Palermo, reaching her first Tier II final at New Haven and becoming the first Hungarian U.S. Open quarterfinalist.

    In women's doubles final, third seeds Chuang Chia-Jung/Hsieh Su-Wei from Chinese Taipei beat Chinese wild cards Yifan/Han Xinyue 7-6(2), 6-3.