Doha, Qatar -- (Sports Network) - Venus Williams roared back from a set down to beat Russia's Vera Zvonareva for the title at the Sony Ericsson Championships.

Williams rallied for a 6-7 (5-7), 6-0, 6-2 triumph to capture the season- ending event for the first time in her career. In her only two prior appearances, she lost in the semifinals. Five other times Williams had qualified for the event and withdrew.

"It's a fantastic feeling to end the season this way," said Williams. "I haven't had the opportunity to play this tournament very often, so it's really awesome to have the opportunity to play here and play well, too."

The $1.34 million first prize moved Williams into second place on the all-time earnings list. She was fifth entering the tournament and surpassed Martina Navratilova, sister Serena and Steffi Graf. Only Lindsay Davenport has won more prize money on the WTA Tour.

Venus earned her 39th career title and third of 2008. She also won at Wimbledon and Zurich, and will finish the season sixth in the final rankings.

Zvonareva, who was playing in her second season-ending event, will finish the year ranked seventh. She won a pair of tournaments this year, capturing titles in Prague and Guangzhou, and Sunday's loss marked her sixth runner-up finish of 2008.

Williams improved to 6-1 all-time against Zvonareva, who won the first meeting between the two back at the 2003 French Open. Since that fourth-round win at Roland Garros, the Russian had never taken a set from the American.

That changed Sunday.

Zvonareva jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first set, but Williams managed to even the set at 5-5 with a break and it eventually went to a tiebreak.

After Zvonareva won the first point, Williams reeled off five straight and appeared to take total command. Zvonareva, however, rebounded with the next six points -- including one on a double-fault by Williams that gave the Russian a set point which she quickly converted.

"I played some bad shots and it went from bad to worse; before I knew it, the set was over," Williams stated. "She just kept running everything down and hitting incredible shots. I realized the match wasn't over, though."

Williams then completely dominated the second set, winning 27 of the 40 points played. She converted each of her three break points and saved the only one against her serve.

"I got a lot more consistent and was also controlling the points more," added Williams. "The tables started turning a little bit. I had to go out there and win the match, because she wasn't giving it away."

After winning the first two games of the third set, Williams dropped her serve in the third game. She immediately regrouped with another break for a 3-1 lead and allowed Zvonareva to hold only once more before completing the comeback.