Venus blames her training schedule after hammering by Clijsters in final

The 14th seed needed only 58 minutes to defeat the third-seeded American, who played with bandaging on both legs and said afterwards she may have trained too hard during the tournament.

The match was reminiscent of last year's final at Key Biscayne when Williams' sister Serena, also looking short of fitness, surrendered in similar fashion to Belarussian Victoria Azarenka.

Williams said she had worn the bandaging on her legs as she felt her knees, a frequent source of trouble, needed extra support. She also said she may have overdone her practice routine during the tournament.

"I think sometimes you have to be careful with practice, not to practice too long. I may have made a mistake with that a little bit. I know better, but 'Eager V' kind of burst through," she said.

"Overall I'm really happy with the tournament. Unfortunately, today I didn't win the match, although I felt like this is a match I could win.

"Unfortunately I made it a little bit too easy. Next time around I'll play better."

Clijsters returned to tennis last year from a two-year break to give birth to daughter Jada, who watched from the stands. The Belgian, winner of this event in 2005, never looked back from the moment she broke in the third game of the first set. She won 55 points to Williams' 29.

Andy Roddick will face Tomas Berdych in the men's final today. Berdych, pictured left, is looking for his second Masters title winning in Paris in 2005, and beat Federer in the fourth round, Roddick will be in confident mood after producing a fine comeback to oust Rafael Nadal in the semi-final.

Meantime, Scotland's Andy Murray has decided to begin his clay-court season earlier than planned at the Monte Carlo Masters. The British No 1, who fell at the first hurdle in the defence of his Masters title in Miami, has been given a wild card for the tournament, which begins on 11 April.