Wickmayer, granted a wild card for the event after a court overturned a one-year ban imposed when she fell foul of the Belgian doping authority's 'whereabouts rule'.
Belgium's Yanina Wickmayer upset top seed Flavia Pennetta 6-3 6-2 in the Auckland Classic final on Saturday and complete a remarkable return to the courts after having a doping ban overturned.
Wickmayer, granted a wild card for the event after a court overturned a one-year ban imposed when she fell foul of the Belgian doping authority's "whereabouts rule", overcame early jitters to overpower the Italian and claim her third WTA title.
Prior to arriving in Auckland, she had not played since she withdrew from the Tournament of Champions in Bali last November after the Flemish Doping Tribunal suspended her for failing to notify them of her location for out of competition drug testing.
She was given the wild card by tournament director Brenda Perry when a Belgian court overturned the ban last month. "It was a really tough time for me," Wickmayer told reporters of her exile from the courts until her appeal was upheld.
"I was at home practicing really hard and just concentrating on this week and trying to be ready if the decision was going to be made (in my favour). "It was tough but it made me mentally strong so I''m happy to have been on court this week."
The 20-year-old made an inauspicious start when she double faulted on the first service point of the match and faced a 1-3 deficit in the first set.
However, a sharp slap of her thigh in frustration, which reverberated around the Auckland Tennis Centre's show court at the end of the fourth game, kickstarted her fight back.
The US Open semi-finalist then used her powerful serve and blistering grouudstrokes to break the 12th ranked Pennetta twice to go 1-0 up in 39 minutes.
"I started with a few mistakes and I know... she doesn't make a lot of mistakes and if you don't play aggressive against her then you just keep playing and the balls keep coming back," Wickmayer said.
"She is so consistent and plays such amazing tennis when she isn't under pressure so I had to be aggressive and I (made a) lot of winners. I moved into the court.
"She really made me play my best tennis today." The Italian sniffed a chance of a recovery when she broke Wickmayer's first service game in the second set, but the Belgian continued her aggressive approach to reel off the final five games and clinched victory when a Pennetta netted a forehand.
Pennetta admitted the Belgian had been too strong. "She played unbelievable (because) I don't think I played too badly," Pennetta said. "My serve wasn't as good as it had been, but she was just too good."
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