Safina beats Kuznetsova to win Rome title

Dinara Safina secured her first WTA Tour title since taking over the No. 1 ranking by beating fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3, 6-2 on Saturday in the final of the Italian Open.

Updated on: May 9, 2009, 22:18:33 IST

AP | By HT Correspondent, ROME

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Dinara Safina secured her first WTA Tour title since taking over the No. 1 ranking by beating fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3, 6-2 on Saturday in the final of the Italian Open.

Safina avenged a loss to Kuznetsova in the final of the Porsche Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany, last weekend to take her first title of the year, after losing two other finals in 2009.

Safina closed out the first set with a smash after 43 minutes and won five straight games in the second as her opponent committed a string of unforced errors. She converted her third match point, after saving two break points in the final game.

Safina took over the top ranking on April 20, making her and older sibling Marat Safin the only brother-sister duo to have been No. 1 in professional tennis.

Kuznetsova will climb one spot to No. 7 in next week's rankings.

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