The title is Safina's first of the season

Dinara Safina beat Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3 6-2 in the final of the Italian Open to win her first WTA Tour title since becoming world number one.

Safina, 23, closed out the first set with a smash after 43 minutes and won five straight games in the second as she powered to victory.

The win helped Safina avenge her defeat by her fellow Russian in the final of the Stuttgart Grand Prix last Sunday.

The trophy is the 10th of her career and first from four finals in 2009.

Safina was pleased to have a straightforward match after losing the first set in her previous three encounters on the clay.

It was like a little bit like Christmas today. I was giving away too many presents Svetlana Kuznetsova

And she admitted that Kuznetsova's 30 unforced errors had made it easy for her.

"Finally I won the first set," she said. "She was giving away more unforced errors than she usually does.

"I also played a little bit better. I was trying to get her off the baseline because she feels very confident there.

"But when she had some chances she was really missing - a lot. In some moments I had to say: 'thank you very much'."

606: DEBATE Congrats to Safina for her win feistycheese

World number eight Kuznetsova said: "Last week I was dictating the game, I was serving well and I was not doing that many unforced errors.

"I was doing too much and sometimes not doing anything. It was like a little bit like Christmas today. I was giving away too many presents."

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version