Dinara Safina powered to her fourth title of the season with a solid 6-1 6-3 victory over fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova.
Powerful Safina, seeded fourth, lost only one game in her Tokyo semifinal against Nadia Petrova, and in the championship match against Kuznetsova she took the first set giving away only one game. A third break in the second set sealed the victory.
In addition to this year’s titles in Berlin, Los Angeles, Montreal, and Tokyo, the 22-year-old Safina has been in three other finals, including Roland Garros and the Beijing Olympics. The fifth-seeded Kuznetsova, on the other hand, didn’t manage to win her first title of the season and lost in a final for the fourth time.
Safina currently sits at a career-high of number five in the world and is projected to move to spot number three in the rankings.
Safina will collect $196,900 for the win at this Tier I tournament, while Kuznetsova earned $105,800.
