Safina wins Italian Open

Rome - World number one Dinara Safina claimed the Italian Open title on Saturday with a comfortable 6-3 6-2 win over her Russian compatriot Svetlana Kuznetsova.

After an early trade of breaks, Safina went 4-1 up but then helped Kuznetsova to get back to 4-3 with a series of poor shots.

Safina broke serve again immediately afterwards though and held her own with ease for the first time in the match to take a scrappy first set, wrapping it up with a smash.

She then broke twice to stroll home in the second set although Kuznetsova did manage to save two match points before bowing out.