Safina claims second title of career to Italian

The moment that excited people was when Jelena Jankovic played her semifinal against one of the most powerful Russians on the Tour. But all the hopes of fans were cut short when Russian Dinara Safina easily cruised through to the final after winning to the Serb in straight sets.

On Sunday the final was held between Dinara and Flavia Pennetta, who had won her semifinal match to Bethanie Mattek. Safina again performed with excellence, winning to Pennetta 64 62 to claim her second title of her career. Previously, the Russian had a 3-0 head-to-head result against Pennetta, and she extended it to 4-0 on Sunday after an hour and 10 minutes of play.

"I was a little bit nervous but I think I played a pretty good match for the final," said Safina, who was unusually calm throughout the match, a contrast to her at-times fiery court demeanor. "Even my coach said he didn't know what was going on with me, that I was so quiet on the court. Now I have to continue playing like that and not go back to the old Dinara!"

"The first set was pretty close; in the second set I had chances but on all of the important points she was playing well," Pennetta said. "She did not give me a lot of chances today. When players like her – good serve, good groundstrokes - are playing well, it is tough to beat them. But anyway, it was a good week for me and I hope next week is going to be even better."

Safina has now made finals in four of her last five events, beginning with a title at Berlin and runner-up finishes at Roland Garros and 's-Hertogenbosch (the only blemish came at Wimbledon, where she fell in the third round); perhaps the most impressive aspect of this run is that these finals have been coming on different surfaces (Berlin and Roland Garros were on clay, 's-Hertogenbosch was on grass, Los Angeles was on hard).

Safina is also the third player to win a title having come from match point down in the tournament. The first to do was Agnieszka Radwanska, who was match point down against Jill Craybas in the final at Pattaya City, and Serena Williams was second to do it, saving a match point against sister Venus in the semis of Bangalore, and also saving a match point against Justine Henin in the final of last year's Sony Ericsson Open.