Top seed Maria Sharapova won her first claycourt title by defeating Dominika Cibulkova 7-6 (9/7), 6-3 in the final of the WTA Amelia Island tournament on Sunday.
The Australian Open champ Sharapova dispatched Cibulkova in just under two hours for her third title of the year and 19th of her career.
It was the first championship on clay for the 20-year-old Sharapova, who had been 0-3 in previous showings.
PHOTO: AP
Despite being a heavy favourite at the event, Sharapova was challenged on the green clay in Florida by Cibulkova before earning US$95,500 for the win.
The 18-year-old Cibulkova battled evenly with Sharapova in the first set, one that the Russian won in the tiebreak only when the Slovak put a forehand into the net.
The 34th-ranked Cibulkova was appearing in her maiden WTA Tour final and it was her first career meeting with Sharapova.
The Russian admitted winning the title had given her a major boost ahead of next month’s claycourt grand slam at Roland Garros, even though the green clay in Florida plays faster than the red dirt used in Europe.
“Considering that I don’t play so much on clay and that last year I only played one event going into the French Open, this is definitely a big plus,” she said.
“Right now the main goal is just to be healthy through this swing of tournaments and be as healthy as I can be with as many matches as I can get under my wing before the French Open.”
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