San Diego: Top seed Maria Sharapova won her first title of the year by beating Patty Schnyder 6-2, 3-6, 6-0 in the San Diego Classic final on Sunday.
Sharapova used a powerful baseline attack to break the left-handed Swiss six times amid a flurry of 37 winners, but she did not have things all her own way.
After Sharapova closed out the first set by ripping a backhand down the line, the 11th-seeded Schnyder cleverly began to move the tall Russian around the court.
She broke to 5-3 in the second set when Sharapova missed a forehand and levelled the match with a 110-mph service winner.
Between sets, Sharapova's coach Michael Joyce told her to stop being so tentative and she came out roaring in the third set, breaking Schnyder to 2-0 when the Swiss erred on a drop shot.
"In the first set I hit some really good shots when she was serving and that opened doors for me," Sharapova said. "In the second set I lost that extra step and once you give her a little edge, she's going to get a lot of balls back and she's not going to waste her time. I hesitated for too many balls and I knew I had to step in and hit it again."
Sharapova never looked back, breaking Schnyder to 4-0 with a blazing forehand and winning the match with another forehand winner.
"Once she's on a roll, she sticks with it doesn't give a chance," Schnyder said. "She puts pressure on you whenever she has break points and you have to save them. She's a champion and you know you have to come up with something special."
In the last year of the San Diego Classic, which has been sold to Beijing, Sharapova become the first woman to defend the title since Venus Williams in 2002.
"I know what happened last year when I won here and then went on to win the US Open, so this gives me a lot of confidence," Sharapova said.
It was the World No. 2 Russian's first title since winning the Linz tournament in October. "It's such a thin line," Sharapova said. "I'd rather be in a Grand Slam final then win a Tier IV tournament.
I could easily play 30 tournaments a year like some of the other girls if I really wanted to win a tournament, but that's physically impossible for me. "I play the big ones and the ones that count and that I feel that I'm ready for. If I didn't win one before this one, than so what, I've won plenty before."
Sharapova will be top seed at next week's Los Angeles Classic.
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