Russia's Vera Zvonareva lived up to her top seeding by winning her first WTA title in nearly two years in Prague on Sunday.
The 23-year-old from Moscow came away 7-6 (7/2), 6-2 winner against third seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus to lift her sixth title and first since Cincinnati in 2006.
'It's a great relief for me,' said the 13th-ranked Russian who finished runner-up three times this year in Hobart, Doha and Charleston.
Zvonareva took advantage of obvious nerves of her opponent whom she had beaten in their two previous meetings on hard courts in Indian Wells and Luxembourg last year.
Azarenka, ranked 26, had gotten off to a good start with an early break in the first set for 2-0, only for the 18-year-old to then drop serve.
She lost her focus and vainly complained several times about the quality of the clay surface at the Stvanice stadium, which she found too dry.
After a tight first set, the Russian dominated the second with a break to love for 3-2 to see out victory after 1hr 33min, ending Azarenka's dream of a first WTA title after three runners-up spots.
Zvonareva added: 'In the first set maybe I had a little more luck. During the second set I managed to maintain a good quality of play.'
