Safina gains swift revenge to lift Italian Open

By Paul Virgo

ROME (Reuters) - World number one Dinara Safina gained swift revenge over Svetlana Kuznetsova on Saturday, thrashing her fellow Russian 6-3 6-2 to win the Italian Open in their second consecutive final meeting.

Safina clinched a scrappy first set and ran away with the second to secure her 10th singles title, the first of 2009 after losing her third final of the year against Kuznetsova at the Stuttgart Grand Prix last Sunday.

She is optimistic the victory will help her break her grand slam duck at the French Open which starts later this month.

"I'm feeling great," Safina told reporters when asked about her hopes for the French Open which is also played on clay like the Rome and Stuttgart tournaments.

"It gives lots of confidence especially as the claycourt season started with one final and one title. Cannot be better."

The two 23-year-olds, former finalists here, struggled for rhythm at the start.

After an early trade of breaks Safina went 4-1 up but then helped former U.S. Open champion Kuznetsova come back to 4-3 with a series of poor shots.

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