Sixth seed Marion Bartoli of France has won the ASB Women's Tennis Classic in Auckland, New Zealand for her first career singles title.
Bartoli notched a straight sets 6-2, 6-2 victory over eighth seed Vera Zvonareva of Russia in Saturday's hardcourt final. Bartoli blamed nerves on dropping five straight points in the second set before putting the match away.
The 21-year-old Frenchwoman described her victory as "awesome." Bartoli added that when she first arrived in Auckland and saw the strong showing of Russian players - including top seed Nadia Petrova and defending champion Katarina Srebotnik, Zvonareva - she was sure one of them would win.
Bartoli's victory is particularly sweet, after losing to Zvonareva - a former top-10 player - in three other meetings.
Zvonareva had a difficult day on the court, making 25 unforced errors and losing her serve twice in each set. She had dropped only one set on her way to the finals.