Safarova storms to title

Lucie Safarova defeated Italy’s Flavia Pennetta 6-3 6-4 to win the Australian Women’s Hardcourts tournament at the Gold Coast.

Safarova totally dominated the match and completed a comfortable victory in under an hour.

Fourth seed Pennetta, who ended Martina Hingis’ hopes of a comeback victory in the semi-finals, had no answer to the power of the unseeded 18-year-old from the Czech Republic.

Safarova began the week by upsetting sixth seed Ai Sugiyama and then knocked out top seed Patty Schnyder and third-seeded Dinara Safina in the quarter-finals and semi-finals as she collected her third WTA title.