Tennis: Sharapova claims San Diego title

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 tennis tournament final today.

Sharapova used a powerful baseline attack to break the left-handed Swiss six times amid a flurry of 37 winners.

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 told reporters.

It was the world No 2 Russian's first title since winning the Linz tournament in October.

- REUTERS