Russia's Dementieva lifts Los Angeles crown

Third seed Elena Dementieva wore down Jelena Jankovic 6-3 4-6 6-3 to win the Los Angeles Open on Sunday.

"I'm working every day for these moments. I hope this momentum keeps going forever," the 25-year-old Russian told reporters after clinching her maiden title on US hardcourts.

The 21-year-old Jankovic, who upset seven-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams in the semi-finals, briefly turned the match around after losing the opening set.

She used her powerful backhand to great effect to help take the second set but she grew tired early in the third and took a medical time-out at 3-0 down for heat sickness.

After falling behind 5-0, Jankovic fought back gamely to 5-4, frequently rushing the net and knocking off volley winners.

But Dementieva finally shut Jankovic down when she broke the Serbian in the final game and won the two-and-a-half hour match with a forehand crosscourt winner, celebrating her second title of the year with a leap into the air.

"She's very unpredictable," said Dementieva, who upset top seed Maria Sharapova in the semis.

"Sometimes she just goes for winners. But I was very consistent. We were both tired, but when you play for the title, you only feel fatigue after the match. For me to get another title really means a lot."

Jankovic admitted she wilted in the conditions and it was her serve that struggled the most.

"I wanted to come back, so I didn't give up," she said.

"I told myself to fight every point, even when I felt tired and dizzy. I knew I could break her, but the problem was holding my serve."

Dementieva, a finalist at the 2004 French and US Open tournaments, believes her time may be coming soon in the Grand Slams and is eager for another successful run in New York in two weeks' time.

"I feel like it's just starting for me. I feel like I'm just getting to my best game," she said.

"I just need one more step. I'm young enough and I can make it in the future. It's just taken me a little longer."

Also last weekend, world number one Roger Federer overcame a rocky start to beat Frenchman Richard Gasquet 2-6 6-3 6-2 in the final of the Toronto Masters.

The Swiss, playing his first tournament since beating Rafael Nadal to lift a fourth consecutive Wimbledon title, claimed his seventh title this year and the 40th of his career.

Gasquet, one of just four players to beat Federer in the last two years, looked set to pull off an upset as he swept through the opening set.

The world number one, however, showed his pedigree as he hit back to take his second Toronto Masters in three years and extend his winning streak on the North American hard courts to 54 matches.

"I fought hard because I had to," Federer told reporters.

"It was very hard, I started badly and he had a big opportunity at the start of the second set but somehow I got out of it."