Safina wins second straight title

Russian seventh seed Dinara Safina overwhelmed Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova 6-2 6-1 to claim the Montreal Cup and her second title in as many weeks last night. Safina, who has won three of the five finals she has reached in her last six tournaments,...

Russian seventh seed Dinara Safina overwhelmed Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova 6-2 6-1 to claim the Montreal Cup and her second title in as many weeks last night.

Safina, who has won three of the five finals she has reached in her last six tournaments, needed only 68 minutes to beat the unseeded Slovakian.

"It's the first time in my life I have won tournaments back-to-back," Safina, who beat Victoria Azarenka 6-0 2-6 6-3 in the semi-finals, told reporters. "Usually I would win a tournament and the next week I would lose in the first round.

"So I was happy when I won the first match and then I was just taking it one match at a time."

Cibulkova earned her place in the final by defeating four seeds, including a quarter-final win over world number two Jelena Jankovic of Serbia.

In the semis, the Slovakian rallied past Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli 4-6 6-4 6-3.

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