London – Former world No 4 Francesca Schiavone won her sixth career title on Sunday with a comfortable 6-1 6-3 victory over Lourdes Dominguez Lino in the final of the Marrakech Grand Prix.
The Italian, now languishing just inside the world top 50 at 48, has struggled in 2013, losing in the first round of five of the nine previous events she had played.
The 2010 French Open champion, who had failed to progress past the quarter-finals of a WTA tournament since her last piece of silverware in Strasbourg last May, was in dominant form on Moroccan clay and did not drop a set on her way to the title.
Schiavone eased through the first set of the final, breaking Dominguez Lino twice.
The 59th-ranked Spaniard, who was pushed to three sets in each of her four previous matches, gave herself a glimmer of hope in the second set, breaking her fellow 32-year-old to go 3-1 up.
Schiavone immediately countered and despite having to save three break points in the set, wrapped up victory in just over 90 minutes. – Reuters