Dementieva defeats Safarova to win first Paris Indoors WTA title

AFP - Russia's Elena Dementieva won the Paris Indoors WTA tournament for the first time in her ninth attempt on Sunday defeating Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic 6-7 (5/7), 6-1, 6-4 in the final.

The top seed dropped a tightly-contested first set when Safarova, 23, powered a forehand past her to take the tie-break 7-5, but she was in total command in the second as her heavy ground strokes kept Safarova pinned back,

The 28-year-old Russian, who won the Olympic title in Beijing in 2008, grabbed an early break in the third set and held on to win her second WTA title of the year after Sydney.

She had been the losing finalist here last year, going down to the now retired Amelie Mauresmo of France

"I have been trying to win this tournament for so many years - it's been one of the most difficult wins of my career and I am so happy," she said.

"You have to fight to the very end and if you fight for every point anything can happen.

"I will be back to play Roland Garros because I love playing in Paris," added the 2004 French Open finalist.

Dementieva, who has yet to win a Grand Slam title, was one of the favourites at the Australian Open in January but she was drawn against wildcard Justine Henin in the second round and lost in straight sets to the Belgian.