In gusting winds the 24-year old Russian managed to keep her nerve on Sunday to beat French Open champion and former world No. 1 Ana Ivanovic in straight sets 7:6 (7:5), 6:2, a win which will boost her position in the WTA rankings.
Zvonareva said after the match: "Even though I had some mistakes and some frustrating points with the wind, I was still trying to put as many balls as I can in the court. It was very important today to try to concentrate, try to keep my serves, serve percentage as high as possible."
"I was fighting for every point no matter what. Even if I was down love-40 in the game I was playing for it. Maybe I was a little bit better at doing that today than Ana."
Serbia's Ivanovic, who made over 45 unforced errors, said in a post-match interview: "It was the toughest conditions I ever played in. It was just who can handle the conditions better, and who can stay probably mentally tougher through it. Today she did. She played really well."
Talking about the tournament, her ninth career title, Zvonareva said: "I've been watching this tournament since I was a kid. It's been on TV back home so many years. It's basically one of the biggest events after the major. I think it means a lot to everyone who is able to win it, because you have to beat so many top players on the way to get the title."
On Saturday Zvonareva, bronze medalist at the Beijing Olympics, and doubles partner Victoria Azarenko of Belarus, beat Giselka Dulko of Argentina and Israel's Shahar Peer 6:3, 6:3 to take the title.
