Pierce Getting Better With Age

Mary Pierce of France beat unseeded Italian Francesca Schiavone 6-4 6-3 in Moscow on Sunday to win the Kremlin Cup for a second time.

It was also the second title of the year for the 30-year-old third seed, who won in San Diego in August.

Sunday's victory propelled Pierce to number five in the world and guaranteed her a place in the season-ending WTA Championships in Los Angeles.

Francesca Schiavone met third seed Mary Pierce in the final of the Kremlin Cup at Moscow's Olympic sports complex on Sunday with the unseeded Italian looking to claim her first WTA Tour title.

Schiavone recorded victories over fourth seed Elena Dementieva, second seed Amelie Mauresmo and 2004 US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova on her way to the final.

The 25-year-old Italian, who admitted to nerves before the final, displayed plenty in the first set.

Schiavone held her opening service game, but dropped her next as Pierce moved into a 2-1 lead.

The third seed achieved a double break when the Italian, who reached the final without dropping a set, lost her service once more and trailed 4-1.

The Frenchwoman, who won the title in 1998, held her own serve to win five games in a row, but Schiavone found her range and began to fightback by breaking in the eighth game.

However, Pierce regained her composure, served for the set and won it on her third set point when Schiavone put a backhand into the net.

The early stages of the second set mirrored the first as Schiavone, who's ranked number 22 in the world, was broken in the third game with an unforced error which led to a brief show of frustration by the Italian.

There was an exchange of breaks in the next two games, and Pierce then fought off any comeback with a strong service game in the sixth.

Schiavone held her next serve to trail 4-3 and needed to break again to try and get back into the final.

But Pierce displayed the kind of skill and determination which had seen her reach two Grand Slams finals in 2005.

After 87 minutes Schiavone's dream of a first title disappeared as Pierce claimed the 18th championship of her career, and the second of the year following her success at in San Diego in August.

Pierce collected $189,000 US dollars for her efforts, while Schiavone walked away with $102,000 US dollars.