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The top seeded Russian duo of Elena Dementieva and Vera Zvonareva gave their 2010 seasons the perfect fillip by winning titles at the OPEN GDF SUEZ, Paris and PTT PATTAYA OPEN, Pattaya City respectively. Dementieva, who had started the year by winning the title at Sydney, ran into an unseeded Justine Henin in the second round at the Australian Open, and came out at the wrong end of a very high quality contest. In contrast Zvonareva struggling with an ankle injury fell in the opening round at Sydney, and was unfortunate to falter at the 4th Round in Melbourne after being on top for most of her contest with Victoria Azarenka.

Both girls headed into this week with plenty of expectations, and Dementieva amazingly went through the entire tournament without running into a seed. That did not affect the level of competitiveness though as the Olympic champion dropped the opening set in both the quarters and the semis. Her opponent in the final, Lucie Safarova from the Czech Republic, produced an excellent display over the week and accounted for two in-form Italians - 4th seed Francesca Schiavone and 2nd seed Flavia Pennetta - in the second round and semi-finals respectively.

Left-handed Safarova started the sharper, racing to a 3-0 lead and had 0-30 in Dementieva's next service game, but was unable to push her advantage. The set headed into a tiebreak, but Safarova kept her composure to nick it 7-5. An unperturbed Dementieva stormed back in the second set breaking serve twice and not conceding a single breakpoint on her own serve to run away with it 6-1 in just 27 minutes.

The decider was a close affair, with Dementieva picking up the solitary break of serve in the all important 7th game, good enough to enable her to seal the win and lift her 16th career WTA Tour title. Elena next heads to Dubai for the $2 million Barclays Dubai Tennis Championship, where she is seeded 5th, and the recipient of a first round bye.

Over at Pattaya City, defending champion Vera Zvonareva had her work cut out as she took on 32-year old local veteran Tamarine Tanasugarn and a packed house egging their hero on.

Tanasugarn, a finalist here way back in 1996 when Zvonareva was just 11 years old, had the tough task of unhinging a player who was faster than her on the court and produced a considerably more raw power from the back of the court.

An error prone contest saw Zvonareva race to a 3-0 lead, which soon became 5-2. Tanasugarn hung in though and broke back twice to come back on serve at 4-5, thanks largely to some really poor serving from Zvonareva. The Russian though broke back in the following game to take the opening set 6-4.

The second set followed a familiar pattern with Zvonareva pulling out a 4-2 lead and Tanasugarn clawing her way back to 4-4. A crucial hold from the Russian gave her the edge for 5-4, and the pressure eventually told on Tamarine as an inopportune double fault saw her concede the match in the worst possible way.

That being said, it was a memorable week for the veteran, and in the end also for Zvonareva, who keeps her unbeaten streak in Thailand alive.

Sunday Scores:

OPEN GDF SUEZ, Paris

Singles - Final
(1) Elena Dementieva (RUS) d. Lucie Safarova (CZE) 67(5) 61 64

Doubles - Final
(2) Benesova/Zahlavova Strycova (CZE/CZE) d. (1) Black/Huber (ZIM/USA) w/o

PTT PATTAYA OPEN, Pattaya City

Singles - Final
(1) Vera Zvonareva (RUS) d. Tamarine Tanasugarn (THA) 64 64

Doubles - Final
Erakovic/Tanasugarn (NZL/THA) d. Chakvetadze/Pervak (RUS/RUS) 75 61

File Photograph Copyright: Brianna