RUSSIA'S 21-year-old Elena Dementieva overpowered Chanda Rubin 6-3 7-6 to win the US,000 Shanghai WTA tennis tournament on September 21, earning her second successive final victory over the American.

　　The tall, top-seeded Russian maintained her composure to cruise to an easy one-set lead against the unusually sluggish Rubin before the American world number 10 rallied to take the first two games of the second set.

　　But Dementieva caught up and both players traded games before finally settling the contest 8-6 in the tiebreak.

　　Rubin squandered chances to close out the second set when she was up 5-4 and 6-5 but a tenacious Dementieva withstood the pressure and won points at crucial times.

　　It was a repeat of the Bali final in combatants and result. On September 14, Dementieva had an easier route to victory, steamrolling the 27-year-old Rubin 6-2 6-1 in 65 minutes. Her Shanghai victory puts Dementieva ahead of Rubin in the all-important Porsche Race to the season-ending WTA Tour Championships, taking place in Los Angeles, on November 5-10.

　　Rubin had been in eighth place and just one point ahead of Dementieva in the Porsche Race, which determines which eight singles players are invited to compete in the US million year-end extravaganza.

　　"It feels unbelievable to win my second title in a row. I came here hoping to keep my good play from last week, but to come all the way through and win the title again is great. The final today was different to last week in Bali - I think we both played more aggressively today. Chanda's forehand was working very well today, so I was trying to play more to her backhand. I really have to thank my mother for all her support, because she hasn't only been there for me when I'm holding up the trophy; she's been there for me when I've been sick or injured, and I owe a lot of my success to her," said Dementieva.

　　"I felt I played a lot better than I did last week against Elena. I was trying different tactics, to be more aggressive, especially on the returns. It was only at the crucial moments at the end of the second set that I seemed to lose concentration, if only for a moment. Unfortunately at this level of tennis that can be enough to lose a match. Of course, I'm happy with the past two weeks, reaching the finals at both tournaments. On the other hand, I would have liked to have played better in both finals, to have kept up the pressure at all times." said Rubin.