Osaka: Second-seeded Marion Bartoli of France cruised to a straight-sets victory over top-seeded Samantha Stosur of Australia to win the Japan Open on Sunday.
Bartoli defeated the US Open champion 6-3, 6-1 in 1 hour, 14 minutes on the hard court at the Utsubo Tennis Center. The Frenchwoman broke Stosur twice in the opening set and held serve throughout the match on the way to her second WTA Tour victory of the season.
It was also the seventh WTA Tour title of Bartoli's career, as she kept alive her hopes of taking the last remaining spot in the season-ending WTA Championships in Istanbul.
"I'm very happy with the way I played this week," said Bartoli, who won in Eastbourne in June.
"It has been a good season; I felt my level dropped in August, especially at the US Open, but now I'm back playing well again. Obviously to win a title is great. Now I have two titles this year so I'm really happy."
The final was Stosur's fourth of the season. She also lost in Rome and Toronto, before prevailing at Flushing Meadows last month.
The sixth-ranked Stosur, who is already sure of her place in Istanbul, and 11th-ranked Bartoli were forced to play two matches on Sunday after rain on Saturday pushed the semi-finals back a day.
Bartoli, who won the Eastbourne tournament this summer, defeated third-seeded Angelique Kerber of Germany 6-1, 7-6 (5) in one semi-final, while Stosur bested unseeded Zie Jheng of China 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-3 in the other.
The WTA championships will feature the world's top eight players and run from October 25 to 30.
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