Maria Sharapova captured her first WTA title in the season on Sunday with a victory at the US$1.34 million San Diego Classic.

The top-seeded Russian defeated Switzerland's Patty Schnyder, 6-2, 3-6, 6-0, to repeat as champion at the hard court tournament that proved a springboard to her US Open triumph weeks later.

Sharapova had appeared to be on her way to another runaway victory after taking the first set in convincing fashion.

But Schnyder converted a critical break point in the second set to go ahead, 5-3, and served out the set to force the winner-take-all finale.

Sharapova restored her momentum in the decisive set, breaking Schnyder in the second game before winning the final four games to close out the match.

The Russian, ranked second in the world, improved to 6-1 lifetime against Schnyder and has won the last five meetings between the players, including a thrilling three-set triumph in the fourth round of this year's French Open.

In winning her first tournament since Linz last October, the 20-year-old Russian appears fully recovered from a shoulder injury which had sidelined her since Wimbledon.

Schnyder, 28, remained without a title since the 2005 season opener at Gold Coast - her 10th career championship.

(Xinhua News Agency August 6, 2007)