The top-seeded Dane had never advanced beyond the third round of the tournament before, but she swept through the draw without the loss of a set to win her 13th career title.

By defeating Shahar Peer in the quarterfinals she re-captured the top ranking she had surrendered to Kim Clijsters just the week before, and she is expected to hold on to that ranking for at least the next four weeks.

It is the third time that Kuznetsova has been defeated in the final. She lost in 2004 to Justine Henin and in 2008 to Elena Dementieva.

Despite her loss, the Russian, who finished last season ranked outside of the top 20 for the first time since 2003, is projected to rise to No. 13 when the new rankings are published on Monday.
 
Soderling downs Cilic in Marseille final

In Marseille, France, top seed Robin Soderling continued his stunning start to the year by clinching the Marseille Open title on Sunday after battling back to beat Marin Cilic 6-7, 6-3, 6-3.

The Swedish world No. 4, who won in Rotterdam last week and also took the Brisbane crown last month, was furious with himself for much of the first set as unseeded Cilic won a topsy-turvy tiebreak 10-8.

Having thrown around a few balls in disgust, Soderling settled into his rhythm and broke the giant Croatian twice to seal the second set.

A superb backhand down the line followed by Cilic netting an easy shot gifted Soderling the break in the third set and he easily closed out victory.
 
Roddick reaches 50th career final

In Memphis, Tennessee, Andy Roddick beat Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina 6-3, 6-4 Saturday in the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships to advance to his 50th career tournament final.

Roddick will play Milos Raonic of Canada, a 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 winner over Mardy Fish, as he attempts to win his 30th title overall.

Roddick had lost his first three matches against Del Potro and had struggled with slow starts. But the top seed reached the finals for the fifth time in six semifinals at The Racquet Club and will play for his third title in Memphis.

Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia won the Cellular South Cup championship on the women’s side when Canadian Rebecca Marino retired with an abdominal strain after Rybarikova won the first set 6-2.

Marino had posed with Raonic and a Canadian flag earlier, but the No. 6 seed couldn’t play through an injury suffered in the semifinals. She cried into a towel courtside after consulting a trainer.

“It’s my left abdomen,” she said. “It basically hurts every time I serve … I’m sorry I couldn’t give you a better match.”

Del Potro, who reached the semifinals in San Jose last week, came in not having lost his serve all week. But Roddick broke him in the second game, and del Potro needed a trainer to wrap his right leg above the knee after the fifth game before resuming play.

Del Potro broke Roddick in the second game of the second set, converting points off some of the American’s unforced errors. Roddick hit a forehand long to lose serve and dropped his racket with a grimace. But he broke right back, then had a trainer stretch and work on his right arm.

The treatment seemed to help as Roddick held serve with three straight aces on his next service game, and he took control of the match by breaking Del Potro in a fifth game in which they were knotted at deuce five times.

Roddick won 86 percent of his first serves and faced only two break points.

Del Potro, who was sidelined by an injured right wrist for more than eight months last year, saved seven of 10 break points but struggled with both his serve and his return game. Still, he will move up to around No. 164 in the rankings based on his past two weeks.

Raonic is on what he calls an amazing run, and he’s not ready to stop. The 20-year-old will play his second ATP final in as many weeks after winning in San Jose last week. He even had a couple fans waving Canadian flags for him.

“I’m playing amazing and getting amazing results,” Raonic said.